| Title | : | Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0684857057 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780684857053 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 430 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2007 |
Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989 Reviews
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This book surprised me. Maybe it was the cover, maybe it was the blurbs. But for some reason I feared it would be a shallow, light-weight read. Well I was wrong. Michael Beschloss has written an incredibly entertaining, richly-detailed history of six key presidents who served the nation in its first 200 years(1789-1989). Its the story of the slanders, insults and outright hatred they suffered while sticking to their guns and prevailing (often against popular opinion)while making risky decisions -- decisions we judge as wise today. Beschloss makes it clear that in all cases, things could have gone the other way, and it was these men who made the difference. You'll learn things here that you never heard in high school history.
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This book accounts the changes made by presidents in peace time and war from Washington to Reagan. It is very thought provoking and makes you see each president a little differently than you may have before.
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Just finished reading "Presidential Courage" by Michael Beschloss.
Beschloss looks at a series of unpopular presidential decisions that made the U.S. stronger despite their controversy. To the average reader, some examples will be well known, such as emancipation under Lincoln, or obscure, like Jackson's opposition to the Bank of the United States.
This readable book can be a very nice follow-up to your average high school American history course, going deeper into controversial issues that are either glossed over or ignored in the textbook. Beschloss puts story back into history.
But the book is robbed of some of its coherence by its chapter layout. Each president should have had his own section, with some follow-up showing how the precedent in one administration can empower a president in the next. Here Beschloss leaves the reader to connect those dots on his own. Shorting the book of some analysis removes the risk of boring the average reader. Beschloss is a proven able writer who has more than met the challenge of maintaining an interesting narrative, so the lack of a few "nut 'graphs" is short-sighted. I sometimes wonder if this book was rushed to press.
Beschloss' treatment of presidential courage contains one undying constant--that no matter how well a president tries to balance popularity with the demands of practical policy, there are times when policy must come first, even at the risk of unpopularity. A courageous president will recognize this moment and seize it. And so we have chapters on Washington, John Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan. We don't see chapters on Madison, van Buren, Buchanan, McKinley, Hoover or Carter.
Choosing a harder right over an easier wrong is not often seen in politics. We pine for it, but punish presidents by "voting for the other guy" whenever we feel inconvenienced by a policy. Beschloss tries to remind the reader why the harder right matters. Sometimes it is validated by re-election, but never truly appreciated until a president has been out of office for a while. The critics are then forgotten while the president is remembered.
Beschloss earns three stars for his "gentleman's effort." But he could have earned his fourth easily. -
I became so annoyed with this book that I finally had to put it down. The short paragraphs were just too much. Maybe Mr. Beschloss thought he was on television, and needed to write the book as such, with neat little breathless soundbites. Maybe he thinks readers are stupid and have gnat-like attention spans,so our paragraphs need to be short. Maybe he likes one sentence paragraphs. Maybe his editor hates him, or us.
The chapters about George Washington are great. The one little tidbit about Martha Washington and her cat make her sound delightfully snarky. But it's all downhill from there. The subtitle: Brave leaders and how they changed America. Well, we all know how WE THINK George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and company changed America. We picked up this book to read how and why Michael Beschloss thinks they changed America and how they were brave. Maybe he was so afraid of offending some right or left wingnut that he totally took any of what he believes out of the narrative - he was strangely absent from any of the book. It's like a robot or a computer wrote the book, without any feelings one way or the other. I would think someone as famous as Michael Beschloss has opinions about these presidents, and with a title and subtitle like that, you'd think he's be anxious to share them. Apparently not.
Apparently, I'm mostly alone is disliking this book. But I most definitely did. -
Beschloss crams this work with personal intrigue, recorded conversations, and political plotting a-plenty, but these tantalizing elements often overwhelm the meta-themes Presidential Courage seemed ready to elucidate. It was a bit like reading a well-written, long form article in Sunday’s edition of the New Yorker—if that writer were a historian. It’s not unsatisfying—much of it’s quite fun. But I had hoped for so much more.
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Presidential Courage takes a look at 9 U.S. Presidents (Washington, J. Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, JFK, and Reagan) and the difficult decisions that they made in the face of great opposition.
Beschloss certainly provides a lot of information and insight into these men's presidencies that most Americans wouldn't learn in their high school history classes. It was gratifying to read about their struggles, and I often found myself thinking, "The more things change, the more they really do stay the same." Additionally, in a time when we have come to view our politicians with such skepticism, it was nice to read about these presidents, who persisted in doing the right thing despite what it could have meant to their political careers. In particular, I found renewed admiration for Washington - who fought hard to pass a peace treaty with Britain when a second war with them would have destroyed our new nation - and Jackson - who brought down the national U.S. Bank, which at the time "owned" many politicians.
However, I felt the book was very inconsistent, and it definitely lost steam the farther it went along. Some of the chapters were excruciating to get through. And some were very disappointing. I was particularly puzzled by the section on T. Roosevelt, which seemed less about his battle to bring down the big trusts and more about his personality and family life.
Finally, I thought some of Beschloss's choices were very strange. In a book about men who fought for what they thought was right despite all odds, some of these men didn't seem to fit. In particular, I felt Truman and Kennedy came out looking very bad. Sure, Truman eventually chose to recognize Israel when they declared themselves a nation, but it wasn't because he had any personal convictions about it, and the way that Beschloss described him, he actually seemed like a bit of an anti-Semite. And Kennedy may have proposed the first Civil Rights bill, but again, it didn't really seem like that came out of any personal conviction. He just seemed to realize that this was the way the winds were blowing, and he stalled for as long as he could. How are either of these instances examples of courage?
By and large, though, I did like this book, and think that most U.S. history buffs would find it interesting. -
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, this book did introduce me to certain aspects of American history that I was unaware of. For example, the section on John Adams and the treaty with France, and all of the politics that went around it, was previously unknown to me. It was nice to learn about such things. In addition, the author doesn't put an unearned shine on any of the Presidents featured here. As much as sources allow, the author shows that the Presidents didn't usually have iron-clad convictions on the key issues presented in the book as requiring courage. For example, the section on Harry Truman deals with whether the U.S.A. would recognize the new nation of Israel or not. This shows that Truman went back on forth on the idea, leaning towards it and then away from it, on almost a day-to-day basis. So, the book gave me new information and didn't show the Presidents in a universally good light.
On the negative side, the writing style turned me off. The author uses short sentences and short paragraphs, exclusively. The whole book is written towards, at most, an eighth grade level, and some of it reads like sixth grade level. I felt multiple times that my intelligence was being insulted by the limited paragraph and sentence structures. This is not the way that I am used to adults writing, and it made it hard to really get into the book. Also, each President gets four chapters each. This uniform structure doesn't fit all of the stories. Some of the sections feel unnecessarily expanded, while others feel too short, and a longer treatment would have given more space to better explain the political situations being dealt with.
Ultimately, I found that this book was a suitable introduction to the included political events, but the book does not satisfactorily explain all of the nuances of them. It has introduced me to some new stories I hadn't known before, and has encouraged me to look for books that go into greater depth on those topics. So that is a virtue of the book, but for me it is the only one. This book is better suited for a middle or high-school student than for an adult. -
My review is for the abridged audiobook version read by the author. The author presents engaging profiles of nine American Presidents who persevered despite stiff opposition from either domestic or foreign adversaries (or both). He makes a special effort to show how the later executives were inspired or influenced by the example of earlier ones, giving the book a sense of unity despite the broad range of historical periods covered. I find his accounts to be mostly even-handed on the political spectrum, though "objective" isn't quite the word I would use to characterize them.
Such strong characters are easy to tell apart, and thinking about what might have happened if Adams served during the time of Lincoln or if one swapped Theodore and Franklin Roosevelts would make interesting speculations by enthusiasts of political history such as the ones who would most enjoy this book. Such readers would naturally be inclined to make comparisons between this book and other works covering the lives of those individuals who shaped history, not least of which the one John F. Kennedy wrote, Profiles in Courage. You can tell that Beschloss is aware of that famous work because he mentions it explicitly in the Kennedy section.
Drawing from the original documents and the accounts of eyewitnesses, he further fleshes out the inner workings of the Presidency by describing the influences of Cabinet members, financiers, First Ladies, and even celebrities. I would like to leaf through the hardcopy version of this book because of the way I suspect much of that might have had to be cut for this abridgment, though the one cameo appearance by Richard Nixon as ex-president does not go missing, fortunately. And as for the concluding section on how Ronald Reagan brought about an end to the Cold War, it is clear to me how much of a debt that man owes to his collaborator/adversary Mikhail Gorbachev for cementing his place in history. -
This book shows that the Presidents that lead a breakthrough faced much resistance by members of Congress political opponents and in many cases the press. The difference today it the ever ubiquitous social and professional media fighting over the facts and motives. More voters hear the arguments today than ever before. Polling is also ever present. The examples in the book are times when the President, often unsure, did what carried political risk. In these examples the decision turned out to advance the country. The example are 1) Washington supporting the Jay treaty with Britain though he was accused of being a traitor. 2) Adams fending off war with France/Britain showing strength by building an army. 3) Jackson closing the Biddle bank who he believed was trying to buy the government. 4) Lincoln deciding that Signing the Proclamation was a military necessity as it supplied Black soldiers to the north! 5)Teddy Roosevelt fighting to end the ruinous coal strike, “saving capitalism by amending it”! 6) Franklin Roosevelt finally convincing the nation to enter WWII. 7) Truman recognizing Israel. 8) Kennedy facing segregation, and 8) Reagan staring down the Soviet Union. All relied on strong Presidential leadership facing strong opposition and risk!
It is a good read! It reminds us that outrageous conflict and rage that has always, not just now, accompanied our politics. -
'Presidential Courage', by Michael Beschloss, is written as a series of vignettes, in chronological order, about critical events or even crises for different presidents. The author describes the event, its implications, the presidents deliberations and actions, and the results. Its almost written as a series of short stories, a reader could pick and chose sections to read without affecting the understanding of the book. Although somewhat interesting, this book seems more geared to young teens (say 6th through 9th grade ), than adults. The stories are good, but there is no depth or penetrating debate. If it had not been chosen for my book club, I would have cut my reading short, as it was not terribly interesting.
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Not all the stories truly demonstrate courage, and their inclusion seems arbitrary.
The writing style is annoying and a huge detriment to the material. He almost writes as if he's tweeting.
Every sentence seems to be a new paragraph.
And they're not always connected in a logical way.
For better presidential writing, turn to Gibbs and Duffy in The Presidents Club. -
recommended on APUS history listserv
doesn't look like it will be a good selection for AP US or LSN or AP Gov
disappointing
writing style is choppy,
tidbits of historical information scattered about that don't seem to support his argument that a particular president was courageous -
I prefer historcial writings of David McCullough to Michael Beschloss. Sometimes I felt as if the writing was more gossip than historical.
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Certainly illuminating, with well-chosen areas of discussion. However, all the anecdotes felt a tad shallow.
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Interesting book. There were a couple of events that I didn't know about which helped to hold my interest. I was impressed that Beschloss didn't try and sugarcoat the original opinions and actions of the various Presidents. Often it took quite a bit of pushing from staff or friends to get them to make the changes that were needed. In particular I'm thinking of Harry Truman and his eventual support of Israel and JFK and his support for civil rights.
Overall most of the Presidents didn't come across as being particularly noble. They all whined and complained about what they were going through but eventually they got the job done. I have never been a fan of Andrew Jackson and this cemented my bad opinion of him but all of the other Presidents discussed in the book (George Washington, John Adams, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Ronald Reagan) definitely showed their human side too. Perhaps that's a good thing. -
Randy and I attended a reading & talk by this author several years ago at the National Archives. I am happy to report that his book is as interesting as his public presentation. Several take-aways from this reading: 1. There is the good, the bad and the ugly in every President; Beschloss divulges it all and there are a plethora of notes, public record and recordings as evidence. 2. Moral/Ethical behavior is a work in progress. From Washington to Reagan, we see our President's waffle around on human rights, compassion and just plain human decency. 3. President's are not to be idealized or lionized but are public servants who must be held to the highest standard because only then are we guaranteed a republic that respects (and enforces) human rights, freedom and compassion for all of its citizens.
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This is an excellent overview of our American History, highlighting several Presidents acting as real leaders and how their actions and decisions changed America. Author Michael Beschloss examines decisions and actions of the following Presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Beschloss has a nice conversational style, the text is well researched; many interesting insights about these men from their Presidential diaries. It is well worth reading...many of the footnotes are as interesting as the text.
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I give this five stars for being very fair and very detailed, while covering- not the entire administration of these certain presidents, but rather the inside story of how each man worked with his staff to avoid a crisis or to survive one that faced his nation.
I have read several biographies of F.D.R., and the only family approved book on Joseph P. Kennedy, but I have never heard many of these details on that tense relationship before.
The accounts of Lincoln, Adams, and Washington did not break any new ground with me, however recounting the inside story of how the Kennedy's held the Civil-rights movement at arms length is cringe worthy. -
This book was just okay for me. Overall, I thought the presidents Mr. Beschloss chose were fine, but it simply came down to the fact that some of them interested me more than others (Washington, Adams, Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy vs. Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Truman, Reagan). So for me personally I found the first half of the book much better than the second half. But again, this just came down to personal preference. It's easy to read and if you're looking for a quick overview of the "big issue" of certain presidents' administrations, this is the book for you.
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I found this book pretty interesting. It goes through various presidents since the founding of the country and the tough decision that they had to make that often made them very unpopular. My only real complain is that the book reads like a history book and can be dry and textbook like at times. But if you are a fan of non-politicized history the book provides a lot of factual historical information that is, at least to me, not well known.
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The book being reviewed is entitled "Presidential Courage" and the author is Michael Beschloss. This is the first book I have read by this author but it will not be my last. He has written several other books about American presidents and because of his skillful writing talent, I want to read several more of them. Many history books are dull and dry and the reader has to work to drudge through them. Of all the history books that I have read, this is one of the easiest and most compelling to read because the author poses a problem that the character must confront and solve. The bigger the problem, the more interesting, the story becomes. In the case of this history book, the characters dealing with these difficult problems are U.S. presidents. The problems that they dealt with affected the survival of our nation and its evolution toward becoming truly the land of the free.
The book moves chronologically from George Washington forward in time ending with Ronald Reagan. The presidents ,which the author selected, struggled with important problems of their time. Each of the stories was very worthwhile. I have chosen just a few of them that I found most compelling to mention to you in this review.
Theodore Roosevelt is a president that I particularly admire and I have read several of his biographies, some touching on particular parts of his life. In this book, the author deals with one of TR's struggles, which I knew little about. TR had boldly dealt with powerful monopolistic interests by limiting their power and their reversing some of their overreaches. Now he had to deal with the survival of his presidency against those powerful enemies that he had made. The skill needed to be both an effective and re-electable politician is a very nuanced thing and the author helps you appreciate what it took to pull it off.
Harry Truman, like many people of that era, did not have much empathy for the plight of Jewish refugees at the close of World War II. Thousands were dying in camps every year and there was a desire for freedom and a homeland of their own in Israel. Many of us today appreciate the Jewish struggle from watching films such as "Exodus". However in Truman's time, there was a lot of prejudice against Jews by power holders within the State Department and the Defense Department. HST had to buck determined resistance within his own administration. HST, himself, was not persuaded by the pleas of Jewish leaders, but finally got the message from an old friend of his, who happened to be Jewish. Truman ended up having the United States be the first country to recognize the new state of Israel after its partition. The detailed story of how this all happened is fascinating and it is a reminder of a time when prejudice against Jews was rampant.
John Kennedy's administration was probably the first that I paid serious attention to as a young adult. Although I voted for Nixon in 1960, when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 I was outraged that one rifleman could undo the will of millions of voters. Moreover, my own politics that shifted towards a more liberal stance. I remember that VP Lyndon Johnson picked up the banner and enacted many of the liberal reforms that JFK personified. I did not realize that JFK was cool to civil rights for black Americans, but reading this book opened my eyes. After being reacquainted with those times, I remembered about Southern Democrats and their opposition to equality for blacks. JFK resisted the introduction of meaningful civil rights legislation because he knew that Southern Democrats would turn against him. Eventually he did what was right even though it may have been against his political interests. The author relives the brutality and violence inflicted by white zealots of the southern states against the freedom marchers. Again, I was reminded of a darker time in American history. Black Americans, only wishing for equal treatment, were beaten with crowbars unmercifully. It sickened me to be reminded that my white countrymen could behave so barbarically. In 2008, we elected the first black president in this country's history and although I am proud of this accomplishment, I am also disheartened by the residual racism manifested in demeaning this fine man with lies such as claiming he is a Muslim or that he wasn't born in the United States. Alas, we still have a long ways to go.
Ronald Reagan was a man that stood firm in his convictions. His greatest accomplishment is bringing the Cold War to an end and that is the story told in this book. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a new expense that the Soviet Union could not afford. One after another, Reagan dealt with several elderly Russian heads of state, due to their dying off. When Gorbachev was elected, Reagan finally had a man he could deal with. The detailed story of their interactions, conflicts, and eventual history making agreements is a dramatic one and it is well told.
I enjoyed reading this entire book. It was a page turner because it was masterfully written. It also focused on important issues that shaped our great nation. I hope you read it because America would be an even greater nation than it is if all its citizens appreciated our grand history.
Ralph D Hermansen, October 10, 2012 -
The book had some good stories. Even though the chapters were divided in an unusual way, it helped me read it in smaller chunks and feel more accomplished.
It was notable to see how the story of each president flowed into the next president's story.
The epilogue especially had a great message.
