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books tagged “American presidents” (American Presidents)
books tagged “American presidents”
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Abe Lincolnby Sterling NorthISBN 083351010X (0-8335-1010-X)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Abe Lincoln'Book summary:A biography of Abraham Lincoln, focusing on his childhood spent in poverty on the Midwestern frontier, and chronicling his rise to the Presidency and the highlights of his tenure. [via]
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Abraham Lincolnby Margaret Holland, Dick SmolinskiISBN 0874065631 (0-87406-563-1)
Softcover, Lerner Pub Group
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Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer Presidentby Allen C. GuelzoISBN 0802842933 (0-8028-4293-3)
Softcover, Eerdmans Pub Co
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Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858by Abraham Lincoln, Don E. FehrenbacherISBN 0940450437 (0-940450-43-7)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858'Book summary:With over 100,000 copies in print, here, with a new jacket for Lincolns bicentennial, is the first volume in The Library of Americas acclaimed, comprehensive edition of Lincolns writings, featuring 240 speeches, letters, and drafts charting his rise from rural law practice to national prominence. It includes the full texts of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates and the House Divided speech, as well as a detailed chronology of Lincolns life and helpful explanatory notes prepared by the late Lincoln scholar Don E. Fehrenbacher.
??The companion volume, also available in a bicentennial edition, is Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865. [via]More editions of Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858:
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All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writingsby George BushISBN 0743200411 (0-7432-0041-1)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings'Book summary:Though reticent in public, George Bush has openly shared his private thoughts in his correspondence throughout his life. Fortunately since the former president does not plan on writing his autobiography, this collection of letters, diary entries and memos, with his accompanying commentary will fill the void. Organised chronologically, the volume begins with the eighteen year-old George's letters to his parents during World War II, where he was one of the youngest commisioned Navy pilot's. Reader's will gain an insight into the highlights in Bush's career and of course his vice-presidency and presidency. They will also observe a devoted husband and father, with letters ranging from the serious to the nutty, this collection provides a surprisingly intimate and insightful portrayal of the forty-first president of the United States. [via]
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America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotationsby William J. FedererISBN 1880563053 (1-880563-05-3)
Softcover, Amerisearch Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations'Book summary:With over 2,100 quotations from approximately 700 sources, this exhaustive reference tool contains inspiring quotations ranging from the Magna Carta (1215) to the 1990s. Included are founding fathers, presidents, statesmen, constitutions, court decisions, military heroes, business leaders, scientists, inventors, ministers from a variety of denominations, African-American leaders, musicians, educators, authors, artists, women leaders, British leaders, and more.
Ideal for students, teachers, home schoolers, attorneys, journalists, speakers, politicians, and others, this book has received raving reviews from people in many walks of life, such as attorneys, parents teachers, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, U.S. presidential candidates, former U.S. presidential cabinet member, ministers, authors, etc.
This book was one of the top five finalists in the Reference Works category of ECPA's prestigious Gold Medallian Book Awards and was nominated for the Freedoms Foundation George Washington Honor Medal in 1995. Illustrated. Fully footnoted. [via]
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The American Presidentsby David C. Whitney, Robin Vaughn WhitneyISBN 0895778653 (0-89577-865-3)
Hardcover, Readers Digest
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The American Presidents'Book summary:Concise but thorough profiles of the forty-one presidents of the United States furnish a detailed portrait of each man, an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, personal anecdotes, and important facts about their terms of office. Original. [via]
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The American Presidents: Biographies of the Chief Executives from Washington Through Clintonby David C. WhitneyISBN 1568650310 (1-56865-031-0)
Softcover, Putnam Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The American Presidents: Biographies of the Chief Executives from Washington Through Clinton'Book summary:Concise but thorough profiles of the forty-one presidents of the United States furnish a detailed portrait of each man, an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, personal anecdotes, and important facts about their terms of office. Original. [via]
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American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jeffersonby Joseph J. EllisISBN 0679764410 (0-679-76441-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'Book summary:Well timed to coincide with Ken Burns's documentary (on which the author served as a consultant), this new biography doesn't aim to displace the many massive tomes about America's third president that already weigh down bookshelves. Instead, as suggested by the subtitle--"The Character of Thomas Jefferson"--Ellis searches for the "living, breathing person" underneath the icon and tries to elucidate his actual beliefs. Jefferson's most ardent admirers may find this perspective too critical, but Ellis's portrait of a complex, sometimes devious man who both sought and abhorred power has the ring of truth. [via]
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- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson: ISBN 0679444904 (0-679-44490-4)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc - American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson: ISBN 0783890761 (0-7838-9076-1)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr - American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson: ISBN 0679764410 (0-679-76441-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson: ISBN 0679444904 (0-679-44490-4)
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The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Mythby Lloyd Lewis, Mark E. NeelyISBN 1567314090 (1-56731-409-0)
Hardcover, Fine Communications
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth'Book summary:The Civil War officially ended at Appomattox soon after President Lincolns second inauguration. During his first term he had been widely viewed by special-interest groups as a good-natured, indecisive bungler, and worse. In the South he was still despised, and many in the North, especially the radicals in the Republican party, distrusted and derided his leniency toward the vanquished. On the evening of April 14, 1865, an assassins bullet irrevocably altered the way Abraham Lincoln would be viewed by Americans. In life a cunning politician, Lincoln became in death a selfless martyr. Lloyd Lewis explicates the mythology that evolved out of Lincolns death, the outpouring of national grief, the pursuit of John Wilkes booth and the conspirators, booths fate, and the frequent moving and reburial of Lincolns coffin.[via]More editions of The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth:
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Assassination Vacationby Sarah VowellISBN 074326004X (0-7432-6004-X)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Assassination Vacation'Book summary:A New York Times Bestseller
Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, she visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood. The resulting narrative is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture. [via]
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The Autobiography and Other Writingsby Benjamin Franklin, Thomas J. FlemingISBN 0882250310 (0-88225-031-0)
Hardcover, Newsweek
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklinby Benjamin Franklin, Charles W. EliotISBN 140650551X (1-4065-0551-X)
Softcover, Dodo Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'Book summary:Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is one of the most famous works in American literature. He started it as a private collection of anecdotes for his son, but soon it was transformed into a work of history. This is a charming, self-portrait of one of America's greatest forefathers. [via]
More editions of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 1420922386 (1-4209-2238-6)
Softcover, Digireads.Com - The Autobiography of Ben Franklin: ISBN 1595479562 (1-59547-956-2)
Softcover, Nuvision Pubns - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 1853265640 (1-85326-564-0)
Softcover, Wordsworth Edition - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 1588276686 (1-58827-668-6)
Hardcover, Indypublish.Com - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 1592247652 (1-59224-765-2)
Hardcover, Wildside Pr - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0812219295 (0-8122-1929-5)
Softcover, Univ of Pennsylvania Pr - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0899664164 (0-89966-416-4)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 080490071X (0-8049-0071-X)
Softcover, Airmont Pub Co - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 140650551X (1-4065-0551-X)
Softcover, Dodo Pr
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 1420922386 (1-4209-2238-6)
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Ben Franklin America's Original Entrepreneur: Americas Original Enterpreneur Franklin's Autobiography Adapted for Modern Timesby Blaine McCormickISBN 1932531688 (1-932531-68-8)
Hardcover, Entrepreneur Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Ben Franklin America's Original Entrepreneur: Americas Original Enterpreneur Franklin's Autobiography Adapted for Modern Times'Book summary:Audio [via]
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Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina And the Drowning of New Orleansby Jed HorneISBN 1400065526 (1-4000-6552-6)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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Character of John Adamsby Peter ShawISBN 0807812544 (0-8078-1254-4)
Hardcover, Univ of North Carolina Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Character of John Adams'Book summary:This 324-page hardcover, published in 1976, appears crisp, unread and in new condition in everyway, except there is no dustcover. See our 4 photos of this book without the dustcover, on a white sheet. [via]
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Chester Alan Arthur: The American Presidentsby Zachary KarabellISBN 0805069518 (0-8050-6951-8)
Hardcover, Times Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Chester Alan Arthur: The American Presidents'Book summary:The Gilded Age bon vivant who became America's unlikeliest chief executive-and who presided over a sweeping reform of the system that nurtured him[via]
Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880-despite his never having run for office before.
Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt "spoils system." To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come.
Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president-of whom so little was expected-rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House.More editions of Chester Alan Arthur: The American Presidents:
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The Dark Side of Camelotby Seymour M. HershISBN 1568955456 (1-56895-545-6)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Dark Side of Camelot'Book summary:If the Kennedys are America's royal family, then John F. Kennedy was the nation's crown prince. Magnetic, handsome, and charismatic, his perfectly coifed image overshadowed the successes and failures of his presidency, and his assassination cemented his near-mythological status in American culture and politics. Struck down in his prime, he represented the best and the brightest of America's future, and when he died, part of the nation's promise and innocence went with him. That, at least, is the public version of the story.
The private version, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour M. Hersh, is quite different. His meticulous investigation of Kennedy has revealed a wealth of indiscretions and malfeasance, ranging from frequent liaisons with prostitutes and mistresses to the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro to involvement in organized crime. Though scandals in the White House are nothing new, Hersh maintains that Kennedy's activities went beyond minor abuses of power and personal indulgences: they threatened the security of the nation--particularly in the realm of foreign policy--and the integrity of the office. Hersh believes it was only a matter of time before Kennedy's dealings were exposed, and only his popularity and charm, compounded by his premature death, spared such an investigation for so long. Exposure was further stalled by Bobby Kennedy's involvement in nefarious dealings, enabling him to bury any investigation of his brother and--by extension--himself.
Based on interviews with former Kennedy administration officials, former Secret Service agents, and hundreds of Kennedy's personal friends and associates, The Dark Side of Camelot rewrites the history of John F. Kennedy and his presidency. [via]
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Dutchby Edmund MorrisISBN 0375756450 (0-375-75645-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dutch'Book summary:Why did Pulitzer-winning Theodore Roosevelt biographer Edmund Morris controversially choose to write his authorized biography of Ronald Reagan in the form of a historical novel? There's a clue in a quote the book attributes to Jane Wyman, Reagan's first wife. As Ronnie speechified about the Red Menace at a 1940s Hollywood party, Wyman allegedly whispered to a friend, "I'm so bored with him, I'll either kill him or kill myself." This anecdote, if true, is more revealing than Nancy Reagan's charge in the book that Jane had attempted suicide to get Ronnie to marry her in the first place. Jane was no intellectual--Morris cracks that "If Jane had ever heard of Finland, she probably thought it was an aquarium"--but he found to his horror, after years of research, that he felt much the same as Wyman. Reagan was as boring as a box of rocks, as elusive as a ghost.
Decades before Alzheimer's clouded Reagan's mind, he showed a terrifying lack of human presence. "I was real proud when Dad came to my high school commencement," reports his son, Michael Reagan. After posing for photos with Michael and his classmates, the future president came up to him, looked right in his eyes, and said, "Hi, my name's Ronald Reagan. What's yours?" Poor Michael replied, "Dad, it's me. Your son. Mike."
Despite deep research and unprecedented access--no previous biography has ever been authorized by a sitting president--Morris could get no closer to Reagan's elusive soul than Reagan's own kids could. So Morris decided to dramatize Reagan's life with several invented characters--including a fictionalized version of himself and an imaginary gossip columnist who makes wicked comments on Reagan's career. This is one weird tactic, forcing the reader constantly to consult the footnotes at the back of the book to sort things out, and Morris makes it tougher by presenting his invented characters as real, even in the footnotes.
Ultimately, the hubbub over Morris's odd method is beside the point. His speculative entry into Reagan's life and mind is plausible, dramatic, literary, and lit by dazzling flashes of insight. The narrator watches the young Reagan as a lifeguard (years before the real Morris was born):
One tunnels along in a shroud of silvery bubbles, insulated from any sight or sound.... Others may swim alongside for a while, but their individuality tends to refract away, through the bubbles and the blur. Often I have marveled at Reagan's cool, unhurried progress through crises of politics and personnel, and thought to myself, He sees the world as a swimmer sees it.
We cannot verify Morris's notion that Reagan probably approved the illegal Iran-Contra funding without having a clue it was illegal, or that the "Star Wars" program sprang from his love of Edgar Rice Burroughs's first novel, A Princess of Mars, which featured glass-domed cities. But however bizarre and ignorant his thoughts were, however cold his heart, Morris believes, the guy did crush the Evil Empire and achieve greatness. Morris achieves a kind of greatness, too, but one wishes he had written a more straightforward dramatization of history. --Tim Appelo [via]
Dwight D. Eisenhowerby Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Tom WickerISBN 0805069070 (0-8050-6907-0)
Hardcover, Times Books
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Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraqby Thomas E. RicksISBN 159420103X (1-59420-103-X)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq'Book summary:Fiasco is a more strongly worded title than you might expect a seasoned military reporter such as Thomas E. Ricks to use, accustomed as he is to the even-handed style of daily newspaper journalism. But Ricks, the Pentagon correspondent for the Washington Post and the author of the acclaimed account of Marine Corps boot camp, Making the Corps, has written a thorough and devastating history of the war in Iraq from the planning stages through the continued insurgency in early 2006, and he does not shy away from naming those he finds responsible. His tragic story is divided in two. The first part--the runup to the war and the invasion in 2003--is familiar from books like Cobra II and Plan of Attack, although Ricks uses his many military sources to portray an officer class that was far more skeptical of the war beforehand than generally reported. But the heart of his book is the second half, beginning in August 2003, when, as he writes, the war really began, with the bombing of the Jordanian embassy and the emergence of the insurgency. His strongest critique is that the U.S. military failed to anticipate--and then failed to recognize--the insurgency, and tried to fight it with conventional methods that only fanned its flames. What makes his portrait particularly damning are the dozens of military sources--most of them on record--who join in his critique, and the thousands of pages of internal documents he uses to make his case for a war poorly planned and bravely but blindly fought. --Tom Nissley
Making a Fiasco
Thomas Ricks spent five tours in Iraq during the war, reporting for the Washington Post and researching and writing Fiasco. Like many of the officers he most admires, when he wanted to understand what was happening as American troops encountered stronger and longer-lived resistance to the occupation than expected, he turned to recent and classic accounts of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, from the U.S. occupation of the Philippines through the lessons of Vietnam, and he reports on his favorites for us in his list of the 10 books for understanding Iraq that aren't about Iraq. You can also get a glimpse into his writing process with a much different list he has prepared for us: the music he listened to while writing and researching the book, from Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell to Ryan Adams and Josh Ritter. And he took the time to answer a few questions about Fiasco: Amazon.com: As military correspondent for the Post, you have made five trips to Iraq over the last four years. How has it changed over that time?
Thomas E. Ricks: It has been markedly worse each time, in terms of security. On my first trip, in April-May 2003, we would walk out on the streets of Baghdad at night, albeit with caution. Even on my second trip, in the summer of 2003, I would feel comfortable hopping in a car and driving 100 miles north from Baghdad to Tikrit. To do either of those things now would be suicidal. In January and February of this year, Baghdad felt worse to me Mogadishu did when I was there in 1993 or Sarajevo did when I was there a few years later. It appeared to me that there was no security, except what you provided for yourself with armed men and careful planning. One Army major described the city to me as being in "the pure Hobbesian state" in which everybody is fighting everybody.
By the way, contrary to what I see asserted occasionally, most reporters don't live in the Green Zone, the walled-off area in central Baghdad that is the headquarters of the American effort in Iraq. Reporters live out in the city, and I think generally have a better feel for what is going on than do people living in the Zone or on big American military bases. In the area of Baghdad I stayed in, I constantly heard gunfire and explosions. Yet an American colonel told me that my neighborhood was deemed "secure." I think that really meant that U.S. troops could drive through it while heavily armed--say, with a .50 caliber machine gun atop a Humvee--and usually not be attacked.
I worry that what the Americans measure are threats to U.S. troops and the killings of Iraqis. That neglects a huge spectrum of other significant activities--rapes, robberies, kidnappings, acts of extortion, and, most importantly, acts of violent intimidation.
Amazon.com: You cite many strategic errors in the planning and execution of the war, but perhaps the central one is that the U.S. military leadership failed to recognize that they were fighting an insurgency, and their methods of fighting in fact helped to create that insurgency. Can you explain those methods, and their effects?
Ricks: The U.S. military that went into Iraq in 2003 was the best military in the world for fighting another military. But it was woefully unprepared for the task at hand. For example, U.S. military culture believes in bringing overwhelming force to bear. Yet classic counterinsurgency doctrine calls for using only the minimal amount of force necessary to get the job done. U.S. soldiers and their commanders, untrained and unschooled in the difficult art of counterinsurgency, tended to improvise. So in the summer of 2003, some soldiers in Baghdad decided that the best way to deter looters was to make them cry--and they sometimes did this by threatening to shoot the children of looters, and even conducting mock executions.
More broadly, the Army in the fall of 2003 fell back on what it knew how to do, which was conduct large-scale "cordon-and-sweep" operations. These missions scarfed up thousands of Iraqis, most of them fence-sitting neutrals, and detained them. U.S. military intelligence officials later concluded that 85% of those detained were of no intelligence value. The detention experience frequently was humiliating for Iraqis, a violation of another key counterinsurgency principle: Treat your prisoners well. (Your readers who want to know more about this should read a terrific little book by David Galula titled Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice.)
Not every unit was ineffective or counterproductive. I was struck at how successful the 101st Airborne was in Mosul in 2003-04. And some units showed remarkable improvement--the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment had a mediocre first tour of duty in Iraq, but when it went back in 2005 for a second tour, it did extremely well. Col. H.R. McMaster, the regimental commander (and author of a very good book about the Vietnam War, Dereliction of Duty) told his troops that, "Every time you disrespect an Iraqi, you are working for the enemy." I was especially struck by how his regiment handled its prisoners--it even had a program called "Ask the Customer" that quizzed detainees when they were released about whether they felt treated well. This recognized the lesson of past wars that the best way to end an insurgency is to get its leaders to put down their guns and enter the political system, and to get the rank-and-file to desert or switch sides. But it will be harder to discuss the sewage system with the new mayor next year if your troops beat him in his cell when he was your prisoner last year.
Amazon.com: But today's military leadership was formed in Vietnam, when all of those lessons of counterinsurgency were supposedly learned before. Why didn't that experience translate into a preparation for the current conflict?
Ricks: Military experts, such at Andrew Krepinevich (The Army and Vietnam) and Lt. Col. John Nagl (Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife) say that after that war ended, the Army washed its hands of the entire experience and essentially concluded that it was never going to do anything like that again. It was almost as if the very word "counterinsurgency" was banned from official Army discourse.
In Iraq, there was a tiny minority of American soldiers early on who understood how to win the occupation. These generally were civil affairs officers and other Special Forces types. But their wisdom often was disregarded. "What you are seeing here is an unconventional war being fought conventionally," one Special Forces lieutenant colonel glumly commented one day in Baghdad.
Amazon.com: You've been writing about the military for the Post and the Wall Street Journal for years now, and Fiasco is built from the testimony of a remarkable array of sources up and down the chain of command, some off the record but many more on the record. Can you talk about your sources? Is this level of public criticism of a war from within the military precedented??
Ricks: Yeah, reporting the book was a pretty emotional experience. Even having covered this war as it unfolded, I was taken aback by the rage that some officers felt toward the Bush Administration, and especially toward Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. And also toward Paul Wolfowitz, who was then the no. 2 guy at the Pentagon. I think the rage is probably like what the military felt about Robert McNamara during the Vietnam War. What is unprecedented, I think, is that many officers had doubts about the wisdom of invading Iraq, especially in the way we did it.
The emotions also hit me pretty hard at times, especially when I was writing my chapter 13, about how widespread abuse was by American soldiers in 2003-04, often because they hadn't been trained for the mission they faced. I have spent more than 15 years covering the military. I tend to like and admire these people. So when I learned about a 4th Infantry Division soldier shooting an unarmed, handcuffed Iraqi detainee in the stomach, and the investigating MPs saying the soldier should be charged with homicide, and instead the commander simply discharged the soldier from the Army--well, that bothered me.
Another thing that struck me with sources was the mountain of information that was available. I read over 30,000 pages of documents for this book. At the end of one interview a guy gave me a CD-ROM with every e-mail he had sent to Ambassador Bremer, who ran the civilian end of the first year of the occupation. Other people showed me diaries, unit logs, official briefings, and such. Also the ACLU did a great job of obtaining and releasing piles of official U.S. military documents related to abuse--so I could see the time stamp on an e-mail in which an intelligence officer stated that "the gloves are coming off" in interrogations, and one soldier recommended blows to the chest while another wrote back recommending low-level electrocution.
Unfortunately the Army wouldn't release the details of citations for valorous acts by soldiers, which means that the Pentagon made it easier for me to learn about the sins of soldiers than about their acts of bravery. The Marine Corps did give me those "narratives" that support the bestowing of medals, which I really appreciated. Those documents really brought home to me the fierceness of the two Battles of Fallujah, in April and November 2004--probably the toughest fighting American troops have seen since Hue and Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War.
Amazon.com: In the last section of the book, you project a variety of possible scenarios for the next 10 years in the Middle East, mostly grim ones, and just in the past two weeks the sudden violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is leading to talk of a wider regional conflict. Where do you think those events are leading us?
Ricks: We are really in unexplored territory. We are carrying out the first-ever U.S. occupation of an Arab nation. This is also almost the first time we have engaged in sustained combat ground war with an all-volunteer force. (I think the suppression of the Philippines insurrection might count as a small precedent.)
Even more significantly, I think the Bush Administration doesn't really like "stability" in the Middle East. In its view, "stability" has been the goal of previous administrations, but pursuing it led to 9/11. It is not the goal, it is the target. So they are for rolling the dice, both in Iraq and in Lebanon. I think the big worry is those wars spilling over borders. Fasten your seat belts.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous With Destinyby Frank FreidelISBN 094570738X (0-945707-38-X)
Hardcover, Amer Political Biography Pr
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George Washingtonby Keith BrandtISBN 081670256X (0-8167-0256-X)
Hardcover, Troll Communications Llc
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George Washington's Worldby Joanna Foster, Genevieve FosterISBN 096438034X (0-9643803-4-X)
Softcover, Legion Pub Corp
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George Washington's World'Book summary:1942 Newbery Honor Title
The period measured by the life of George Washington 1732 to 1799 was one of revolution and change in many parts of the world as Enlightenment thinking took hold in the minds of men. When George was a young man, Benjamin Franklin was the most well-known American, Louis XV was on the throne of France, and George II was king of England. Father Junipero Serra had just arrived in Mexico to work with the Panes Indians. Mozart and Bach were writing their immortal music and Voltaire warred with his pen against Ignorance, Injustice and Superstition. The young nobleman Lafayette watched the feisty American colonies with fascinated interest as they stood up to Mother England when she sought to tax them unfairly. James Cook was sent by the Royal Society of London to Tahiti where their team of astronomers might observe a total eclipse of the sun and thereby accurately measure the distance between the earth and the sun. These are just a few of the wonderful narratives explored by Foster in her Newbery Honor Book of 1940. Prolifically illustrated with intriguing line drawings and detailed timelines, Foster's telling of the life story of George Washington does justice to the man it celebrates. [via]
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His Excellency: George Washingtonby Joseph J. EllisISBN 1400032539 (1-4000-3253-9)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'His Excellency: George Washington'Book summary:As commander of the Continental army, George Washington united the American colonies, defeated the British army, and became the world's most famous man. But how much do we really know about the first president of the United States? Today, as Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph J. Ellis says in this crackling biography, Americans see their first president on dollar bills, quarters, and Mount Rushmore, but only as "an icon--distant, cold, intimidating." In truth, Washington was a deeply emotional man, but one who prized and practiced self-control (an attribute reinforced during his years on the battlefield).
Washington first gained recognition as a 21-year-old emissary for the governor of Virginia, braving savage conditions to confront encroaching French forces. As the de facto leader of the American Revolution, he not only won the country's independence, but helped shape its political personality and "topple the monarchical and aristocratic dynasties of the Old World." When the Congress unanimously elected him president, Washington accepted reluctantly, driven by his belief that the union's very viability depended on a powerful central government. In fact, keeping the country together in the face of regional allegiances and the rise of political parties may be his greatest presidential achievement.
Based on Washington's personal letters and papers, His Excellency is smart and accessible (not to mention relatively brief, in comparison to other encyclopedic presidential tomes)--Ellis's short, succinct sentences speak volumes, allowing readers to glimpse the man behind the myth. --Andy Boynton
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Curious about George?
Amazon.com reveals a few facts about the legendary first president of the United States
Washington bust by Jean Antoine Houdon.
Courtesy of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Assoc.1. The famous tale about Washington chopping down the cherry tree ("Father, I cannot tell a lie") is a complete fabrication.
2. George Washington never threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River--in fact, to do so from the shore of his Mount Vernon home would have been physically impossible.
3. George Washington did not wear wooden teeth. His poorly-fitting false teeth were in fact made of cow's teeth, human teeth, and elephant ivory set in a lead base.
4. Early in his life, Washington was himself a slave owner. His opinions changed after he commanded a multi-racial army in the Revolutionary War. He eventually came to recognize slavery as "a massive American anomaly."
5. In 1759, having resigned as Virginia's military commander to become a planter, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis. Washingtons marriage to the colony's wealthiest widow dramatically changed his life, catapulting him into Virginia aristocracy.
6. Scholars have discredited suggestions that Washington's marriage to Martha lacked passion, as well as the provocative implications of the well worn phrase "George Washington slept here."
7. Washington held his first public office when he was 17 years old, as surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia.
8. At age 20, despite no prior military experience, Washington was appointed an adjutant in the Virginia militia, in which he oversaw several militia companies, and was assigned the rank of major.
9. As a Virginia aristocrat, Washington ordered all his coats, shirts, pants, and shoes from London. However, most likely due to the misleading instructions he gave his tailor, the suits almost never fit. Perhaps this is why he appears in an old military uniform in his 1772 portrait.
10. In 1751, during a trip to Barbados with his half-brother Lawrence, Washington was stricken with smallpox and permanently scarred. Fortunately, this early exposure made him immune to the disease that would wipe out colonial troops during the Revolutionary War.
Timeline
Important Dates in George Washington's Life
Engraving of Mount Vernon, 1804. Courtesy of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Assoc. 1732: George Washington is born at his father's estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
1743: Georges father, Augustine Washington, dies.
1752: At age 20, despite the fact that he has never served in the military, Washington is appointed adjutant in the Virginia militia, with the rank of major.
1753: As an emissary to Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, he travels to the Ohio River valley to confront French forces--the first of a series of encounters that would lead to the French and Indian War.
1755: Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of Virginia's militia.
1759: He marries wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis.
1774: Washington is elected to the First Continental Congress.
1775: He is unanimously elected by the Continental Congress as its army's commander-in-chief. Start of the American Revolution.
1776: On Christmas day, Washington leads his army across the Delaware River, and launches a successful attack against Hessian troops in Trenton, New Jersey.
1781: With the French, he defeats British troops in Yorktown, Virginia, precipitating the end of the war.
1783: The Revolutionary War officially ends.
1788: The Constitution is ratified.
1789: Washington is elected president.
1797: He fulfills his last term as president.
1799: Washington dies on December 14, sparking a period of national mourning.
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An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhoodby Jimmy CarterISBN 0743211995 (0-7432-1199-5)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood'Book summary:Born on October 1, 1924, Jimmy Carter grew up on a Georgia farm during the Great Depression. In An Hour Before Daylight, the former president tells the story of his rural boyhood, and paints a sensitive portrait of America before the civil rights movement.
Carter describes--in glorious, if sometimes gory, detail--growing up on a farm where everything was done by either hand or mule: plowing fields, "mopping" cotton to kill pests, cutting sugar cane, shaking peanuts, or processing pork. He also describes the joys of walking barefoot ("this habit alone helped to create a sense of intimacy with the earth"), taking naps with his father on the porch after lunch, and hunting with slingshots and boomerangs with his playmates--all of whom were black. Carter was in constant contact with his black neighbors; he worked alongside them, ate in their homes, and often spent the night in the home of Rachel and Jack Clark, "on a pallet on the floor stuffed with corn shucks," when his parents were away. However, this intimacy was possible only on the farm. When young Jimmy and his best friend, A.D. Davis, went to town to see a movie, they waited for the train together, paid their 15 cents, and then separated into "white" and "colored" compartments. Once in Americus, they walked to the theater together, but separated again, with Jimmy buying a seat on the main floor or first balcony at the front door, and A.D. going around to the back door to buy his seat up in the upper balcony. After the movie, they returned home on another segregated train. "I don't remember ever questioning the mandatory racial separation, which we accepted like breathing or waking up in Archery every morning."
In this warm, almost sepia-toned narrative, Carter describes his relationships with his parents and with the five people--only two of whom were white--who most affected his early life. Best of all, however, Carter presents his sweetly nostalgic recollections of a lost America. --Sunny Delaney [via]
More editions of An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood:
- An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of My Rural Boyhood: ISBN 0743212207 (0-7432-1220-7)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster - An Hour Before Daylight : Memories of a Rural Boyhood: ISBN 0743211936 (0-7432-1193-6)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster - An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood: ISBN 0743211995 (0-7432-1199-5)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
- An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of My Rural Boyhood: ISBN 0743212207 (0-7432-1220-7)
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James A. Garfieldby Ira RutkowISBN 080506950X (0-8050-6950-X)
Hardcover, Times Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'James A. Garfield'Book summary:The ambitious self-made man who reached the pinnacle of American politics--only to be felled by an assassin's bullet and to die at the hands of his doctors[via]
James A. Garfield was one of the Republican Party's leading lights in the years following the Civil War. Born in a log cabin, he rose to become a college president, Union Army general, and congressman--all by the age of thirty-two. Embodying the strive-and-succeed spirit that captured the imagination of Americans in his time, he was elected president in 1880. It is no surprise that one of his biographers was Horatio Alger.
Garfield's term in office, however, was cut tragically short. Just four months into his presidency, a would-be assassin approached Garfield at the Washington, D.C., railroad station and fired a single shot into his back. Garfield's bad luck was to have his fate placed in the care of arrogant physicians who did not accept the new theory of antisepsis. Probing the wound with unwashed and occasionally manure-laden hands, Garfield's doctors introduced terrible infections and brought about his death two months later.
Ira Rutkow, a surgeon and historian, offers an insightful portrait of Garfield and an unsparing narrative of the medical crisis that defined and destroyed his presidency. For all his youthful ambition, the only mark Garfield would make on the office would be one of wasted promise.More editions of James A. Garfield:
James Buchananby Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jean H. BakerISBN 0805069461 (0-8050-6946-1)
Hardcover, Times Books
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James Madisonby Garry WillsISBN 0805069054 (0-8050-6905-4)
Hardcover, Times Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'James Madison'Book summary:A bestselling historian examines the life of a Founding Father.[via]
Renowned historian and social commentator Garry Wills takes a fresh look at the life of James Madison, from his rise to prominence in the colonies through his role in the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the first Constitutional Congress.
Madison oversaw the first foreign war under the constitution, and was forced to adjust some expectations he had formed while drafting that document. Not temperamentally suited to be a wartime President, Madison nonetheless confronted issues such as public morale, internal security, relations with Congress, and the independence of the military. Wills traces Madison's later life during which, like many recent Presidents, he enjoyed greater popularity than while in office.More editions of James Madison:
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James Monroeby Gary HartISBN 0805069607 (0-8050-6960-7)
Hardcover, Henry Holt & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'James Monroe'Book summary:The former senator and presidential candidate offers a provocative new assessment of the first national security president[via]
James Monroe is remembered today primarily for two things: for being the last of the Virginia Dynasty following George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madisonand for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, his statement of principles in 1823 that the western hemisphere was to be considered closed to European intervention. But Gary Hart sees Monroe as a president ahead of his time, whose priorities and accomplishments in establishing Americas national security have a great deal in common with chief executives of our own time.
Unlike his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, Monroe was at his core a military man. He joined the Continental Army at the age of seventeen and served with distinction in many pivotal battles. (He is prominently featured at Washingtons side in the iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.) And throughout his career as a senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war, and president, he never lost sight of the fact that without secure borders and friendly relations with neighbors, the American people could never be truly safe in their independence. As president he embarked on an ambitious series of treaties, annexations, and military confrontations that would secure Americas homeland against foreign attack for nearly two hundred years. Hart details the accomplishments and priorities of this forward-looking president, whose security concerns clearly echo those we face in our time.More editions of James Monroe:
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James Monroe, Young Patriotby Rae Bains, Hal FrenckISBN 0816705585 (0-8167-0558-5)
Softcover, Andrews McMeel Publishing
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› Find signed collectible books: 'James Monroe, Young Patriot'Book summary:The "Easy Biographies" series focuses on the childhood and young-adult years of famous men and women who overcame obstacles to achieve greatness. Inspirational and informative reading for students with big dreams. [via]
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John Adamsby David Willis McCulloughISBN 0743223136 (0-7432-2313-6)
Softcover, Touchstone Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'John Adams'Book summary:Left to his own devices, John Adams might have lived out his days as a Massachusetts country lawyer, devoted to his family and friends. As it was, events swiftly overtook him, and Adams--who, David McCullough writes, was "not a man of the world" and not fond of politics--came to greatness as the second president of the United States, and one of the most distinguished of a generation of revolutionary leaders. He found reason to dislike sectarian wrangling even more in the aftermath of war, when Federalist and anti-Federalist factions vied bitterly for power, introducing scandal into an administration beset by other difficulties--including pirates on the high seas, conflict with France and England, and all the public controversy attendant in building a nation.
Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating. --Gregory McNamee [via]
John Adams, Brave Patriotby Laurence SantreyISBN 0816705607 (0-8167-0560-7)
Softcover, Troll Communications Llc
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John F. Kennedy and Pt-109by Richard TregaskisISBN 0394903994 (0-394-90399-4)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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John Quincy Adams: The American Presidentsby Robert V. Remini, Arthur Meier SchlesingerISBN 0805069399 (0-8050-6939-9)
Hardcover, Times Books
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Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Powerby Richard CarwardineISBN 1400096022 (1-4000-9602-2)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power'Book summary:An original and deeply insightful biography of Abraham Lincoln, already awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize.
As a defender of national unity, a leader in war, and the emancipator of slaves, Abraham Lincoln lays ample claim to being the greatest of our presidents. But the story of his rise to greatness is as complex as it is compelling. In this superb biography, the highly regarded Oxford University historian Richard Carwardine examines Lincoln both in his dramatic political journey and in his nation-shaping White House years. Through his groundbreaking research, Carwardine probes the sources of Lincolns moral and political philosophy. We see how, while pursuing office, Lincoln drew strength from public opinion and the machinery of his party. We see him, as a wartime president, recognizing the limits as well as the possibilities of power, and the necessity of looking for support beyond his own administration. We see how he turned to the churches, to their humanitarian agencies, and to the volunteer Union Army for allies in his struggle to end slavery.
In illuminating the political talents that went hand in hand with large and serious moral purpose, Carwardine gives us a fresh, important portrait of the incomparable Abraham Lincoln. [via]More editions of Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power:
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Lincoln Nobody Knowsby Richard N. CurrentISBN 0809000598 (0-8090-0059-8)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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Lincoln the Unknownby Dale CarnegieISBN 0899683207 (0-89968-320-7)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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Martin Van Buren: The American Presidentsby Ted Widmer, Arthur Meier SchlesingerISBN 0805069224 (0-8050-6922-4)
Hardcover, Henry Holt & Co
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Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnsonby Robert A. CaroISBN 0394720954 (0-394-72095-4)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'Book summary:Robert Caro's Master of the Senate examines in meticulous detail Lyndon Johnson's career in that body, from his arrival in 1950 (after 12 years in the House of Representatives) until his election as JFK's vice president in 1960. This, the third of a projected four-volume series, studies not only the pragmatic, ruthless, ambitious Johnson, who wielded influence with both consummate skill and "raw, elemental brutality," but also the Senate itself, which Caro describes (pre-1957) as a "cruel joke" and an "impregnable stronghold" against social change. The milestone of Johnson's Senate years was the 1957 Civil Rights Act, whose passage he single-handedly engineered. As important as the bill was--both in and of itself and as a precursor to wider-reaching civil rights legislation--it was only close to Johnson's Southern "anti-civil rights" heart as a means to his dream: the presidency. Caro writes that not only does power corrupt, it "reveals," and that's exactly what this massive, scrupulously researched book does. A model of social, psychological, and political insight, it is not just masterful; it is a masterpiece. --H. O'Billovich [via]
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Means of Ascentby Robert A. CaroISBN 067973371X (0-679-73371-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Means of Ascent'Book summary:The second installment in a projected four-volume biography of LBJ that opened with The Path to Power, Means of Ascent shines a harsh light on the early political years of one of America's most paradoxical presidents. The man who would later ram civil rights legislation through a reluctant Congress, and then be brought down by Vietnam, came out of a political swamp--Caro gives a graphic picture of the Texas democratic political machine at its most corrupt. The climax of the book is LBJ's election to the Senate in 1948, an election he won by 87 dubious votes out of almost a million. That vote arguably changed history. This book won the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. [via]
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Memoirs and Selected Letters: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Selected Letters, 1839-1865by Ulysses S. Grant, Mary Drake McFeeley, William S. McFeeleyISBN 0940450585 (0-940450-58-5)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Memoirs and Selected Letters: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Selected Letters, 1839-1865'Book summary:An American's Autobiography Grant's Personal Memoirs and Selected Letters 1839-1865 Library of America Edition This is one of the most important books written an American. There is something huge and seething about these memoirs. To be sure it is not from the cool tone; Grant was old fashioned in that way, and these are not confidential memoirs. This is the story about a down at the heels... [via]
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My Lifeby Bill ClintonISBN 140003003X (1-4000-3003-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Life'Book summary:Loved and reviled, respected and resented, Bill Clinton is one of the more polarizing and complex politicians of our age. As the 42nd President, he presided over a period of dizzying economic growth and technological progress, and achieved such foreign policy successes as the ratification of NAFTA, helping to bring several former Eastern Bloc nations into NATO, and assisting China's entrance into the World Trade Organization. His time in office was also marked by a string of scandals, most notably the Monica Lewinsky debacle and the subsequent impeachment trial, which largely overshadowed his triumphs.
Just 53 years old when he left office, Clinton continues to keep a high profile, having formed the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation to focus on the battle against HIV/AIDS around the world; racial, ethnic, and religious reconciliation; economic empowerment of poor people; nd leadership development and citizen service. His memoir, My Life, due out on June 30, 2004, is an opportunity for Clinton to reveal his political philosophy and perspective on past events as well as a chance to influence his own place in history. [via]
Notes on the State of Virginiaby Thomas Jefferson, William PedenISBN 0807845884 (0-8078-4588-4)
Softcover, Univ of North Carolina Pr
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The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in Andrew Jackson'sby John F. MarszalekISBN 0807126349 (0-8071-2634-9)
Softcover, Louisiana State Univ Pr
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President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetimeby Lou CannonISBN 1891620916 (1-891620-91-6)
Softcover, Public Affairs
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› Find signed collectible books: 'President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime'Book summary:This is possibly the single best book available on the Reagan presidency. Lou Cannon began reporting on Ronald Reagan as a journalist when Reagan first ran for governor of California in 1966, and then covered him again in Washington after his 1980 presidential election. In short, there is probably no man or woman who has spent more years writing about the Gipper than Cannon. The result is a magisterial account of Reagan's two terms in the White House. Cannon is broadly sympathetic to his subject, but also coolly detached. President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime pulled off the remarkable feat of winning praise from both Reagan's admirers and detractors when it was first published in 1991. This reissued edition, which includes a new preface describing Reagan's postpresidential descent into the abyss of Alzheimer's disease, must now be considered the standard text on the subject--especially in light of the controversy surrounding the book that aspired to Cannon's mantle, Edmund Morris's quasi biography Dutch.
Cannon's book is full of wise analysis and sound observation. He explains Reagan's success convincingly: "Optimism was not a trivial or peripheral quality. It was the essential ingredient of an approach to life.... [Reagan] had a knack of converting others to his optimism, almost as if he drew upon some private reservoir of self-esteem. People who listened to Reagan tended to feel good about him and better about themselves." Though the book bursts with detail, it's never so cumbersome that it bogs down Cannon's narrative. And these pages give only cursory attention to Reagan's life before the White House; this is more a biography of President Reagan than of Ronald Reagan. Conservatives who are defensive about Reagan's legacy may bristle at certain points; Cannon's portrait is not always a flattering one. Yet it's a compelling biography of a compelling man's most important years. It's possible to imagine that a fuller biography of Reagan will be written some day. Right now, however, this is the best there is--and it's very, very good. --John J. Miller [via]
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Profiles in Courageby John F. KennedyISBN 1579120148 (1-57912-014-8)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Incorporated
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Profiles in Courage'Book summary:The Illustrated Edition: The Pulitzer-Prize winning account of men of principle, integrity and bravery in American politics is now available in a handsome, illustrated format . Eight men who served in the United States Senate were selected by John F. Kennedy as models of virtue and courage under pressure. [via]
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Right and the Power: Prosecution Watergateby Leon JaworskiISBN 0872017923 (0-87201-792-3)
Hardcover, Gulf Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Right and the Power: Prosecution Watergate'Book summary:The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate, by Leon Jaworski, Reader's Digest Press & Gulf Publishing Co., 1976, 1st ed. Description: Plain, black cloth boards with gold lettering to the spine only, 305 pages +1. [via]
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The Secret Life of Bill Clinton: The Unreported Storiesby Ambrose Evans-PritchardISBN 0895264080 (0-89526-408-0)
Hardcover, Regnery Publishing, Incorporated, An Eagle Publishing Company
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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincolnby Doris Kearns GoodwinISBN 0743270754 (0-7432-7075-4)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'Book summary:Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president. On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war. We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through. This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. [via]
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Theodore Rexby Edmund MorrisISBN 0812966007 (0-8129-6600-7)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Theodore Rex'Book summary:In this lively biography, Edmund Morris returns to the gifted, energetic, and thoroughly controversial man whom the novelist Henry James called "King Theodore." In his two terms as president of the United States, Roosevelt forged an American empire, and he behaved as if it was his destiny. In this sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Morris charts Roosevelt's accomplishments: the acquisition of the Panama Canal and the Philippines, the creation of national parks and monuments, and more. "Collaring Capital and Labor in either hand," Morris writes, Roosevelt made few friends, but he usually got what he wanted--and earned an enduring place in history.
Morris combines a fine command of the era's big issues with an appreciation for the daily minutiae involved in governing a nation. Less controversially inventive, but no less readable, than the Ronald Reagan biography Dutch, Theodore Rex gives readers new reason both to admire and fault an American phenomenon. --Gregory McNamee [via]
Theodore Rooseveltby Louis Auchincloss, Arthur Meier SchlesingerISBN 0805069062 (0-8050-6906-2)
Hardcover, Times Books
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Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate Historyby Fawn M. BrodieISBN 0393317528 (0-393-31752-8)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History'Book summary:An ambitious, perceptive portrayal of a complex man, this best-selling biography broke new ground in its exploration of Jefferson's inner life.
Here for the first time we meet Jefferson as a man of feeling and passion. With a novelist's skill and meticulous scholarship, Fawn M. Brodie shows Jefferson as he wrestled with issues of revolution, religion, power, race, and love-ambivalences that exerted a subtle but powerful influence on his political writing and his decision making. The portrait that results adds a whole new depth to those of the past. [via]More editions of Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History:
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Thomas Jefferson Writings Autobiography a Summary View of the Rights of British Columbia Notes on the State of Virginia Public Papers Addresses Messaby Thomas Jefferson, Merrill D. PetersonISBN 094045016X (0-940450-16-X)
Hardcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Thomas Jefferson Writings Autobiography a Summary View of the Rights of British Columbia Notes on the State of Virginia Public Papers Addresses Messa'Book summary:The most comprehensive one-volume selection of Jefferson ever published. Contains the "Autobiography," "Notes on the State of Virginia," public and private papers, including the original and revised drafts of the Declaration of Independence, addresses, and 287 letters. [via]
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A Thousand Days : John F. Kennedy in the White Houseby Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., David SobelISBN 1579124496 (1-57912-449-6)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Incorporated
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Trumanby David Willis McCulloughISBN 0671869205 (0-671-86920-5)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Truman'Book summary:This warm biography of Harry Truman is both an historical evaluation of his presidency and a paean to the man's rock-solid American values. Truman was a compromise candidate for vice president, almost an accidental president after Roosevelt's death 12 weeks into his second term. Truman's stunning come-from-behind victory in the 1948 election showed how his personal qualities of integrity and straightforwardness were appreciated by ordinary Americans, perhaps, as McCullough notes, because he was one himself. His presidency was dominated by enormously controversial issues: he dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, established anti-Communism as the bedrock of American foreign policy, and sent U.S. troops into the Korean War. In this winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize, McCullough argues that history has validated most of Truman's war-time and Cold War decisions. [via]
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Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?: A Tour of Presidential Gravesitesby Douglas Brinkley, Brian Lamb, John Splaine, Richard Norton Smith, Susan Swain, Anne Bentzel, Carol Hellwig, Karen Jarmon, C-Span (Television Network)ISBN 1586481789 (1-58648-178-9)
Softcover, Public Affairs
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites'Book summary:Famous last words: "'Tis well." "I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." "The nourishment is palatable." Which three famous people uttered one of these phrases on their deathbeds? (Hint: they all served as president of the United States). The answers to these and many other questions about the last days of U.S. presidents appear in Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
To mark its twentieth year of broadcasting, C-SPAN presented a special television series, American Presidents: Life Portraits, which focused on one president each week and visited sites related to each president--their homes, libraries, gravesites, or other significant places. The project resulted in the most comprehensive video record of the lives of the 41 men who served as president of the United States. As a complement to this project, Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb? provides a guide to all 41 presidential gravesites, including sites selected for living presidents. Each chapter focuses on one president and includes birth and death dates; the time, place, and cause of death; final words; location of the gravesite and price of admission. Photos of each gravesite and original oil portraits of each president supplement the narrative, which tells about the circumstances of each man's death, funeral services, and last wishes.
Starting at the end of each president's life, Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb? offers a fascinatingly different approach to these famous men. The book supplies some interesting trivia, such as the last words of George Washington, William Henry Harrison, and Millard Fillmore quoted above, and highlights some neglected historical moments, including the massive crowd of 60,000 people who marched in Ulysses S. Grant's funeral procession, as well as early medical advice to presidents who suffered from heart disease or cancer. Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb? can also be used as a tourbook to visit the sites and learn more about the 41 U.S. presidents. This 256-page book includes a foreword by Richard Norton Smith and an afterword by Douglas Brinkley.
"A wintry mix of snow, sleet, and rain covered Mount Vernon on December 12, 1799. George Washington, retired less than three years, made his usual inspection tour of the estate that morning. The following afternoon, the former president began to develop a sore throat. In the early morning hours of December 14th he awoke, feverish and having difficulty breathing. As the day wore on, Washington's lungs and throat continued to shut down. Doctors were summoned, who opened and bled the patient's veins several times in a futile effort to free his body of infection. The physicians considered performing a tracheotomy or a transfusion of lamb's blood, but Washington's condition was too weak. Nonetheless, he remained in control to the end: he gave specific orders to his secretary not to allow his body to be interred less than three days after his death. As he was taking his own pulse, George Washington died. He was 67 years old."--from the entry on George Washington Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the C-SPAN Education Foundation
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The Wit and Wisdom of Jimmy Carterby Bill Adler, Jimmy CarterISBN 080650563X (0-8065-0563-X)
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With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincolnby Stephen B. OatesISBN 0945707320 (0-945707-32-0)
Hardcover, Amer Political Biography Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln'Book summary:Someone once said that more books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than any other person in history save Jesus and Shakespeare. Indeed, it is impossible to understand the Civil War without getting to know the complex figure of the 16th president. More than any other biographer, Stephen B. Oates brings the plain-talking man from Illinois to life as a canny politician, a doting husband, and a determined wartime leader. Oates has an appealing appreciation for Lincoln's majestic control of the English language, his raw humor, and his undeniable heroism. The final pages, covering Lincoln's death and his legacy, are graceful and moving. [via]
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Woodrow Wilsonby H. W. Brands, Arthur Meier SchlesingerISBN 0805069550 (0-8050-6955-0)
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Writingsby George Washington, John H. RhodehamelISBN 188301123X (1-883011-23-X)
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Writings'Book summary:Bringing together 450 letters, orders, addresses, and other significant historical documents penned by America's first president during the course of his life, a substantial anthology is arranged chronologically beginning with a journal written at age sixteen. [via]
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The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Powerby Robert CaroISBN 0394499735 (0-394-49973-5)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power'Book summary:The profound understanding of the uses and abuses of power Robert Caro displayed in his 1974 biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker, is a scathing achievement the author surpassed with panache in this, his second book. Caro's dogged research and refusal to accept received wisdom results in an eye-opening portrait that unforgettably captures the titanic personality of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973). Though stronger on Johnson's duplicity and naked self-promotion than his intelligence and charm, Caro nails it all. He chronicles the evolution of an attention-demanding youth from the Texas hill country into a seasoned congressman who would abandon his ardent espousal of the New Deal as soon as it ceased to be expedient. The dirty details begin with college elections that earn young Lyndon a reputation as a crook and a liar; Caro goes on to unravel financial shenanigans of impressive ingenuity. Johnson's consuming desire to get ahead and his political genius "unencumbered by philosophy or ideology" are staggering. The White House, Great Society, and Vietnam lie ahead when the main narrative closes in 1941, but the roots of Johnson's future achievements and tragic failures are laid bare. This biography may well stand as the best book written in the second half of the 20th century about personal ambition inextricably linked with historic change. --Wendy Smith [via]
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