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Truman

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Truman Book Cover Truman
David McCullough
Simon Schuster
6/14/1993
Audiobook
1120

The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson—and dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man—a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined—but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges. The last president to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, Truman’s story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur. Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman’s own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary “man from Missouri” who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.

James K. Polk

A Country of Vast Designs

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A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent Book Cover A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent
Robert W. Merry
Simon Schuster
11/3/2009
Audiobook
575 pages

When James K. Polk was elected president in 1844, the United States was locked in a bitter diplomatic struggle with Britain over the rich lands of the Oregon Territory, which included what is now Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Texas, not yet part of the Union, was threatened by a more powerful Mexico. And the territories north and west of Texas -- what would become California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and part of Colorado -- belonged to Mexico. When Polk relinquished office four years later, the country had grown by more than a third as all these lands were added. The continental United States, as we know it today, was established -- facing two oceans and positioned to dominate both.

I basically knew nothing about James Polk before reading this book beyond that he came after Tyler and before Taylor. I found the story of his presidency immediately relateable to modern politics. The trials that he went through are amazing and the success he had in both completing the tasks he laid out for himself and sticking to his promise of only one term are impressive. The book was well written and kept my interest the entire time. I listened to the audio book, so I’d imagine that a second reading would help me pick up more tidbits.

I found the information about the Mexican-American War especially fascinating. I knew very little about this war, let alone the machinations that went into it’s development and ultimate settlement. The time restraints on communication alone bring such a different element to diplomacy from today’s immediate notification that it almost becomes unbelievable.

Overall, a very good book that I found highly entertaining and informative.

George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan

Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents

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Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents Book Cover Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents
Bob Greene
Three Rivers Press
10/25/2005
Audiobook
304 pages

What if you set off on a vacation trip in search of history—and your destination was the men who had been president? Asking himself that tantalizing question, bestselling author Bob Greene embarked on a long journey across the nation, hoping to spend time with Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Ronald Reagan. The result of his odyssey is Fraternity.

I had hoped that this book would have some deep insights into the lives of Presidents and show the behind the scenes story of the presidency. But, instead it answered questions on how the President gets his groceries, and what name his friends call him by. I think the most annoying thing was listening to the inane questions the author asked. When I found that I had mistakenly returned the last disk before I listened to it, I didn’t feel any loss and gladly set it aside.

Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

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Woodrow Wilson Book Cover Woodrow Wilson
Louis Auchincloss
Penguin Lives
March 2000
144

One of our most esteemed writers and critics paints a deeply insightful portrait of the greatest political mastermind of a century 

Our twenty-eighth president was, says Louis Auchincloss, "the greatest idealist who ever occupied the White House." And who better than Auchincloss, with his penchant for quirky personalities and fascination with fin-de-sicle society, to explore this complex persona? 

Woodrow Wilson sheds new light on Wilson's upbringing and career, from the grim determination that enabled him to overcome dyslexia to the skillful dance of isolationism and intervention in World War I to the intransigence that--despite his most cherished vision--caused the Senate's rejection of the League of Nations. Here, from the dynamic figure whose ringing speeches hypnotized vast crowds to the gentle voice reading poetry aloud and the comic star of family skits and charades to the rising academic and president of Princeton who made the giant leap into politics are all the triumphs and final tragic irony of this flawed apostle of world peace.

Auchincloss brings too much of his own political opinions and recent events. Other than that, it was informative and brought up new information about Wilson that I hadn’t realized before such as his temper and the multiple strokes he had before the major one that took him out of action in the White House.

Andrew Jackson

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

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American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House Book Cover American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Jon Meacham
Random House
January 2008
483

Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy.

I knew very little about Andrew Jackson going into this book, and it moved him up in my list of great American Presidents a great deal and explains why he was important enough to be on the $20 bill.  He was truly a president that changed how the presidency was perceived only 40 some years after it’s inception.  He established the executive branch as a strong authority and one to be contended with by Congress. He had a lot of tragedy in his life, and could be a very cold and demanding person at times, but he did seem to have the average American at heart in what he did. I felt very sorry for his adopted nephew Andrew Donaldson and his family, and their story really highlighted the fact that Washington politics have been silly and petty for the entire life of our nation.

Franklin D Roosevelt

The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

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The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope Book Cover The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
Jonathan Alter
Simon & Schuster
April 2006
414

This is the story of a political miracle -- the perfect match of man and moment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March of 1933 as America touched bottom. Banks were closing everywhere. Millions of people lost everything. The Great Depression had caused a national breakdown. With the craft of a master storyteller, Jonathan Alter brings us closer than ever before to the Roosevelt magic. Facing the gravest crisis since the Civil War, FDR used his cagey political instincts and ebullient temperament in the storied first Hundred Days of his presidency to pull off an astonishing conjuring act that lifted the country and saved both democracy and capitalism. 

Franklin D Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt Book Cover Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The American Presidents
Roy Jenkins, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Macmillan Audio
November 2003
192

A protean figure and a man of massive achievement, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only man to be elected to the presidency more than twice. In a ranking of chief executives, no more than three of his predecessors could truly be placed in contention with his standing, and of his successors, there are so far none. 

Jimmy Carter

An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood

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An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood Book Cover An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood
Jimmy Carter
Simon & Schuster
January 2001
288

In An Hour Before Daylight, Jimmy Carter, bestselling author of Living Faith and Sources of Strength, re-creates his Depression-era boyhood on a Georgia farm before the civil rights movement forever changed it and the country. Carter writes about the powerful rhythms of countryside and community in a sharecropping economy, offering an unforgettable portrait of his father, a brilliant farmer and a strict segregationist who treated black workers with respect and fairness; his strong-willed and well-read mother; and the five other people who shaped his early life, three of whom were black. 
Carter's clean and eloquent prose evokes a time when the cycles of life were predictable and simple and the rules were heartbreaking and complex. In his singular voice and with a novelist's gift for detail, Jimmy Carter creates a sensitive portrait of an era that shaped the nation and recounts a classic, American story of enduring importance.