Reviews for Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History

The average rating for Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-08-27 00:00:00 Albert Roitfarb A fascinating look at the private side of public life and how the stressers of the presidency united and/or divided the presidents and their wives. Even more interesting to me was the way each of the wives interpreted her role as first lady and how that fit or clashed with society's view of her role. Eleanor Roosevelt actively toured the country being her husbands eyes and ears. Pat Nixon shriveled up and withered away under the pressures and with the lack of support and attention from her husband. Hilary Clinton was criticised for taking an active and visible role in policy with the health care issue. And the wives did all this under intense public scrutiny and while many of the husbands were unfaithful! Amazing...

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-14 00:00:00 Greg Vega Pretty biased. I thought she made all the presidents look either weak and highly dependent on their wives, or like heartless, cruel philanderers. She also mentions more than one First Lady's "breakdown." I imagine it's incredibly hard to lead a normal life under the pressure of the White House, but did they all really have such dramatic mental breakdowns? My other quibble was that, in my opinion, the analysis didn't really show the impact that these marriages had on politics or government or American culture or what have you, so I was left wondering how these presidential marriages actually shaped our recent history. Just the same, it was an intriguing look into a topic that isn't easily probed or widely studied, and I love reading about First Ladies as well as First Couples.