Reviews for The President's House: A First Daughter Shares the History and Secrets of the World's Most Famous Home

The average rating for The President's House: A First Daughter Shares the History and Secrets of the World's Most Famous Home based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-09-19 00:00:00 Fred Brune There is very little historical value to this book. To me this was pure "fluff" history. Too much of Margaret Truman and not enough facts. Because she lived in the White House Margaret Truman must think that makes her a credible source and therefore she did not need to cite one source, make any notes or even include a bibliography. There were direct quotes but no clue as to where they came from. Truman would also occasionally mention a book that someone else has written, even quote from it but not give the title of the book. All of this really irked me and the book lost pretty much all credibility as far as I'm concerned because of it. I could have done with out many of Truman's personal observations and feelings as well as her little side comments like this one, "You might be surprised by this, I know I was." I guess this added a conversational tone to the book but I did not care for it. I also think that a good history of the White House should give us a little less of a partisan view than the one Truman gave us. Overall, I was not too impressed with this book but there were just enough interesting stories and little bits of trivia to make it worth the time I put into it.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-03-28 00:00:00 Leander Mase An interesting read but not as interesting, in terms of finding out White House tidbits I didn't already know, as J.B. West's memoir was. Much of what Ms. Truman writes has been published before, so if you're a history buff, don't look for much in the way of new ground. Nor was there a lot on her experiences as a president's daughter living in the White House. Mostly, she talks about how normal her life was. Perhaps this was because she was already a young adult when her father was elected. Still I'd hoped for more. There is information on all other presidents and their families and bits of history on the White House itself, though there again, I'd hoped for more detailed information about the total renovation of the White House during the Truman years. This was barely touched on. There are some photographs - lovely colorful ones. And there is some background on her parents, but not without the expected bent, given the relationship. If you're a history geek like me, you'll probably find it a fun read at the least but not very informative.