President Books

Concise, logical, and consistent, this 'Manifesto' presents Ron Paul's ideas and message of personal and communal liberty in a way that any literate person can digest.

Whether you're a 'conservative' or a 'liberal' or anything in between, this book is a wake-up call to our inner American -- a citizen of a country founded on Liberty in the true sense of the word, not a compromised version to be accepted out of apathy.

The book is short, plainly written, entertaining, and enlightening. Regardless of your political or social stance, I believe it to be relevant and significant reading, especially now.

Give it a shot -- if you don't agree, it'll just be an hour or two of your time and you'll probably still learn some things before you put the book down. What's there to lose?

Check the ratings and reviews on this book -- you'll see that an overwhelming majority of readers have found its simple and insightful message to be one worth reading. You will, too :)

This book was very well written and engaging. Enjoyed and will read again. Dr. Paul is a brilliant man, wish we had more like him in Washington!

Consider yourself lucky to have the opportunity to live, vote, and contribute in the time of Dr. Paul. This man is the modern day George Washington. His presidential face will be on the currency of tomorrow and heralded in the history books for revitalizing what this once great country stood for: freedom, justice, and opportunity.

The only politician left in America who the Founding Fathers would approve of today. Excellent book covering the most important topics of today and the simple answered solutions to them if we started following the constitution once again. This book is the ultimate nightmare of the Left.

A true American! Audit the Fed! Tell your state representatives to pass HR 1207. Get out of the stranglehold they have on us! We are becoming slaves to the Government. They are slaves to the Bankers! Read this book.

A very well written book about an everyday man who would become the President of the United States and would become respected for his service to his country.

Resisted this book for quite awhile even though I am a DM fan. My apprehensions were unfounded, an excellent read in a time period that I had avoided for some reason, Truman, the man, surprised me,

Yet another superb job by David McCullough!! He has emerged as the absolute BEST historical writer of our generation, hands-down. Talk about bringing a character to life and covering all the aspects of his subject: the good, the bad, and the ugly. From Trumans humble beginnings, through his presidency, and his death, McCullough brings you inside the mind of Truman, and many of the people most important in his life. This is a long book, but it reads so easily that you don't even realize it. I am just amazed at the job McCullough does with his subject matter, whether it be technical (i.e. the Brooklyn Bridge or the Panama Canal), or personal (i.e. Truman, John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt). He does such an incredible job making his subject matter spring to life, and leaving you wanting more. How many authors write history books that are genuine page-turners and read like a fiction novel? This is the ability McCullough has, and Truman is no exception. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, whether it be of WWII, the Atom Bomb, or Truman himself.

It really is the definitive Truman bio, a man whom, ever since I read this, has been an important influence on me. A truly great president, endlessly fascinating and champion of the phrase "the buck stops here!" - well, the buck stops with this bio, too. Great.

It takes a bit of courage to start on a 1000 page biography of a lesser known president (relative to Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt(s)). However, for those of you decide to jump in may find yourself transformed at how you look at politics and America as a whole.

David McCullough has been given much (very well deserved) praise for his biography on John Adams. McCullough clearly deserved the attention (and the Pulitzer to boot), but it seems that "John Adams" has caused his work on Harry S. Truman to be overlooked. This is unfortunate, because in my opinion, Truman is a much more relevant and important that John Adams in today's society.

In "Truman" McCullough paints a masterful (and I mean MASTERFUL) portrait of a small town farmer who found himself not only President of the United States but as one of the most important figures of World History. It really is an unbelievable that a man who worked on his farm until age 34 decided to enlist in the Army during WWI. His fame as an artillery Captain allowed him to enter the world of local politics. From there a few incredible breaks have him in the US Senate as a relative anonymous Senator. World War II allows him to use his military expertise to form the "Truman Committee" and the oversight of government military spending. An unlikely turn-of-events has him Vice President of the United States to a dying President. Up next....

1- The Postdam conference with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin
2- The dropping of the A-bombs in Japan
3- The drafting of all the railroad workers into the Army
4- Berlin airlift
5- Korean war
6- Firing of MacArthur

To name a few of the more significant events that this farmer had to face during his presidency.

McCullough paints a very vivid a lively man who never forgot the office that he represented, the people he served, or how he was raised. Truman is a model of a politician doing what they think is right and allowing the opinions to fall where they might. McCullough shows that what Truman lacked in polish he made up for in grit and determination.

Final Verdict - McCullough's best work - probably one of the best biographies ever written. In addition, we are given an amazing history of the United States from 1910-1955.

5 Stars - Must read for anyone who has the courage to tackle such a lengthy book.

The first picture in the center of the book is a picture of Paul and Hillary Clinton. Gee, how many platoon leaders in the Florida Guard got to go get a White House photo with Hillary? This book is so biased and supports the claims of many of his troops that he was an attention hound in country. We call guys like this Spotlight Candidates in OCS. They only shine when the spotlight (The Brass / Media) comes around. Very biased and a clear display of political ambition. There is a reason a kid from New York (Democratic district) would transfer to Florida's Panhandle (Republican district) to join the war effort. He could have stayed home and gone with the New York Guard but then that wouldn't be much of a story would it?

Paul really depicts what life is like for American troops that are on combat missions in Iraq. He brings fourth the fact that Iraq's problems will not be solved by American troops; the tactics currently used there of American troops showing up at Iraqi's homes unannounced will only breed future hatred; the opposition is growing because conditions have gotten worse for Iraqis since the invasion in terms of safety, curfews, electricity, food and water; the Iraqis that are currently detained and tortured in prisons is affecting future Iraqi's generations' views and perceptions of America, their policies, tactics and priorities. Paul also delves into his personal life and the dangers and mental/physical suffering that troops endure as a result of not knowing who the enemy is and what they are fighting for.

Dear friends and comrades:
Most of you know the extent to which I read and the honesty with which I render my opinions on books. Keeping this in mind I'm inviting you to pick up a copy of Paul Rieckhoff's Iraq War memoir "Chasing Ghosts." It is now available at Amazon much cheaper than I bought it for as it has been released in paperback and it is worth far more than that. (I bought my hardcover for double that price and relentlessly acknowledge that it was worth every penny.) I'll qualify that statement.

What scant coverage of the ACTUAL WAR that is taking place over in Iraq is being transmitted to you from the Green Zone (which means the safest place where no actual fighting or sense of the tasks, attacks, and sacrifices--not to mention reality of the war can be observed.) People who have never been outside of the Green Zone, and often are being spun by the Establishment to the extent that they are willing to dole out any real information at all are preparing these reports.

Conversely, "Chasing Ghosts" is a work, which has been birthed through and blazes forth from the literal fire and destruction of THE RED ZONE. There is no journalism in this country that compares to a first person account of the circumstances, fears, brutality, boredom, monotony, occasional hilarity, and, in summation, the total experience of what serving in Iraq was, and is like. He writes about chasing an enemy which is almost unilaterally indistinguishable from the civilian population until they have a machine gun pointed at you and the wracking of nerves that come in such situations. He writes about one particular child and in other cases lends faces to our "enemy" who are never portrayed on television. He writes about the inadequate armor and supplies and the lack of translators as well as the ground troops lack of knowledge and lack of respect for their culture, in general
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Mr. Rieckhoff has captured all of these elements with remarkable clarity as well as his return to the states amid a troubling atmosphere, which was largely swirling with either ignorance and obliviousness or 'go team' blind following and parroting about with regard to the legitimacy of the war. Fortunately the tide has turned the other way since the book has been published.

He begins to speak out about the war and becomes one of the first highly visible soldiers to do so. He spars with Sean Hannity and suddenly finds himself in demand and as a spokesman of sorts for the troops still in harms way. All of this leads up to his writing of this book. You can read this one in a flash but it is not due to a lack of content. It's merely that the author does not mince words although you can still feel the unforgiving heat and sand in your lungs in the details of daily life that he does describe.

The purest and most potent amalgam of patriotism and disgust has compelled Rieckhoff to found IAVA (a non-profit organization which shines light on veterans issues) and he continues his work with great vigilance. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy, join in the IAVA's efforts in any capacity that you can, and be a true patriot through giving back to those who have sacrificed, be it a just war or not.

Kevin W. Mattingly©
Harrisburg Times.

Too busy ignoring our latest wars ?, especially the earlier part of the Iraq war , here is a good book to get you up to speed. It has good tone, nice flow and reads fast. Dealing with the subject of the book, most people still seem not to quite get the disposable part of war, and then of course there is the masters and ghouls concept, that's also confusing. Furthermore, this has nothing to do with walking in their shoes, it's about belief systems; where either we evolve as in evolution or we're righteous like religion, but we can't be neither, as in the all mighty dollar. To conclude, when our enemies SEE no WEAKNESS, only strength, there will be peace, civilizations come and civilizations.... . Also read: The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, Standard Operating Procedure and Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror.

When I first started reading Author Paul Rieckhoff's book, I admit that I was prepared for 'an officer's' point of view. I did not expect the honesty and openness that Rieckhoff delivers on every page. America needs to read this book. We need to hear the story of this war told in the words of a soldier who cares. Rieckhoff is that soldier and Chasing Ghosts is that book. Read it and then ask yourself, what can I do to make a difference in the lives of the young, suffering veterans in our country. If you want to help, Rieckhoff has an answer for you. Visit www.iava.org and get involved.
Friends for Life: Strangers Brought Together by the War in Iraq

It is hard to describe how great this book is. Let this stand for all the rest: there are not many 1200 page books that keep you reading eagerly the whole way through and then make you wish there was more.

Caro is a brilliant writer. His sentences flow in a way that makes the book impossible to put down. But more than that, he is a dogged investigator. He spent seven years on this book, giving up his house and spending all his savings. The result is one of the greatest books of all time, perhaps _the_ greatest nonfiction book.

For nearly forty years, Robert Moses controlled New York. Controlled it almost absolutely, overruling every mayor, governor, president, and public pressure group. He did it all without anyone ever knowing: the press, when it did cover him, covered him only in the most glowing, reverent terms. He did it all without winning a single election: the two times he did dare run for office, he was defeated so soundly as to become a joke.

_The Power Broker_ is the story of how our "democracy" really works. How men gain power and how it corrupts them. How cities get built and how real people suffer for it. How we became a nation desperately dependent on the car.

It is the most amazing story you will ever read. The characters so vivid, their feats so incredible, their accomplishments so tragic. There is money and sex and power and intrigue on a scale more vast than most novelists dare attempt. And it is all completely true.

Do yourself a favor: read this book.

Have you ever wondered just how the roads and bridges in major metropolitan cities were built and why? This inside look at Robert Moses and how he built NYC is a fascinating look at a man who made the rules as he went along. From his humble beginnings as the city Parks Commissioner to his place in history as one of the most powerful men in the history of NY, this book explains all-all the power, all the corruption of power that goes along with ambition and politics.

I am still reading this (very big) book, but I can't put it down. It reads like a novel, but it all really happened. This is how government really works. To those who say it's OK if government is given great resources, because we can vote to remove those running the government, this will be an eye opener, even though it doesn't have any particular political point of view. Robert Moses held huge power, was unaccountable and unelected. It's also the story of someone who started out as an idealist, meaning well, who really wanted to help others. There's something about power that changes a point of view. Robert Caro goes beyond the facts, to get the essence of not only Robert Moses, but the background and motivations of those around him-- and what a colorful lot they were. This is above all a good read.

Not often is it that a nonfiction book is all of these at once:
1. Well Written
2. Educational
3. Entertaining
4. Clear
5. Comprehensive
6. Fully documented

This book is quite simply the best of it's kind I have ever seen. It has done more within the first 50 pages to clearly illustrate certain aspects and personalities of the late 1870s to early 1900s than many other books I have recently read, and that is simply in preparation to the book's true focus.

Both interesting and intuitive, Caro's book manages to make history both clear and persuasive. Further, while this book is thick, it does not have the "plodding" feeling many other nonfiction/historical books generally do.

Overall, I cannot recommend this enough, if you are interested at all in any of these:
1. The historical period
2. Civic justice
3. New York
4. The history of parkways or highways
5. Nonfiction in general
and so forth.

This book clearly won the Pulitzer for a good reason.

There is no denying the massive influence that Robert Caro had on our perception of Robert Moses. In addition, the years and years of copious research that went into 'The Power Broker' makes it a monumental biography that speaks the truth about a man who for years had used the press and political influence to gather more power in NY than practically anyone else.

The book is amazing and the only reason I would consider giving it 4 stars is because the book is fairly heavy and bcomes tedious to hold while reading...

My daughter was reading this book for her government class and I started reading this. I could not put this book down. Even my husband started reading Lady President. This unique tale of international intrigue and political double-dealing is almost right out of todays headlines. President Marie Arcola is a tough, well created character and a role model for the women in our nation. I am going to bring this one to my bookclub and I hope to see a sequel soon.

The ladies from my book club stumbled on this Lady President novel over their summer reading from two of their teenage daughters. My gosh! The way this story is told is as if the author could see the future. The situation in Iraq and Iran, the events from last September, the incidents in Washington, D.C. President Marie Arcola is very much a mirror of what women are going through in todays world. I am a manager of a big company and I can relate to the stereotypes in this novel. Many of my friends who read this book were surprised about the certain prophecies touched upon in this fast-paced story. And we are only two years away from a Presidential election.

I had to pick a bunch of books to do my government paper. Lady President was one of the books. My teacher said it was great for a fiction but since there has not been an America woman president I could only use it for entertainment purposes. Still this book was the talk of my class. And I did my paper on other women in American politics. My older sister and my mom read Lady President and they loved it. They thought President Marie Arcola was a strong, tough character. We also liked Senator Ttrevor Thomas and the other characters. Someday this story might be true or a story like it. I will be going to college in two years and plan to go into education. I know for a fact there is politics in the field of education. I think this book educated a bunch of my friends and I about America with a woman president.

I am doing a high school paper about women in politics and I read Lady President. It is difficult to understand why women have to struggle in this country and I can identify with President Marie Arcola as she tries to get the generals and senators to cooperate and let her do her job. My teacher brought up this idea of an American woman president in class and the class was divided. Some of my friends read this book and were impressed. My government class has learned alot about other countries from this story. Especially Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. And the way the Taliban treated women. I think Lady President is ahead of its time and we hope to see another book with President Marie Arcola.

I am a San Francisco professor on Sabbatical. I was talking with my daughter about this extraordinary Lady President novel and I have brought it to my sisters attention. We were in New York City during the summer and two weeks after September 11th. Part of my teachings deal with how books and movies mirror our inner egos. In Xavier Carbajal's Lady President novel a tense dramatic statement is introduced for the future of America. Right off the bat, this author causes chaos: America has its first woman vice president and she wants to quit. Vice President Marie Arcolas life is near perfect. She has a wealthy, loving husband, two beautiful children and is ready to relax into a life of writing childrens novels. But terrorism makes the mark. My sister read this book a few months ago and she told me it was like walking through a maze of mirrors. I noticed this author wrote a Jules Verne sequel called Captain Nemo and another work on Edgar Allan Poe. Those other works are very different from this novel. I am curious as to how this author had the intuition to create Lady President. Although Hollywood and other writers have attempted to invent America with its first woman president, they will never come close to what Lady President has to offer. There is a sense of primal fear intertwined with every page. The author takes the lady president and asks us "What do you think? How is America with a woman president?" Now, since my daughter and I read this novel, my sister read it again and brought some interesting theories to light. My husband also read this novel and introduced a totally new revelation of Americas future: all the soldiers, the call to duty and the sacrifices made to fight true evil and our country now becoming a fortress. Mr. Carbajal left the end of this story with us wondering. We still have dozens of unanswered questions. I hope to see a sequel to this marvelous story.

I have two copies of this book (I bought a revised edition which included a few more Presidents) and I go back to them time and again. It's one of those books you can open up to any page and just start reading. Mr. De Gregorio lends a human side to the Presidents by including items such as hair and eye color, height, even clothing preferences and voice timbres. It also includes marriages, children, and direct descendants in addition to the nitty-gritty history of each administration. Great trivia fodder for any American history enthusiast!!

I have several books giving brief biographies of the presidents of the United states. I imagine that there are quite a few people like me who are interested in reading about U.S. Presidents.
This book is well worth the price. He gives a lot of accurate information in a few pages. All the info. is categorized and it is the same categories for each president - so comparisons can be made easily. The author, does of course have his favorites and some are looked at more favorably than some others. I would say that Clinton is rather heavily negative while Nixon is taken rather in stride but the facts are still the facts and they are there for each man no matter what the slant.
This is a very good volume for reference purposes.

Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher:
"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."
"A Summer with Charlie"
"A Little Something: Poetry and Prose"
"Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother"
"The Eastpointer" Selections from award winning column.

This is by far the best and most entertaining book on the U.S. Presidents I have found. I am constantly referring to it when I am watching or reading anything having to do with U.S. political History.
If you're a history buff and watch things like the John Adams mini series this is a book to keep on your coffee table near the TV. It makes a great companion to other books on history as well.
The price is amazing for the book you get!

I enjoyed this book and will use it as a resource. It really gives a lot of information on each president without being a complete biography.

This would be a good book for anyone. It helps to put history in perspective and it is easy to search through.

I have to say it's a great book. I had read THE GLORY AND THE DREAM, so I was already familiar with Manchester's narrative style. However, he has a few facts wrong regarding Ireland, paraphrases below of which can be checked in three books by the author Tim Pat Coogan, as well as other sources.

[...]

First of all, the map on page 735 clearly labels the six north-east counties of Ireland as Ulster. This is clearly wrong. A better nomenclature, and far more accurate, would be "Northern Ireland," or to those with an Irish Republican bias, "Carsonia." So-called British Ulster is merely composed of six of the nine counties of the traditional Irish province of Ulster.

Second: At no time was the Irish Parliamentary Party ever considered more than "parlor" Nationalist. Yet the impression one gets from reading TLL v1 is that the Irish Party was arguably the only organized effort to reverse the Act of Union in the political sphere, therefore wholly "Nationalist."

Third: Prof. Manchester's use of the term "Eire" to refer to the southern 26-county Irish Free State before its inception as such, is simply annoying to anyone who knows that the term appears first, in a political context, in article 1 of the Irish Constitution, commissioned by Eamon DeValera (whom Manchester ignorantly anoints, in or around 1933, "President" on page 735, when DeValera did not hold that office until some time after 1940) in 1936-7.

Fourth: Said DeValera did not escape execution due to his birth in the states, as Manchester (and others before and since have) asserted. The fact is that the military officer in charge of Kilmainham Jail, under pressure from UK Prime Minister Arthur Balfour to 'put a better face on the whole business' of execution for public consumption, decided to stop shooting the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising after Joseph Connolly was shot.

There are a few more minor points he misses, ignores, or insists by bold statement or insinuation to promulgate popular misconceptions on, but I believe that the "rule of four" in topic outlining is sufficient for this review and will end here.

yeas the most popular book on sir winston but mistakes are in it and volume three will appear after a 20 years break .

The Last Lion; Winston Spencer Churchill - Visions of Glory 1874 to 1932 is a segment of the life of an active politician that encompasses the Raj, the First World War, and the interim between World Wars. Among the outstand parts of this well researched book are the role played by Churchill in the attempted management of India by Great Brittan, and in the tragedy at Gallipoli during the Turkish Campaign. The book gives insight to details of important historical events that influenced the course of British history - written in a manner that earns it five stars.

The finest biography of Churchill (and one of the best biographies of anyone else) ever written. Manchester is unequaled in providing a balanced, thorough and readable product. Only down side is that he died before completing the third and final book on Churchill.

This is a very good analysis of Churchill, a thorough and colorfull portrait of a man I consider to be the greatest man of the 20th century. I have only two complaints, first I would have liked to have known more about his life with his wife and children. I also would have liked to have known what he thought of the Lusitania sinking. Not only does Manchester say nothing about Churchill's role in this business but the word Lusitania is not mentioned at all in nearly 2000 pages. Very strange. The letters of Churchill point out the chivalrousness and romantic nature that the public has not seen. All in all - very good and well worth a good read.

But I just want to add my half cent's worth. This is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I'm old enough to remember the little square milk cartons at school with the one sentence synopsis of each president in red, white and blue. Poor Garfield got, "Shot by a disappointed office seeker". This is the only one of those I remember all these years later, as even when I was in elementary school I thought it a crime that a man's life could be summed up by the jerk who shot him.

Well, Ackerman is a guy who knows how Washington works. He tells you about a world gone in some ways, frighteningly close in others. You hear the boots creak, feel the smoke burn your eyes, and worry about the long crisis though you know the result. Brilliant, exciting and utterly compelling, it rescues poor Mr. Garfield, a man who is the author of a number of pithy and sharp lines in my extensive quote collection, from the undeserved obscurity he has been cast into.

So little is written or discussed about President Garfield and the supreme " Age of Corruption " as epitomized by Grant and his political Stalwarts headed by Conkling and Arthur of New York, that this book enlightens the reader to the significant potential Garfiled offered America at that time. He was minorly tarnished by corruption, as opposed to Grant; and Grant's obsession with the 1880 nomination and near-hatred of Garfield for getting it, enflamed the public and set the stage for radical political factionism that produced the assissin; and Grant, Arthur and Conkling's prints may as well have been on the gun.The corrupt power in the Republican Party pervaded everyone, including Blaine whose support Garfiled chose as less corrupt; American history may have been far richer in the 1890's had more "What If's " created a better political climate for subsequent politicians.

On the morning of July 2, 1881, Garfield was preparing for a trip to New England. While waiting for his train in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, the president was felled and gravely wounded by the shots of an assassin. Garfield was carried to the presidential mansion, the White House. For weeks he was nursed there. Later he was moved to Elberon, New Jersey, to be with his family. Garfield never left his sickbed, and on September 19, 11 weeks after the shooting, he died.

Garfield's assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, a religious fanatic and a Stalwart, who was apparently angered because he had been refused a government job. He stated that he shot Garfield in order "to unite the Republican Party and save the Republic." Guiteau readily gave himself up after the shooting, certain that the people would understand the high-mindedness of his purpose. He was found guilty of murder, however, and was executed in 1882.

Vice President Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield as president. A member of the Stalwart faction, he had sided with Conkling in the dispute over Garfield's appointments. He gradually replaced all of Garfield's Cabinet with Stalwarts, but picked them for ability rather than loyalty to Conkling. The shocking nature of Garfield's death fueled a movement in Congress for civil service reform, which had been started but stalled under the Hayes administration. As a result Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which President Arthur signed into law in 1883. It established the Civil Service Commission to ensure that federal jobs would be awarded according to qualifications rather than connections

Several hundred pages of text on Garfield and the politics of his day may seem a stretch, given the gray, hyper-partisan, issueless politics of the Gilded Age. But in Ackerman's hands, the story of Garfield's presidency and murder comes brilliantly alive. Ackerman (an attorney who has worked on Capitol Hill and in the White House and written about Gilded Age scandals) relates with gusto and fizz the story of Garfield's unanticipated nomination as Republican presidential candidate in 1880, his election by a whisker, the travails of his few months in office, and his assassination. It's a story mostly of the struggle for spoils and patronage between two wings of the post-Civil War party of Lincoln. In fact, the lonely, unstable assassin, Charles Guiteau, was a resentful partisan of the wing that Garfield didn't fully reward. Soon after the president's death, and largely as a result, Congress enacted civil service reform. Ackerman brings to life all this and the colorful political figures, mostly senators, who strode the nation's public stage. The trouble is that, like so many works of history these days, it's long on narrative and short, very short, on analysis. You wouldn't know that the political deadlocks of the 1880s deeply, and disastrously, affected the lives of freed slaves, nor do readers learn of agricultural and labor crises, industrial growth or financial shenanigans-the very matters that factional fighting and political murder kept under the rug. It's a pity that Ackerman doesn't apply his skills to such central matters of context and significance.

This is a magnificent book in every way: well researched, well organized, and well done. But it is Kenneth Ackerman's buoyant and perceptive prose that is the book's greatest strength. Ackerman is also an expert on the politics of the late 19th Century. Dark Horse puts the reader in the smoke-filled back rooms where deals were struck and careers made or destroyed.

One also gets a real sense of James Garfield, and I am aware of no other recent book that brings Garfield to life so well. We also come to know some of the other players in the tale: the egotistical Roscoe Conkling, the conniving James G. Blaine, the great Ulysses S. Grant, the gentlemanly Chester A. Arthur, and the disturbed Charles Guiteau.

Garfield is a bit of a victim. He was not seeking the Republican nomination, but attended the convention in Chicago in order to promote his candidate, John Sherman. But Garfield was chosen as a compromise candidate between Blaine and Grant, neither of whom could win a majority vote by the party delegates. Garfield was stunned. He then squeaked out a victory over the Democratic candidate Winfield Scott Hancock.

As President, Garfield was overwhelmed and unhappy. He suffered from headaches and had difficulty sleeping. He wondered why anyone would ever pursue the office. He was besieged by party leaders (Conkling, Grant, Blaine, among others) who demanded that their people be given government positions. Garfield couldn't please them all. Even Charles Guiteau was given an audience with the new President. Guiteau wanted the job as Minister to France, a position for which he was highly under-qualified. But Guiteau believed that the one brief speech he had delivered in New York City during the presidential campaign had won the White House for Garfield. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Garfield finally took a stand and named the people he wanted to these many government positions, and then he stood by his selections. His headaches disappeared, he slept better, and he began to believe he could handle the job of President after all.

That's when Guiteau shot him.

Garfield lingered for more than two months before succumbing, not to the wound, but to an infection of the wound created by the doctor's who probed with unsterilized fingers and instruments.

Ackerman tells the whole tale and tells it so very well. Garfield never got a chance to prove himself as President. We will never know whether he would have been good or bad or great. But this biography of him definitely qualifies as a great one. It's one of the very best books I've read in recent years.

It has often been remarked that the only thing new under the sun is the history one has not read yet and this book is proof of that old adage. Kenneth Ackerman has provided the novice reader with a primer on the dynamics of Gilded Age national politics.

It is highly unlikely, with the exception of Grant, that any of the participants in this book will ever be the subject of an uncritical adoring biography. Garfield and Arthur do come off as ultimately honorable men, but the real protagonists of the book are James G. Blaine and Roscoe Conkling, two titans behaving badly. Ackerman places the nomination of Garfield in the context of battle between these two national figures who played an important role in politics in the years following Reconstruction.

While the behavior of some of the founding fathers is often so honorable as to defy imagination, this manner of operating does not have appeared to have occurred to Conkling and Blaine. Both are bare-knuckled operators who are frequently petulant as children arguing over a soccer ball. No marble men on Mt Rushmore were the politicians of the Gilded Age.

In a way, because Conkling and Blaine are such scoundrels, the book is rather fascinating, almost like a sequel to "Democracy" by Henry Adams (Conkling is supposedly the inspiration for one of the characters). However in this version, circumstances elevate both Blaine and Conkling to the status of Greek Tragedy.

The book opens with the origins of their feud which began on floor of the US House of Representatives. Because the wise old men of congress decided not to intervene, the two men grew to hate with a fervor that lasted until death. The hatred between the two men reached its crescendo at the Republican National Convention of 1880. Blaine was making his first serious run for the presidency and Conkling was sponsoring the third run of General Grant who represented a return to government free of the meddling of reformers.

A deadlocked convention lead to the selection of Garfield who was present to back his own candidate, Secretary of the Treasury, John Sherman. Of all the candidates Garfield seemed the most reasonable choice since he had yet to have made any serious enemies. This would change once Garfield was elected president. The selection of Conkling's crony, Chester Arthur sealed the deal. It appeared that Conkling's Stalwarts and Blaine's reform minded "Half Breeds" had unified around a single candidate.

Garfield was sworn in as president in March 1881 and died less than six months later. The focus of his brief presidency was an argument over the appointment of a Conkling foe to the plum position of plum positions, collector of the New York customs house. This obscure position today was the most lucrative in the Gilded Age. For the senior senator of New York, this was an impossible blow to Conkling's honor. He resigned his seat in a fit of pique and never was significant in politics again.

This argument at the center of US political life so unnerved a Stalwart supporter, Charles J. Guiteau, that he shot Garfield in order to ensure that Chester Arthur would be president. Ackerman's ability to move between the world of the White House, Congress, political smoke filled rooms, and the shabby world of Guiteau is a credit to his skills as a writer and an historian.

Along with bringing back this lost world of Gilded Age politics, Ackerman's story serves to illustrate that while civil service reform (or "snivel service reform" as Conkling dismissed it as) and other changes have taken place, the dynamics that sustained US politics then, with its larger than life personalities seeking advantage over rivals continues on now much as it did then.

I enjoyed this book because I am a cancer survivor. Mr. Jordan also
discussed and gave an inside look into political events that happened
events over 2 decades ago, which I found to be interesting.

I read this book years ago and never forgot this brave uplifting man as he fought his battle with cancer. I am greatly saddened to hear of his passing today. His words will live on for anyone facing life's greatest challenges.

Not many books kept me up past my bedtime but this ranks as one of them. Jordan is frank, lucid and at times funny but I would prefer if he elaborates on his tenure as chief of staff further. I'm sure the conversation he had with Carter in his old car campaining for this little known person then would interest a lot of people...well he left that part out.
This book is about hope and doing something about it.

Hamilton Jordan tells of his inspiring victory over the deadly disease that affects us all in one way or another - cancer. He also tells the intriguing and compelling history of his brief tenure in the White House under Jimmy Carter as well as the inspiring story of his uncle, who fought racism in rural Georgia ahead of his time.

But above all, this book provided me with a shot in the arm while I was in the hospital for over a month with pneumonia. Feeling somewhat down, this book really lifted my spirits.
Jordan proves that a positive outlook and one deeply rooted in prayer and faith in God immensely helps those in dire medical circumstances. I am a walking monument and a true believer of the power of prayer and faith in God.

I highly recommend this book to everyone - whether you're sick or not. It is ineffably a book that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling after you put it down. A great gift to someone you love - including yourself.

I have several relatives with cancer,including my son who is a childhood leukemia surviver. I bought this book expecting to learn more about dealing with the diagnosis of the "Big C". I got that and much, much more.

This book is an inspiration for those touched by cancer, but also an inspiration to see how seemingly small decisions or details in life can a have huge impact. It also is an insider's view of what life in the Deep South was like in the mid-19th century.

Whether you read this book to better understand how to deal with cancer, how to face difficult circumstances in general, or how how a single person can make a huge difference in the lives of others, or just an interesting read you will not be disappointed.

A must read for any one who is interested in what went on behind the scenes during the Delaration of Independence, the
Constitution the early founding of our country (United States). Every politician should read it, because history does repeat itself!
Vincent

I will echo what others have written. This book gives almost every detail of John Adams life. It is an outstanding biography that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historical books.

By the last page of this book you'll feel like you personally know John Adams. You'll know what drove him to succeed, his stregths, his weaknesses, his personality and most everything that can be known about a person.

As a detailed and thorough look at the life of a man, this biography is superb.

After reading both David McCullough's biography of Adams and now this one, I have concluded that Ferling's is the better of the two. The main reason is that although McCullough's is slightly more extensive, Ferling's book has a much more realistic view of the man. As his book Almost a Miracle shows the many tactical mistakes that Washington made, this book does the same with Adams. It makes sure to reckognize Adam's flaws as well as his virtues. For example, his frequent hypocracy, his recurrent neglect of family, his indecision, his self doubt, and his many political misjudgements are all fully acknowledged. Yet even with these faults, its overall view of Adams is still that of a great man.

In addition, Ferling's writing is practically as good as McCullough's, so read this book.

This is an excellent biography, following Adams from birth to death in one volume, and detailing both the positive and the negative aspects of the man clearly and fairly. I've been fascinated by Adams ever since seeing the movie "1776", which gives a marvellous "based on fact" dramatization of the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, and this book gave me a more thorough, more strictly factual look at the man. I wasn't disappointed on that score; he's just as interesting without the dramatic liberties taken by the movie.

My only quibble with this book is that the editing, at least in the edition that I have, is rather poor. There are numerous errors in grammatical structure and word choice, the kind of errors that I have become accustomed to in mass market paperbacks but refuse to accept in a scholarly historical work. Things like "he requested that the Congress name his successor be named in his place" and "...the British ... was ready" and "the New England sates" (rather than "States") and "the House of Representative" (even back then, there was more than one representative in the House) and "the dreary weather proved not be a herald of the months ahead" and many others. I understand that mistakes happen, and don't demand perfection. But there are just too many of this kind of error in this book for me to say that it is well-written; probably two dozen, if I had to guess.

Overall, this is a worthwhile biography of a fascinating president. Hopefully, future editions will clean up the writing a bit more.