Reviews for The American presidents

The average rating for The American presidents based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-15 00:00:00 Shawn Ferguson Short biographies of all the Presidents of America so far, packed into one giant volume - that was pretty much it to scare me. But David C. Whitney's writing was enough to win me over. The undertones of american patriotism to admitting the scandals and the faults and flaws with some presidencies were written flawlessly. The written execution of the short biographies were simple, informative and educative. I could sense pride and impartiality in the writing with every president portrayed without prejudice regardless of their actions. It was like being taught by an old fashioned, yet respectable and socially compatible teacher that all students come to love. I read this to gain some background knowledge for my A2 Government & Politics class and I am absolutely content with what I got. This was exactly what I needed to introduce myself to American Politics - understanding the rich history that lay with all the presidents thus far written concisely without missing any details in a manner that allowed me to absorb the information without difficulty. Just a side note: I didn't read up on all the presidents. Below are the names of the presidents I did read about and events/facts that I found of particular interest for each: George Washington - The first President of the United States. Drew up Constitution. Abraham Lincoln - Emancipation Proclamation. Assassination. Theodore Roosevelt - Roosevelt Corollary. He also prowled the streets at night to lookout for police officers that were not doing their duty. At the time, corruption was high in the police department. Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Cousin to Theodore Roosevelt. New Deal. John Fitzgerald Kennedy - New Frontier Program (the Peace Corps). Proposal of expansion of civil rights. Appointment of younger brother Robert Kennedy as Attorney General. 'Alliance for Progress' (10 year plan to develop Latin American countries). Overthrowing of Fidel Castro in Cuba (failed). Assassination. Lyndon Baines Johnson - 'Great Society' (social protection laws). Vietnam war (attempt to prevent communists overtaking South Vietnam, sent ground troops.) Assassination of Martin Luther King & Robert Kennedy during LBJ's presidency. Richard Milhous Nixon - Resignation to avoid impeachment after Watergate Scandal. Nixon's visit to China for trade purposes. "Pentagon Papers" scandal (top secret information about Vietnam War released). Rejection of drafts by young soldiers. Unbeknownst to the American public or Congress, Nixon promised North Vietnamese leaders $4.75 billion dollars if they ended the war. Repetition of vetoes. Congress pass law that requires the Executive to consult with Congress before sending U.S. troops to war. Ronald Reagan - Oldest President. "Reaganomics". Biggest recession since WWII. Appointment of first woman in court (Sandra Day O'Connor). Reagan Doctrine (increase of military strength, action or aid to fight Soviet backed governments in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean). Bin Laden trained by the U.S. to fight against Soviets in Afghanistan. William Jefferson Clinton - Lewinsky scandal (affair with intern). Impeachment by House and trial by Senate. George W. Bush - Did not win popular vote. Tax cuts passed each year during first term. "No Child Left Behind" bipartisanship. Government funding for embryonic stem-cell research and prohibition of government funding for abortion. Withdrawal from Kyoto Protocol and International Ballistic Missile Treaty. Deployed National Missile Defense System. American involvement in Middle East (reversal of Republican policy). New cabinet position of Homeland Security after 9/11 attacks. Passing of the Patriot Act. Failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, justification of war. Assassination of Saddam Hussein. Abu Ghraib (prisoner torture scandal). Slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Scandals led to both houses of Congress to be lost to Democrats. Set up Guantanamo Bay and secret prisons (also known as "black sites"). Injected large sums of taxpayer money into banks (also a reversal of Rep. policy of limiting Government intervention in markets). Barack Obama - First black President. First President to make full use of internet to raise money for campaign. Barack Obama's biography was short as the revision of this book only occurred in 2009 (I think). I highly recommend this book to anyone from beginners to pros of American Politics. It's great for History too.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-09-13 00:00:00 Amanda Hoeschele I admit it, history didn't interest me very much while I was in school, and I've forgotten most of the little I learned. I thought it was high time I learned a bit more and that a high-level introduction to the presidents of the United States would be a good start. This book, the eleventh addition, fits the bill very well. Of course, a single volume covering all the presidents up to the current time has to cover each administration only in broad strokes. Each section starts with the important dates of that president's life and political career. Important decisions and policies are included, along with background on those decisions. For such a compact book, there are also quite a few excerpts of speeches given by the presidents. There are about 35 pages of condensed information at the back of the book, and a portrait or photograph of each president. This eleventh edition ends with the election of Barack Obama. All in all, this is a great book for someone who wants to brush up on U.S. Presidents before delving more deeply into any individual one, or someone like me who just didn't pay enough attention to history classes.