Imperfect presidents : tales of presidential misadventure and triumph

When people make bad decisions, odd remarks, and just plain silly mistakes, the results are sure to haunt them. But when these things happen to the president of the United States, they can change the course of history. In this clever portrait of the American presidency, Jim Cullen takes ten presidents down from their pedestals by examining key missteps in their careers--and how they transcended them. Examples include Abraham Lincoln smearing a preacher and rediscovering his religious vision in emancipating slaves; Lyndon Johnson's electoral fraud in his 1948 Senate race and his role in the signing of the Voting Rights Act; and Ronald Reagan's subversion of the Constitution in the Iran-Contra affair and affirmation of world peace in helping bring about the end of the Cold War. Targeting Republicans and Democrats alike, Cullen's insights are surprisingly timely and hugely entertaining.

a Refreshingly Irreverent And Illuminating History Of Ten Great American Presidents And Their Biggest Mistakes

kirkus Reviews

eleven Presidents Examined Closely For Their Most Salient Errors-but All Viewed Within The Contexts Of Their Personal Histories And Their Times. Cullen, Who Has Previously Held Forth On U.s. History (the American Dream, 2003) And Popular Culture (born In The U.s.a., 1997), Begins And Ends With Bite-sized Essays On, Respectively, The President We Want And The President We Need. In Between Are Some Of Both. All 11 Of Them Have Human Weaknesses-sometimes Endearing, Sometimes Debilitating-that Contributed To Their Successes And Failures. If The Author Can Overstate His Case (was George Washington's Fumbling With His Eyeglasses In 1783 As Consequential As Cullen Argues?), He Can Also Present Complex Events With Lucidity. John Quincy Adams May Have Been An Ineffectual President, But His Firm Anti-slavery Positions In The House Were Pivotal. Chester A. Arthur Betrayed Political Allies To Become Vice President. Fdr Tried To Alter The Structure Of The Supreme Court. Lbj Played Fast-and-loose With Election Laws In His First Campaign For U.s. Senate. President Ford Pardoned A Crook. President Reagan Traded Arms For Hostages And Funded An Illegal War (but We Still Liked Him). Early In His First Term, President Clinton (a Man Too Randy For His Or Our Good) Unwisely Pursued Health-care Reform, Perhaps To Appease His Wife, Who Was Furious About His Serial Infidelities. And The Current President Bush Has, So Far, Committed Two Egregious Errors: Invading Iraq, And Failing To Respond Effectively To Hurricane Katrina. The Author Is An Amiable And Informed Companion, Though He Sometimes Loses Track Of What He's Said. He Describes Jfk As An Empty Suit, Then, Near The End, Declares, It Is Not Possible Toelect An Empty Suit President Of The United States . . . He Admires Theodore Roosevelt And Lincoln But Calls George W. Bush Among The Worst Of All Presidents. Old Rather Than Bold News, Written With Conviction.

"In this portrait of the American presidency, Jim Cullen takes twelve presidents down from their pedestals by examining key missteps in their careers - and how they transcended them. Examples include Abraham Lincoln smearing a preacher and rediscovering his religious vision in emancipating slaves; Lyndon Johnson's electoral fraud in his 1948 Senate race and his role in the signing of the Voting Rights Act; and Ronald Reagan's subversion of the Constitution in the Iran-Contra affair and affirmation of world peace in helping bring about the end of the Cold War."--Jacket In this clever, tongue in cheek portrait of the American presidency, Jim Cullen takes ten presidents down from their pedestals and turns history on its head. Targeting Republicans and Democrats alike, Cullen's insights are surprisingly timely and hugely entertaining A lighthearted portrait of the American presidency reveals the ways in which political faux pas or snafus committed by or aimed at presidents can have history-altering consequences.