Paul F. Boller (1916–2014)

A series of short anecdotes on all the women who have been married to US Presidents. In some cases the anecdotes are short on the ground, especially for the wives who died before their husband were elected President (Boller points out that one wive isn't even mentioned in her husband's memoirs) but the later FLOTUS's are covered extensively.

Rufus King, James Buchanan's rumoured partner, does not get his own entry.

A nice overview of over two centuries of campaigns. The latter campaigns are somewhat tarred by partisanship on the part of the author (partisanship I agree with, but it still wish it was sightly more even handed), but it barely diminishes a good book.

A great many stories from the first two centuries of Congressional government; some of them will be familiar to readers well-versed in government, but others are fresh, and the selection is excellent. Many of the lessons in the stories are still relevant; in re-reading this for this entry, I found an anecdote regarding Sam Rayburn being worried about early-morning letters composed in heat by Harry Truman. Still relevant in 2018! Very highly recommended.

Fun breeze through the presidents via little stories and quotations. Boller includes a short biography and some background information for each president, and then delves into stories like George and the cherry tree, Silent Cal's legendarily abundant sleep and Truman's colorful language. Where the anecdotes can be proved apocryphal or probably are, Boller notes the veracity and then tells the story anyway. It's a skewed but probably familiar view of history: personal stories about men who show more have headed (and sometimes led) the executive. show less