Talk:William Dodd (ambassador)

message: I added some information drawn from Dodd's commentary to the 1938 translation of the Nazi Primer.  I own an original version of the text which has no ISBN.  I attempted to check online for the ISBN, but noted only modern translations and am unsure whether they contain his commentary.  If anyone knows if they do, please add the ISBN Franklin Moore 03:00, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Nazi Primer Commentary

message: I'm not sure about the ISBN of his published diary because I just own an old german translation of the book. It's titled Diplomat auf heißem Boden, subtitle Tagebuch des USA-Botschafters in Berlin 1933-1938. There isn't any ISBN given, but the original title, publisher and copyright (Martha Dodd, 1941). Minkus (talk) 00:31, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Books 

message: The user user:Betempte has just added a large amount of text, rewritten from In the Garden of Beasts.  While I appreciate the enthusiasm and well-written prose, it seems like the content is not exactly right for Wikipedia. That is, the content is about one very specific moment in Dodd's life--his appointment as ambassador--and talks about a few very specific events related to that: some otherwise historically unimportant people he met in the days before he left for Berlin. That level of info is fine for an entire book, but rather too specific for one Wikipedia page and not I think notable enough for the Wikipedia page for Dodd. The info is more relevant to setting up the zeitgeist for 1933 than for talking about Dodd's accomplishments and actions. I don't want to delete it without discussion since I don't want to unilaterally dismiss the writer's efforts.QuizzicalBee (talk) 05:50, 25 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I take issue with user QuizzicalBee. The documented information I provided is vital to an understanding of Dodd’s record as American Ambassador to Germany during the critical Nazi period. The individuals mentioned are NOT “historically unimportant people,” in Dodd’s biography. They were highly placed officials in the State Dept, close, trusted presidential advisors or those whose connections made them important sources of government affairs and mindset at that period of time. That he met with these people prior to his departure for Berlin is significant as it informed his philosophy and therefore his actions once he arrived in Germany. However the legacy of Dodd’s tenure as ambassador may be judged, it is critical to know and understand the forces, (“zeitgeist”) that shaped his performance. Betempte (talk) 19:16, 25 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text:  Well, it looks like it might just be Betempte, me, and Bmclaughlin9 who are active on this page (surprising given the popularity of In the Garden of Beasts). I'm not going to delete anything Betempte has written, because there are too few people for a consensus. But can I recommend to you, Betempte, that you keep in mind the comments I and Bmclaughlin9 have made about your additions? I am guessing you are planning to make many more additions, and if so, just please remember that this page is about Dodd and he should be the focus. You're right that I did overstate my case when I said "historically unimportant people". Really, only Charles Richard Crane was historically unimportant, so the kind of detail that includes him is, I think, excessive, IF you have also included anecdotes of a similar nature about others, so your point is made even without him. It's an interesting anecdote and was appropriate for a book, but too detailed for Wikipedia. So while you are forbidden from doing any original research, I do believe you can summarize some of the observations made by Erik Larson in a way that is shorter than what is there now. Otherwise, if you treat the rest of Dodd's life with the same detail, it will be an extremely long entry.QuizzicalBee (talk) 23:48, 26 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Recent additions

message: Several notes, e.g. 22 and 66, refer to Tansill and page, but no source with an author by that name is provided. Does "Tansill" refer to Back Door to War: The Roosevelt Foreign Policy, 1933-1941, by Charles Callan Tansill?99.156.167.246 (talk) 22:08, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes. Added to sources now. Bmclaughlin9 (talk) 18:17, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Missing Source - Tansill 

message: Having listened to an audio version of Eric Larson's cited book, I did some out-of-library cleanup of this article. I believe Dodd was one of the founders of the Southern Historical Society and may have been the first editor of its Journal of Southern History. However, I'm writing in a fast food restaurant on Sunday morning and even the correct version of the organization's web page does not describe its history. I don't know when or if I'll be able to consult the cited Bailey and Stephenson articles.Jweaver28 (talk) 13:15, 7 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  more work needed