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The presidents : noted historians rank America's best--and worst--chief executives / Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, and C-SPAN ; special contributions by Douglas Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, Richard Norton Smith.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : PublicAffairs, 2019Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First editionDescription: xxi, 523 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781541774339
  • 1541774337
Subject(s):
Contents:
A note to readers on style -- Our special contributors -- Introduction / Susan Swain -- The magnificent lion / Richard Norton Smith -- A brief history of presidential rankings / Douglas Brinkley -- The top ten. Abraham Lincoln / Harold Holzer -- George Washington / Ron Chernow -- Franklin D. Roosevelt / Doris Kearns Goodwin -- Dwight D Eisenhower / William I. Hitchcock -- Harry S. Truman / Aida D. Donald -- Thomas Jefferson / Willard Sterne Randall -- John F. Kennedy / Robert Dallek -- Ronald Reagan / Lou Cannon -- Lyndon B. Johnson / Robert A. Caro -- The men in the middle. Woodrow Wilson / A. Scott Berg -- Barack Obama / David J. Garrow -- James Monroe / John Ferling -- James K. Polk / John Seigenthaler -- William McKinley / Robert W. Merry -- Jame Madison / Noah Feldman -- Andrew Jackson / Mark R. Cheathem -- John Adams / Gordon S. Wood -- George H.W. Bush / Jeffrey A. Engel -- John Quincy Adams / James Traub -- Ulysses S. Grant / Ronald C. White -- Grover Cleveland / H. Paul Jeffers -- William Howard Taft / Jeffrey Rosen -- Gerald R. Ford / James Cannon -- Jimmy Carter / Michael J. Gerhardt -- Calvin Coolidge / Amity Shlaes -- Richard M. Nixon / Evan Thomas -- James A. Garfield / Kenneth D. Ackerman -- Benjamin Harrison / Charles W. Calhoun -- Zachary Taylor / Elbert B. Smith -- Rutherford B. Hayes / Ari Hoogenbom -- George W. Bush / James Mann -- And all the rest. Martin Van Buren / Michael Douglas Henderson -- Chester A. Arthur / Scott S. Greenberger -- Herbert Hoover / Richard Norton Smith -- Millard Fillmore / Edna Greene Medford -- William Henry Harrison / Ronald G. Shafer -- John Tyler / Edward P. Grapol -- Warren G Harding / John W. Dean -- Franklin Pierce / Peter A. Wallner -- Andrew Johnson / David O. Stewart -- James Buchanan / Robert Strauss -- Historians' perspectives on president Donald J. Trump / Douglas Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, and Richard Norton Smith -- Postscript: The presidency, national identity, and the pursuit of equal justice / Edna Greene Medford -- Appendix I: Historians' survey on presidential leadership, total scores and overall rankings -- Appendix II: US presidents in chronological order.
Summary: Offers a complete ranking of United States presidents from best to worst based on their leadership skills, moral authority, and ability to persuade the public.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 352.2309 L218 Available 33111008936920
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 352.2309 L218 Available 33111009531506
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The complete rankings of our best -- and worst -- presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership.
Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with everyone in between.
Based on interviews conducted over the years with a variety of presidential biographers, this book provides not just a complete ranking of our presidents, but stories and analyses that capture the character of the men who held the office. From Abraham Lincoln's political savvy and rhetorical gifts to James Buchanan's indecisiveness, this book teaches much about what makes a great leader -- and what does not.
As America looks ahead to our next election, this book offers perspective and criteria to help us choose our next leader wisely.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 507-509) and index.

A note to readers on style -- Our special contributors -- Introduction / Susan Swain -- The magnificent lion / Richard Norton Smith -- A brief history of presidential rankings / Douglas Brinkley -- The top ten. Abraham Lincoln / Harold Holzer -- George Washington / Ron Chernow -- Franklin D. Roosevelt / Doris Kearns Goodwin -- Dwight D Eisenhower / William I. Hitchcock -- Harry S. Truman / Aida D. Donald -- Thomas Jefferson / Willard Sterne Randall -- John F. Kennedy / Robert Dallek -- Ronald Reagan / Lou Cannon -- Lyndon B. Johnson / Robert A. Caro -- The men in the middle. Woodrow Wilson / A. Scott Berg -- Barack Obama / David J. Garrow -- James Monroe / John Ferling -- James K. Polk / John Seigenthaler -- William McKinley / Robert W. Merry -- Jame Madison / Noah Feldman -- Andrew Jackson / Mark R. Cheathem -- John Adams / Gordon S. Wood -- George H.W. Bush / Jeffrey A. Engel -- John Quincy Adams / James Traub -- Ulysses S. Grant / Ronald C. White -- Grover Cleveland / H. Paul Jeffers -- William Howard Taft / Jeffrey Rosen -- Gerald R. Ford / James Cannon -- Jimmy Carter / Michael J. Gerhardt -- Calvin Coolidge / Amity Shlaes -- Richard M. Nixon / Evan Thomas -- James A. Garfield / Kenneth D. Ackerman -- Benjamin Harrison / Charles W. Calhoun -- Zachary Taylor / Elbert B. Smith -- Rutherford B. Hayes / Ari Hoogenbom -- George W. Bush / James Mann -- And all the rest. Martin Van Buren / Michael Douglas Henderson -- Chester A. Arthur / Scott S. Greenberger -- Herbert Hoover / Richard Norton Smith -- Millard Fillmore / Edna Greene Medford -- William Henry Harrison / Ronald G. Shafer -- John Tyler / Edward P. Grapol -- Warren G Harding / John W. Dean -- Franklin Pierce / Peter A. Wallner -- Andrew Johnson / David O. Stewart -- James Buchanan / Robert Strauss -- Historians' perspectives on president Donald J. Trump / Douglas Brinkley, Edna Greene Medford, and Richard Norton Smith -- Postscript: The presidency, national identity, and the pursuit of equal justice / Edna Greene Medford -- Appendix I: Historians' survey on presidential leadership, total scores and overall rankings -- Appendix II: US presidents in chronological order.

Offers a complete ranking of United States presidents from best to worst based on their leadership skills, moral authority, and ability to persuade the public.

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