The Presidents

The Presidents

Author: Stephen Graubard

Pages: 890

Rating:

Presentation: 3, Language: 4, Relevance: 3, Depth: 3, Reputation: 3

Dedication: “For Margaret”

This book details the transformation of the American presidency from Theodore Roosevelt to George W Bush. It describes the political and international careers of the 20^th century Presidents. Though the author expects prior basic knowledge of the relevant issues faced by each President, he nevertheless explains some of the details. The excessive use of foot notes (or end notes, rather) is annoying at times, considering that the foot notes constitute an imposing 180 pages (20% of the total book). The relevance of foot notes is debatable, at times.

The Presidents in the 20^th century are

1. Theodore Roosevelt
2. William Taft
3. Woodrow Wilson
4. Warren Harding
5. Calvin Coolidge
6. Herbert Hoover
7. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
8. Harry S Truman
9. Dwight D Eisenhower
10. John F Kennedy
11. Lyndon B Johnson
12. Richard Nixon
13. Gerald Ford
14. Jimmy Carter
15. Ronald Reagan
16. George Bush
17. Bill Clinton
18. George W Bush

I personally like Truman most. His major achievements were the establishment of the Department of Defence, CIA and National Security Council. Unfortunately, he ordered the nuclear bombing of Japan, Berlin airlift, Korean War and the testing of the H-Bomb.

Overall rating: 3/5