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 What kind
of education is necessary for a person to become president of the
United States? Virtually any kind, it turns out. Unsurprisingly,
many were scholastic achievers, including Clinton, Nixon, Carter,
and George H. W. Bush. FDR received a “gentleman’s C.” John Adams
and Lyndon Johnson were truants, and neither George Washington nor
Harry S. Truman attended any college. This anthology of essays, one
for each president, offers contributions by a variety of historians,
and the result is a compelling and informative book. Among other
things, it’s a useful tonic to the lofty manner in which we usually
regard the founding fathers, who struggled, scraped and worried just
like the rest of us. One of the book’s most charming features is the
wealth of pictures. Most fascinating are the class photos (for
example, readers can try to guess which fresh-faced member of the
basketball team one day became president) and report cards (not
uniformly promising, especially JFK’s). The essays are lively and
focused….The book will impart the unavoidable lesson that good
grades are only one road among many that lead to a successful career
in electoral politics.
—Publishers Weekly
“Taught to Lead is a groundbreaking study of the education of the
American presidents. It provides fascinating insights into how
formal and informal instruction contributed to presidential
understanding of the domestic and international circumstances they
faced during their time in office. This is essential reading for
anyone interested in the presidency.”
—Robert Dallek, Boston University, author of An Unfinished Life:
John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963
“The story of forty-two men (no women so far, alas) with diverse
educational preparations for the presidency is compelling in its
variety and its drama. And a word should be said about the vivid and
imaginative illustrations that accompany and enhance the text.”
—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Price $34.95 Hard Back
Special Sale Price $19.95 First 5
Orders at $14.95
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 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** Abraham Lincoln
Many
historians rank him as the greatest U.S. president, a towering
figure who emancipated America’s slaves, guided the Union through
the Civil War, and spoke eloquently for reconciliation with the
defeated Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln reached unsurpassed heights of
leadership—and he started life from the depths of disadvantage. Born
in a log cabin in Kentucky, Abe Lincoln grew up there and on the
Indiana frontier, where his family scratched out a meager living
farming the land. His mother’s tragic death plunged the Lincolns
into abject poverty when Abe was nine, but his father remarried a
year later and the new Mrs. Lincoln restored a measure of stability
to the household. She called her stepson “the best boy I have ever
seen,” and that boy—honest and hardworking, with a delightful sense
of humor and an unquenchable love of learning—would grow up to
become one of the most revered leaders in American history.
By
Bethanne Kelly Patrick ISBN 1-59084-275-8 Price:
$17.95
(US) 48 pages
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 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy’s father, one of the richest men in America, had big
plans for his son. Joseph Kennedy wanted his oldest boy—a bright,
talented, and personable youth—to go into politics, and he even
dreamed that the boy might one day become the first Catholic elected
president of the United States. Those dreams were shattered,
however, when Joseph Kennedy’s oldest son, Joe Jr., died in action
during World War II. John F. Kennedy, bright and talented in his own
right, had grown up in the shadow of his older brother. But John
would ultimately fulfill the ambitions of his father, capping a
meteoric political rise in 1960 by being elected the nation’s 35th
president. This book examines the childhood and youth of a man who,
though cut down by an assassin’s bullet after less than three years
in the White House, is remembered for instilling in his fellow
citizens a sense of optimism and idealism.
By
Hal Marcovitz ISBN 1-59084-272 Price:
$17.95 48 pages |
 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** Ronald Reagan
"Not since Lincoln . . . has there been a president who has so
understood the power of words to uplift and inspire.” So said
Margaret Thatcher, a longtime British prime minister, of a
much-admired American leader whose uncanny ability to connect with
ordinary people earned him the nickname “the Great Communicator.”
For many of his fellow citizens, Ronald Wilson Reagan’s simple,
clear, firmly held beliefs helped explain a complex and often
frightening world—and reassured Americans about their place in it.
The core beliefs and values of America’s 40th chief executive—who is
perhaps best remembered for his hard line against communism and for
restoring U.S. confidence after an extended period of economic,
political, and military setbacks —were largely formed during his
early years. This book details those years, a period Ronald Reagan
would later remember fondly as a “Tom Sawyer boyhood.”
By
Tamra Orr ISBN 1-59084-280-4 Price:
$17.95 48 pages |
 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** Franklin D Roosevelt
To the millions of Americans who had lost their jobs, their life
savings—their hope—the words of the newly inaugurated 32nd president
came as a source of both comfort and inspiration. “The only thing we
have to fear,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt assured a nation in the
throes of the Great Depression, “is fear itself.” America took
strength from its leader’s confidence—which Roosevelt had displayed
since childhood and which his doting parents had constantly
nurtured. As a boy he had almost no contact with people outside his
parents’ upper-class social circle, but as president Franklin
Roosevelt would do more for the poor and working class than perhaps
any other chief executive, including the creation of Social
Security. This book examines the pivotal early years of America’s
only four-term president, who led his countrymen through the
depression and rallied them to face the challenge of World War II.
By
Anne Marie Sullivan ISBN 1-59084-279-0 |
 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** Harry S Truman
On April 12, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was
serving his fourth term as president of the United States, died
suddenly. Many of Roosevelt’s close advisers worried about the
ability of the vice president, Harry S. Truman, to take over as
chief executive—especially since the country was in the midst of
World War II and Truman, a plain-speaking Missourian, seemed to lack
Roosevelt’s sophistication and political skills. History would prove
such concerns unfounded. Over the next eight years, President Truman
would be called on to make some of the most momentous decisions and
craft some of the most important U.S. policies of the 20th century.
And, historians generally agree, he performed his job with great
distinction. The values and habits Truman learned during his
childhood in Missouri—honesty, hard work, taking responsibility for
one’s actions—served him well in the White House. This book details
the formative years of America’s 33rd president.
By
Barbara Saffer ISBN 1-59084-282-0 Price:
$17.95 48 pages |
 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** Bill Clinton
In the summer of 1963, a 16-year-old visitor to the White House
shook hands with America’s popular, youthful, and charismatic
president, John F. Kennedy. Three decades later that visitor,
William Jefferson Clinton, would himself be elected president. And
like Kennedy, Bill Clinton was blessed with extraordinary political
gifts: a keen intellect, a winning personality, an ability to
inspire. But unlike Kennedy, the son of wealthy and prominent
parents, Bill Clinton started life in humble circumstances. For his
first four years he was raised by a single mother—his father had
died before Bill’s birth—in the small Arkansas town of Hope.
Problems emerged after his mother remarried: Bill’s stepfather,
alcoholic and prone to jealous rages, terrorized the family with his
abuse. Yet through it all Bill thrived, excelling in academics and
music and, after meeting President Kennedy, charting a course in
politics for himself. This book chronicles the fascinating childhood
of America’s 42nd president.
By
Hal Marcovitz ISBN 1-59084-273-1 Price:
$17.95 48 pages
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 CHILDHOODS
OF THE PRESIDENTS SERIES ** George W Bush
Few presidents have been tested so severely in their
first year in office as George W. Bush. Eight months after his
inauguration, terrorists hijacked four jetliners and attacked New
York and Washington, D.C., killing thousands of Americans. Those who
wondered whether the new president was up to the challenge of
leading America in a different kind of war quickly found out. Bush
rallied the country and struck back at the terrorists and their
supporters in Afghanistan. This book gives readers a glimpse of the
childhood that helped shape the 43rd president of the United States.
George W. Bush spent his early years in the West Texas town of
Midland and absorbed its small-town values. Amiable and well liked,
he became a leader first in school and then in politics, eventually
following his father into the White House.
By
Bill and Dorcas Thompson ISBN 1-59084-281-2 Price:
$17.95 48 pages
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