To the Best of My Ability
by James M. McPherson
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An illustrated look at the forty-two men who have served as President of the United States describes the campaigns, elections, administration, events, and legacy of each of America's leaders, from Washington to Clinton.Tags
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Member Reviews
I decided recently to devote some serious time to studying the politics of my country, having just a casual interest in the past and some very solid opinions that may not have been one hundred percent informed, or at least not as informed as I would like, so I immediately started searching through my local library and decided to start with this book.
And I have to say, I know how to pick 'em. This is an excellent reference book that contains well-researched biographies on each President up to Clinton (the book being published in 2000). Pherson has pulled together some heavy-hitters to write each bio and includes a wealth of major events that occurred during each presidency. Also included in the back of the book are breakdowns of each show more campaign and each President's inaugural address.
I learned so much from this book and will definitely be picking up a copy for my own library as soon as possible. Also, it's left me ready to learn more. show less
And I have to say, I know how to pick 'em. This is an excellent reference book that contains well-researched biographies on each President up to Clinton (the book being published in 2000). Pherson has pulled together some heavy-hitters to write each bio and includes a wealth of major events that occurred during each presidency. Also included in the back of the book are breakdowns of each show more campaign and each President's inaugural address.
I learned so much from this book and will definitely be picking up a copy for my own library as soon as possible. Also, it's left me ready to learn more. show less
A great introduction to the men who have held the office of President of the United States. Some great biographers have contributed to this book and it is a great reference guide. The main details and events in the life of each President are listed and when you are finished you will want to go out and find more information about each man.
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Author Information
67+ Works 16,526 Members
James M. McPherson is the author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, which won a Pulitzer Prize in history, and For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, a Lincoln Prize winner. He is the George Henry Davis Professor of American History at Princeton University in New Jersey, where he also lives. His newest book, entitled show more Abraham Lincoln, celebrates the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth with a short, but detailed look at this president's life. (Bowker Author Biography) James M. McPherson, McPherson was born in 1936 and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1963. He began teaching at Princeton University in the mid 1960's and is the author of several articles, reviews and essays on the Civil War, specifically focusing on the role of slaves in their own liberation and the activities of the abolitionists. His earliest work, "The Struggle for Equality," studied the activities of the Abolitionist movement following the Emancipation Proclamation. "Battle Cry of Freedom" won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1989. "Drawn With the Sword" (1996) is a collection of essays, with one entitled "The War that Never Goes Away," that is introduced by a passage from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address on March 4, 1865 from which its title came: "Fondly do we hope - and fervently do we pray - that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'" "From Limited to Total War: 1861-1865" shows the depth of the political and social transformation brought about during the Civil War. It told how the human cost of the Civil War exceeded that of any country during World War I and explains the background to Lincoln's announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1862. The book also recounts the exploits of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first black regiments organized in the Civil War, and their attack on Fort Wagner in July 1863. It pays tribute to Robert Gould Shaw, the white commanding officer of the regiment, who died in the attack and was buried in a mass grave with many of his men. Professor McPherson's writings are not just about the middle decades of the nineteenth century but are also about the last decades of the twentieth century. The political turmoil prior to the Civil War, the violence of the war, Lincoln's legacy and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson shed some light on contemporary events. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- To the Best of My Ability
- People/Characters
- George Washington; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; James Madison; James Monroe; John Quincy Adams (show all 47); Andrew Jackson; Martin van Buren; William Henry Harrison; John Tyler; James Knox Polk; Zachary Taylor; Millard Fillmore; Franklin Pierce; James Buchanan; Abraham Lincoln; Andrew Johnson; Ulysses S. Grant; Rutherford B. Hayes; James A. Garfield; Chester A. Arthur; Grover Cleveland; Benjamin Harrison; William McKinley; Theodore Roosevelt; William Howard Taft; Woodrow Wilson; Warren G. Harding; Calvin Coolidge; Herbert Clark Hoover; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Harry S. Truman; Dwight D. Eisenhower; John F. Kennedy; Lyndon Baines Johnson; Richard M. Nixon; Gerald R. Ford; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H. W. Bush; Bill Clinton; Dean Acheson; Abigail Adams; Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams; Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur; Clement Attlee; Grace Coolidge
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Statistics
- Members
- 473
- Popularity
- 64,256
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- UPCs
- 3
- ASINs
- 7
