Category: Biographies
John Adams by David McCullough
Overview (from Amazon.com)
In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as “out of his senses”; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history.This is history on a grand scale — a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
Why the President Should Read This Book
John Adams, at least prior to the writing of this book, could have been termed “The Forgotten Founder” as far as most Americans were concerned. Washington, Jefferson, Madison–these are the names we think of when we think of … Read the rest of this entry »Life by Keith Richards
Overview (from Wikipedia)
Life is a memoir by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, written with the assistance of journalist James Fox. Published in October 2010, in hardback, audio and e-book formats, the book chronicles Richards’ love of music, charting influences from his mother and maternal grandfather, through his discovery of blues music, the founding of the Rolling Stones, his often turbulent relationship with Mick Jagger, his involvement with drugs, his relationships with women including Anita Pallenberg and his wife Patti Hansen. Richards also released Vintage Vinos, a compilation of his work with the X-Pensive Winos, at the same time.Why the President Should Read This Book
Reading biographies of the founding fathers, past presidents, influential leaders in economics, politics, and business–that’s all grand, but what about staying in touch with normal people. Sure, Keith Richards isn’t exactly the first person who might come to mind when you try to think of an average Joe, but upon reading his autobiography you realize he is more or less a normal type of guy who has had some rather abnormal experiences. Or you might say he’s had normal experiences, but they were on the extreme side of normal. For example, when I was … Read the rest of this entry »The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence by Gerald Blaine
General Overview
THE SECRET SERVICE. An elite team of men who share a single mission: to protect the president of the United States. On November 22, 1963, these men failed—and a country would never be the same. Now, for the first time, a member of JFK’s Secret Service detail reveals the inside story of the assassination, the weeks and days that led to it and its heartrending aftermath. This extraordinary book is a moving, intimate portrait of dedication, courage, and loss.Drawing on the memories of his fellow agents, Jerry Blaine captures the energetic, crowd-loving young president, who banned agents from his car and often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning. He describes the careful planning that went into JFK’s Texas swing, the worries and concerns that agents, working long hours with little food or rest, had during the trip. And he describes the intensely private first lady making her first-ever political appearance with her husband, just months after losing a newborn baby.
Here are vivid scenes that could come only from inside the Kennedy detail: JFK’s last words to his tearful son when he left Washington for the last time; how a sudden change of weather led to … Read the rest of this entry »
James Madison: The Founding Father by Robert Allen Rutland
General Description
In this very human portrait of Madison and his role in the early, problem-fraught years of the new republic, University of Virginia professor Rutland, editor of the Madison Papers, not ony depicts him as a fervent patriot, combining “erudition and common sense,” but recounts his goals and frustrations, victories and defeats, along with frequent incapacitation because of bad health. Most significant were his contributions as chief framer of the Constitution and his defense of it as coauthor with Hamilton of the Federalist Papers. Madison and Jefferson (with whom he shared views on the need for an educated public and the gradual abolition of slavery) founded the Republican Party in opposition to Hamilton’s Anglophile Federalist Party, which favored monied interests. Emerging from early retirement on his Virginia plantation, he helped assure Jefferson’s election to the presidency and subsequently served for two terms as secretary of state. His wife Dolley acted as hostess for the widowed president as she did during her husband’s White House tenure, despite the disruptions of the ineptly conducted War of 1812. Illustrations not seen by PW. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.Why the President Should Read This Book
In order to properly interpret the … Read the rest of this entry »Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner
General Description (from BN.com)
After more than two decades, this dramatic and concise single-volume distillation of James Thomas Flexner’s definitive four-volume biography George Washington, which received a Pulitzer Prize citation and a National Book Award for the fourth volume, has itself become an American classic. Now in a new trade paperback edition, this masterful work explores the Father of Our Country – sometimes an unpopular hero, a man of great contradictions, but always a towering historical figure, who remains, as Flexner writes in these pages, “a fallible human being made of flesh and blood and spirit – not a statue of marble and wood… a great and good man.” The author unflinchingly paints a portrait of Washington: slave owner, brave leader, man of passion, reluctant politician, and fierce general. His complex character and career are neither glorified nor vilified here; rather, Flexner sets up a brilliant counterpoint between Washington’s public and private lives and gives us a challenging look at the man who has become as much a national symbol as the American flag.Why the President Should Read This Book
If we can’t say that Washington should be studied more than any other US President, it certainly would … Read the rest of this entry »American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
General Description
Newsweek editor and bestselling author Meacham (Franklin and Winston) offers a lively take on the seventh president’s White House years. We get the Indian fighter and hero of New Orleans facing down South Carolina radicals’ efforts to nullify federal laws they found unacceptable, speaking the words of democracy even if his banking and other policies strengthened local oligarchies, and doing nothing to protect southern Indians from their land-hungry white neighbors. For the first time, with Jackson, demagoguery became presidential, and his Democratic Party deepened its identification with Southern slavery. Relying on the huge mound of previous Jackson studies, Meacham can add little to this well-known story, save for the few tidbits he’s unearthed in private collections rarely consulted before. What he does bring is a writer’s flair and the ability to relate his story without the incrustations of ideology and position taking that often disfigure more scholarly studies of Jackson. Nevertheless, a gifted writer like Meacham might better turn his attention to tales less often told and subjects a bit tougher to enliven. 32 pages of b&w photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Why the President Should … Read the rest of this entry »
Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
General Description (from Amazon.com)
Even before the book was out, its juiciest bits were everywhere: Sarah Palin was serene when chosen for V.P. because it was “God’s plan.” Hillary didn’t know if she could control Bill (duh). Elizabeth Edwards was a shrew, not a saint. Overall, the men from the campaign garner less attention in these anecdote wars than the women and tend to come off better—but only just: Obama, the authors note, can be conceited and windy; McCain was disengaged to the point of recklessness; and John Edwards is a cheating, egotistical blowhard. But, hey, that’s politics, and it’s obvious that authors Heilemann (New York Magazine) and Halperin (Time) worked their sources well—all 200 of them. Some (including the sources themselves) will have trouble with the book’s use of quotes (or lack thereof). The interviews, according to the authors, were conducted “on deep background,” and dialogue was “reconstructed extensively” and with “extreme care.” Sometimes the source of a quote is clear, as when the book gets inside someone’s head, but not always. Many of the book’s events were covered heavily at the time (Hillary’s presumed juggernaut; Michelle Obama’s initial hostility to her husband’s candidacy), but some of what this … Read the rest of this entry »Churchill by Paul Johnson
From Publisher’s Weekly
In this enthusiastic yet first-rate biography, veteran British historian Johnson (Modern Times) asserts that Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was the 20th century’s most valuable figure: No man did more to preserve freedom and democracy…. An ambitious, world-traveling soldier and bestselling author, Churchill was already famous on entering Parliament in 1899 and within a decade was working with Lloyd George to pass the great reforms of 1908–1911. As First Lord of the Admiralty, he performed brilliantly in preparing the navy for WWI, but blame—undeserved according to Johnson—for the catastrophic 1915 Dardanelles invasion drove him from office. Within two years, he was back at the top, where he remained until the Depression. Johnson delivers an adulatory account of Churchill’s prescient denunciations of Hitler and heroics during the early days of WWII, and views later missteps less critically than other historians. He concludes that Churchill was a thoroughly likable great man with many irritating flaws but no nasty ones: he lacked malice, avoided grudges, vendettas and blame shifting, and quickly replaced enmity with friendship. Biographers in love with their subjects usually produce mediocre history, but Johnson, always self-assured as well as scholarly, has written another highly opinionated, entertaining work.… Read the rest of this entry »The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
General Description (from Amazon.com)
Franklin’s writings span a long and distinguished career of literary, scientific, and political inquiry–the work of a man whose life lasted for nearly all of the 18th century, and whose achievements ranged from inventing the lightning rod to publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac to signing the Declaration of Independence. In his own lifetime, Franklin knew prominence not only in America but also in Britain and France. Here was a cosmopolitan statesman, public servant, inventor, and editor with a distinctly Yankee sensibility; here was a moral philosopher who divided his faith between the natural sciences and the American experiment.Why the President Should Read This Book
Although brief and incomplete, Franklin’s autobiography is not only entertaining, but a critically important view into the mind of one of the principle Founders of the country. Reading it helps one understand better the mindset of those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
Description (from Amazon.com)
Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as “a masterpiece” (John A. Gable, Newsday), it is the winner of the Los Angeles Times 1981 Book Prize for Biography and the National Book Award for Biography. Written by David McCullough, the author of Truman, this is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised.The father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. The mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and a celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before. There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, TR’s first love. All are brought to life to make “a beautifully told story, filled with fresh detail”, wrote The New York Times Book Review.
A book to be read on many levels, it is at once … Read the rest of this entry »