Author: Dennis Gaffney Publisher: Hyperion ISBN: 9781401323752 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
“A bite of history a day, all year long . . .” Flawless storytelling, expert research, and intriguing, one-page essays make The Seven-Day Scholar: The Presidents perfect for history buffs. The Presidents addresses formative moments in the lives of the presidents, crucial political decisions, little-known facts, and insights into the intriguing individuals Americans have selected to lead our country. Each chapter includes seven related narrative entries—one for each day of the week. The book explores many fascinating facts and issues about the presidents, including: Did Washington really enjoy dancing? Why did President Jefferson avoid speaking in public? Why did Lincoln crack down on civil liberties? Why did Eisenhower fight against big defense budgets? How responsible was Reagan for the end of the Cold War? As well as covering each president, the book includes chapters on the Best and Worst Writers and Speakers; Most Controversial Elections; Scandals; Most Controversial Foreign Policy Decisions; The Peacemakers; First Ladies; The Best and Worst Presidents; and more. Entries also include follow-up resources where curious readers can learn more. Readers can sweep through the book from beginning to end, or use it as a reference book, periodically exploring topics and presidents in which they are interested.
Author: Dennis Gaffney Publisher: Hachette Books ISBN: 1401304141 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 519
Book Description
"A bite of history a day, all year long . . ." Flawless storytelling, expert research, and intriguing, one-page essays make The Seven-Day Scholar: The Presidents perfect for history buffs. The Presidents addresses formative moments in the lives of the presidents, crucial political decisions, little-known facts, and insights into the intriguing individuals Americans have selected to lead our country. Each chapter includes seven related narrative entries-one for each day of the week. The book explores many fascinating facts and issues about the presidents, including: Did Washington really enjoy dancing? Why did President Jefferson avoid speaking in public? Why did Lincoln crack down on civil liberties? Why did Eisenhower fight against big defense budgets? How responsible was Reagan for the end of the Cold War? As well as covering each president, the book includes chapters on the Best and Worst Writers and Speakers; Most Controversial Elections; Scandals; Most Controversial Foreign Policy Decisions; The Peacemakers; First Ladies; The Best and Worst Presidents; and more. Entries also include follow-up resources where curious readers can learn more. Readers can sweep through the book from beginning to end, or use it as a reference book, periodically exploring topics and presidents in which they are interested.
Author: Dennis Gaffney Publisher: Hyperion Books ISBN: 9780316331036 Category : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Languages : en Pages : 428
Book Description
Expert research and fascinating, little-known details about the Presidents of the United States make the second book in The Seven-Day Scholar series essential for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. The series is done in partnership with The History Channel and A&E.
Author: Dennis Gaffney Publisher: Hachette Books ISBN: 1401396623 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 476
Book Description
"A bite of history a day, all year long." Flawless storytelling, expert research, and a whole new way of providing history in intriguing, one-page essays makes The Seven-Day Scholar: The Civil War a book that anyone interested in the topic will want on their bookshelf. This volume in the Seven-Day Scholar series brings to life significant moments in our nation's heroic tragedy, the Civil War, and coincides with its 150th anniversary. The book is organized into fifty-two chapters, corresponding to the weeks in a year; and each week has a theme-what ignited the war, Antietam, soldiers' food and drink, the 54th Massachusetts, the Gettysburg Address, Vicksburg, medical care, Lincoln's assassination, why the North won, and many more. Each chapter includes seven related narrative entries, one for every day of the week. These one-page entries, which read like historical fiction, bring to life crucial political decisions, unforgettable people, key battlefield moments, scholarly debates, and struggles on the home front. The book also explores many little-known episodes, answering questions such as: Why did Jefferson and Varina Davis take in a mixed-race child during the war What were the causes of riots in New York City and Richmond Why was General William Sherman demoted for "insanity" Why did the Union Army turn Robert E. Lee's estate into a cemetery Entries also include follow-up resources where curious readers can learn more. Readers can sweep through the book from beginning to end, or use it as a reference book, periodically dipping in and out of topics they want to explore. This is the perfect book for history buffs, and for those who missed out on learning about this captivating period in American history.
Author: Brian Lamb Publisher: PublicAffairs ISBN: 154177437X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 626
Book Description
The complete rankings of our best -- and worst -- presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership. Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with everyone in between. Based on interviews conducted over the years with a variety of presidential biographers, this book provides not just a complete ranking of our presidents, but stories and analyses that capture the character of the men who held the office. From Abraham Lincoln's political savvy and rhetorical gifts to James Buchanan's indecisiveness, this book teaches much about what makes a great leader -- and what does not. As America looks ahead to our next election, this book offers perspective and criteria to help us choose our next leader wisely.
Author: Harold Holzer Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 1524745286 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 593
Book Description
An award-winning presidential historian offers an authoritative account of American presidents' attacks on our freedom of the press—including a new foreword chronicling the end of the Trump presidency. “The FAKE NEWS media,” Donald Trump has tweeted, “is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Has our free press ever faced as great a threat? Perhaps not—but the tension between presidents and journalists is as old as the republic itself. Every president has been convinced of his own honesty and transparency; every reporter who has covered the White House beat has believed with equal fervency that his or her journalistic rigor protects the country from danger. Our first president, George Washington, was also the first to grouse about his treatment in the newspapers, although he kept his complaints private. Subsequent chiefs like John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Barack Obama were not so reticent, going so far as to wield executive power to overturn press freedoms, and even to prosecute journalists. Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to actively manage the stable of reporters who followed him, doling out information, steering coverage, and squashing stories that interfered with his agenda. It was a strategy that galvanized TR’s public support, but the lesson was lost on Woodrow Wilson, who never accepted reporters into his inner circle. Franklin Roosevelt transformed media relations forever, holding more than a thousand presidential press conferences and harnessing the new power of radio, at times bypassing the press altogether. John F. Kennedy excelled on television and charmed reporters to hide his personal life, while Richard Nixon was the first to cast the press as a public enemy. From the days of newsprint and pamphlets to the rise of Facebook and Twitter, each president has harnessed the media, whether intentional or not, to imprint his own character on the office. In this remarkable new history, acclaimed scholar Harold Holzer examines the dual rise of the American presidency and the media that shaped it. From Washington to Trump, he chronicles the disputes and distrust between these core institutions that define the United States of America, revealing that the essence of their confrontation is built into the fabric of the nation.
Author: Daniel O'Brien Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers ISBN: 0553537474 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
Humorously Invites readers to evaluate thirty-nine presidents, from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, and then draft their own presidential fantasy team.
Author: Smithsonian Institution Publisher: Smithsonian Institution ISBN: 1588343251 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 241
Book Description
Which president holds the record for the most vetoes? Which president had the largest shoe size? Who was the only president to serve in both World War I and World War II? Who was the tallest president? These questions and many, many more are answered in The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia, which has been fully updated to 2024 to include trivia question and answers about every US president to date. Divided into 11 chapters, The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia looks at every aspect of our heads of state and presidential history: Citizens, Officers, Heroes, and Saviors; Stumping: From Front Porch to Facebook; The Pledge and the Parties; Inside the Oval Office; The Perpetual Podium; Home, Hotel, Parlor, Playground; First Families; Impeachment, Controversy, Shame; Assassination; Death, and National Mourning; Presidents in the Popular Imagination; and The Quotable President. Many of the questions are accompanied with photographs of artifacts from the Smithsonian's collections. The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia is sure to puzzle the trivia buff and presidential expert alike!
Author: Jared Cohen Publisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 1501109839 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 528
Book Description
This New York Times bestselling “deep dive into the terms of eight former presidents is chock-full of political hijinks—and déjà vu” (Vanity Fair) and provides a fascinating look at the men who came to the office without being elected to it, showing how each affected the nation and world. The strength and prestige of the American presidency has waxed and waned since George Washington. Eight men have succeeded to the presidency when the incumbent died in office. In one way or another they vastly changed our history. Only Theodore Roosevelt would have been elected in his own right. Only TR, Truman, Coolidge, and LBJ were re-elected. John Tyler succeeded William Henry Harrison who died 30 days into his term. He was kicked out of his party and became the first president threatened with impeachment. Millard Fillmore succeeded esteemed General Zachary Taylor. He immediately sacked the entire cabinet and delayed an inevitable Civil War by standing with Henry Clay’s compromise of 1850. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded our greatest president, sided with remnants of the Confederacy in Reconstruction. Chester Arthur, the embodiment of the spoils system, was so reviled as James Garfield’s successor that he had to defend himself against plotting Garfield’s assassination; but he reformed the civil service. Theodore Roosevelt broke up the trusts. Calvin Coolidge silently cooled down the Harding scandals and preserved the White House for the Republican Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Harry Truman surprised everybody when he succeeded the great FDR and proved an able and accomplished president. Lyndon B. Johnson was named to deliver Texas electorally. He led the nation forward on Civil Rights but failed on Vietnam. Accidental Presidents shows that “history unfolds in death as well as in life” (The Wall Street Journal) and adds immeasurably to our understanding of the power and limits of the American presidency in critical times.