Custer's Luck [Hardcover]

Equally reasonable is the idea that Custer would then have been tapped to run for President in 1880. The main thrust of "Custer's Luck" is therefore going to be what happens to the destiny of America with Custer in the White House. If you have a reasonable grasp of American history--and there is no reason to be reading these types of books if you do not--then half the fun is recognizing where and when the authors are lifting ideas and events. This goes from such relatively minor things as the court-martial of a black West Point cadet to Custer insisting the U.S. cannot afford to be Isolationist, the political philosophy that was the flaw in American diplomacy throughout the 20th century. Ultimately, "Custer's Luck" wants to have the United States try to begin that century the way it ended it, as the preeminent military and political power on the planet. Consequently, Custer fast-forwards the nation in terms of developing a strong navy, building the Panama Canal, provoking a war with Spain over Cuba, and even supporting women's suffrage.

The main sub-plot of the novel focuses on Red Elk, a young Sioux Warrior who vows over the dead body of his pregnant wife that he will kill "Long Hair." Red Elk is a fictional character, originally created in Skimin's "The River and the Horsemen: A Novel of the Little Big Horn." Given that previous novel along with the fact Moody is the editor of "The Journal of the Little Bighorn Associates," it is not surprising that several of those who died with Custer--his brothers Tom and Boston, Myles Keogh, Mark Kellogg and William Cooke--are prominent throughout the novel. Even Frederick Benteen, never a Custer supporter, becomes a Congressman bent on derailing his former commander's ambitions. There are also some soap opera elements; at one point Custer even ends up in the arms of Lillie Langtry. But even before we get to Skimin's final postscript comment "Any comparison to Camelot is in the mind of the reader," it is clear that John F. Kennedy is the major model for the Custer Administration and its theme of "The New American Empire." After all, Custer puts brother Tom in a Cabinet post while his brother Boston is elected a Congressman, Libbie wants to fix up the White House and Custer has the government supporting the fine arts.

I am perfectly willing to grant that many of the things Custer does in this novel could have been done at that time. I will even agree that a national hero such as Custer would have been after winning the Battle of the Little Bighorn could be swept to the Presidency (although Custer's narrow victory in the election does not ring true to me, even if the man was a Democrat). What I find hard to believe is that a President Custer would have been so visionary. When he works out diplomatic solutions to get both Geronimo and Sitting Bull back to their reservations, it is clear that Skimin and Moody are offering us a different Custer than the egotistical daredevil of history's current judgment. Then again, this only underscores that the character is ultimately only a device that allows the authors to shape their alternative America, so there is a logic to their alterations. However, the ending of "Custer's Luck" conveniently frees Skimin from having to finish what he has started. The significant changes that should be at the heart of this alternative history are therefore secondary to the parade of historical figures Custer and his cohorts encounter in the novel. To say the least, I find this to be an unsatisfactory way of concluding this story, essentially negating much of the momentum Skimin and Moody had in creating their alternate America.