The Next President: How the Man Defines the Office
Dee J, Rammell
Tate Publishing, Jun 26 2012, $14.99
http://www.tatepublishing.com
ISBN: 9781620240885
This is an excellent timely short primer with the election coming in the fall as Dee J, Rammell gives an overview of each of the presidents including their background, accomplishments, famous quotes, failures, personal lives, and more but does so in context of the era in which they served. One of the more interesting tidbits is Hayes overcoming “Rutherfraud” and adhering to his contract with America to serve one-term; by the short entry he comes across as transitional at a time when leadership was needed yet ranked by historian polls as 24th. The death of Pierce’s last living son left his wife blaming his political ambitions as being ungodly and probably led to his oath on a law book not a bible. The rankings are interesting as there is a consensus that at a time of crisis, the 1850s include three great failures (Google each president’s last name to see when they show up to tell you their contemporary significance). Including Bush the younger when he was only five years into his term and less than four years since leaving seems invalid as too soon and those like the assassinated Taylor may not have had enough time to matter. I would have appreciated more information on the survey mechanism (questions), who participates with overarching summaries of personal biases, and comparative rankings over the decades to include theories for why radical changes occur. Still this is a fabulous quick look at the presidents; summed up nicely by President McKinley with this wry comment over a century before Citizens United: “He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.”
Harriet Klausner
Dee J, Rammell
Tate Publishing, Jun 26 2012, $14.99
http://www.tatepublishing.com
ISBN: 9781620240885
This is an excellent timely short primer with the election coming in the fall as Dee J, Rammell gives an overview of each of the presidents including their background, accomplishments, famous quotes, failures, personal lives, and more but does so in context of the era in which they served. One of the more interesting tidbits is Hayes overcoming “Rutherfraud” and adhering to his contract with America to serve one-term; by the short entry he comes across as transitional at a time when leadership was needed yet ranked by historian polls as 24th. The death of Pierce’s last living son left his wife blaming his political ambitions as being ungodly and probably led to his oath on a law book not a bible. The rankings are interesting as there is a consensus that at a time of crisis, the 1850s include three great failures (Google each president’s last name to see when they show up to tell you their contemporary significance). Including Bush the younger when he was only five years into his term and less than four years since leaving seems invalid as too soon and those like the assassinated Taylor may not have had enough time to matter. I would have appreciated more information on the survey mechanism (questions), who participates with overarching summaries of personal biases, and comparative rankings over the decades to include theories for why radical changes occur. Still this is a fabulous quick look at the presidents; summed up nicely by President McKinley with this wry comment over a century before Citizens United: “He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.”
Harriet Klausner
