1945 - Present Books - Page 12

God in the White House: A History: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush

Randall Balmer

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $2.19

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> People, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Bush, George
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> People, A-Z -> ( K ) -> Kennedy, John F.
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

How did we go from John F. Kennedy declaring that religion should play no role in the elections to Bush saying, "I believe that God wants me to be president"?

Historian Randall Balmer takes us on a tour of presidential religiosity in the last half of the twentieth century—from Kennedy's 1960 speech that proposed an almost absolute wall between American political and religious life to the soft religiosity of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society; from Richard Nixon's manipulation of religion to fit his own needs to Gerald Ford's quiet stoicism; from Jimmy Carter's introduction of evangelicalism into the mainstream to Ronald Reagan's co-option of the same group; from Bill Clinton's covert way of turning religion into a non-issue to George W. Bush's overt Christian messages, Balmer reveals the role religion has played in the personal and political lives of these American presidents.

Americans were once content to disregard religion as a criterion for voting, as in most of the modern presidential elections before Jimmy Carter.But today's voters have come to expect candidates to fully disclose their religious views and to deeply illustrate their personal relationship to the Almighty. God in the White House explores the paradox of Americans' expectation that presidents should simultaneously trumpet their religious views and relationship to God while supporting the separation of church and state. Balmer tells the story of the politicization of religion in the last half of the twentieth century, as well as the "religionization" of our politics. He reflects on the implications of this shift, which have reverberated in both our religious and political worlds, and offers a new lens through which to see not only these extraordinary individuals, but also our current political situation.

The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism

Paul Kengor

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $5.76

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Presidents & Heads of State
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> People, A-Z -> ( R ) -> Reagan, Ronald
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Based on extraordinary research: a major reassessment of Ronald Reagan's lifelong crusade to dismantle the Soviet Empire–including shocking revelations about the liberal American politician who tried to collude with USSR to counter Reagan's efforts

Paul Kengor's God and Ronald Reagan made presidential historian Paul Kengor's name as one of the premier chroniclers of the life and career of the 40th president. Now, with The Crusader, Kengor returns with the one book about Reagan that has not been written: The story of his lifelong crusade against communism, and of his dogged–and ultimately triumphant–effort to overthrow the Soviet Union.

Drawing upon reams of newly declassified presidential papers, as well as untapped Soviet media archives and new interviews with key players, Kengor traces Reagan's efforts to target the Soviet Union from his days as governor of California to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of what he famously dubbed the "Evil Empire." The result is a major revision and enhancement of what historians are only beginning to realize: That Reagan not only wished for the collapse of communism, but had a deep and specific understanding of what it would take––and effected dozens of policy shifts that brought the USSR to its heels within a decade of his presidency.

The Crusader makes use of key sources from behind the Iron Curtain, including one key memo that implicates a major American liberal politician–still in office today–in a scheme to enlist Soviet premier Yuri Andropov to help defeat Reagan's 1984 reelection bid. Such new finds make The Crusader not just a work of extraordinary history, but a work of explosive revelation that will be debated as hotly in 2006 as Reagan's policies were in the 1980s.

John F. Kennedy: A Biography

Michael O'Brien

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: St. Martin's Griffin Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $5.79

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> United States -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> United States -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Political

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very good, lengthy book on JFK 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Michael O'Brien is to be commended for writing a lengthy, well-written tome at this late juncture on the late, great JFK, especially post-Robert Dallek's masterful "An Unfinished Life", a VERY hard act to follow, indeed. O'Brien's book is a worthy companionn to Dallek's and, while it treads a lot of familiar ground, it is worthwhile for all Kennedy fans. Get this!

Editorial Review:

John F. Kennedy creates an absorbing, insightful and distinguished biography of one of America's most legendary Presidents. While current fashion in Kennedy scholarship is to deride the man's achievements, this book describes Kennedy's strengths, explains his shortcomings, and offers many new revelations.

There are many specialized books on Kennedy's career, but no first-class modern biography--one that takes advantage of the huge volume of recent books and articles and new material released by the JFK library. Ten years in the making, this is a balanced and judicious profile that goes beyond the clash of interpretations and offers a fresh, nuanced perspective.

The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics

Bruce J. Schulman

List Price: $26.00 By: The Free Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $2.17

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1970s
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

During the past two decades, the 1970s have been trivialized, misunderstood, or dismissed as having kitsch value only. But as we move into a new millennium, the seventies are passing from pop culture into history. Bruce Schulman, the first historian to grapple with the seventies, here provides the only comprehensive history of America between 1968 and 1984. He argues persuasively that the "long decade" -- from Nixon's election to Reagan's reelection -- involved a crucial cultural and political shift. Beginning with Richard Nixon's "southern" strategy in 1968, to the rise of the Sunbelt cities and the explosion of country music, the 1970s saw the decline of the North's cultural dominance. By the end of the decade, the South had shed its rural, agricultural heritage and erased its reputation as hopelessly backward and impoverished. A transformed, commercialized southern white culture flourished and spread across the country. In an engaging blend of anecdote and analysis, Changes in Latitude provides the first real assessment of these crucial years, and the ways in which they changed America forever.

Richard M. Nixon: The American Presidents Series: The 37th President, 1969-1974 (The American Presidents)

Elizabeth Drew

Amazon Price: $21.56 List Price: $22.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Times Books Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $4.26

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> United States -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> United States -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Presidents & Heads of State

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The complex man at the center of America’s most self-destructive presidency In this provocative and revelatory assessment of the only president ever forced out of office, the legendary Washington journalist Elizabeth Drew explains how Richard M. Nixon’s troubled inner life offers the key to understanding his presidency. She shows how Nixon was surprisingly indecisive on domestic issues and often wasn’t interested in them. Turning to international affairs, she reveals the inner workings of Nixon’s complex relationship with Henry Kissinger, and their mutual rivalry and distrust. The Watergate scandal that ended his presidency was at once an overreach of executive power and the inevitable result of his paranoia and passion for vengeance.
Even Nixon’s post-presidential rehabilitation was motivated by a consuming desire for respectability, and he succeeded through his remarkable resilience. Through this book we finally understand this complicated man. While giving him credit for his achievements, Drew questions whether such a man—beleaguered, suspicious, and motivated by resentment and paranoia—was fit to hold America’s highest office, and raises large doubts that he was.

Praying for Sheetrock

Melissa Fay Greene

By: Minerva Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $5.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present
Subjects -> History -> Historical Study -> Social History
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An evocative oral history and a provocative work of journalism 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

There are a number of astonishing things about this provocative and evocative history of a remote coastal region of Georgia. Greene's chronicle is not simply an account of the institutional and covert racism that plagued one Southern county. Nor is it merely a biography of an unlikely black leader who led a momentous, peaceful rebellion against the white hierarchy before succumbing (at best) to his own credulity or (at worst) to the very corruption he criticized. Instead, "Praying for Sheetrock" is a composite oral history of a complex, deceptively quiet community during the 1970s and 1980s, where the social norms seemed old-fashioned, even quaint, and where even justifiably disgruntled citizens, both white and black, are restrained equally by an ill-defined sense of fear and by a desire to get along with their neighbors.

At the time of the writing, McIntosh County had been dominated by a corrupt yet efficient, nepotistic yet clever "Old Boy" network, but it was also populated by an impoverished black community that, on the surface, seemed to have been on good terms with the local white authorities all through the chaos of the civil rights struggle. For many years, state and federal authorities suspected that county officials, led by Sheriff Tom Poppell, had been deeply implicated in jury tampering, tax evasion, bribery, illegal gambling, drug-running, prostitution, and even murder. Folks joked that Poppell "was the only sheriff in America who owned four houses, one with an airfield, and all on twelve thousand dollars a year." Yet every attempt by higher authorities (who regularly indicated on their reports that Poppell was to be considered "armed and dangerous") failed to nab the suspects. The victims of their never-indicted yet well-documented activities included tourists on the way through the county to family vacations in Florida as well as the local poor.

The story of how this county eventually entered the late 20th century makes fascinating reading, and Greene's prose is an odd yet refreshing blend of journalism and lyricism. (It was included among the top 100 works of 20th-century American journalism by the New York University School of Journalism.) The reader is repeatedly stunned by her ability to persuade such a wide spectrum of local citizens--rich and poor, white and black, conservative and liberal--to talk at such length and with such honesty. Only at the very end of the book, in the acknowledgments, does it become clear that the author was far from a Janie-come-lately to the scene: she worked at Georgia Legal Services (which provided advice on civil liberties matters for the black community), was a witness to most of the events, and married one of the lawyers featured in the book. Rather than prejudicing her account, her experiences give the events an insider's perspective and make her relative objectivity all the more admirable. In fact, it's safe to say that only Greene could have written this book. And, much like "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (itself set only a few miles to the north), her book manages to look underneath the scandal and the poverty and to reveal much to admire in the gentle camaraderie of these easygoing neighbors.

Above all, "Praying for Sheetrock" reminds us of the courageous heroes who look "upon law, upon the Constitution, as a series of fundamental truths about basic human rights." Those heroes include black community members, young and old, willing to risk everything for those rights; the lawyers who represented and advised them for next to nothing; and the small yet powerful number of local whites who believed that enough was enough. It's an inspiring tale that reminds us that the civil rights struggle is far from over.

The Trial of Henry Kissinger

Christopher Hitchens

Amazon Price: $9.60 List Price: $12.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Verso Amazon Marketplace: 81 new & used starting at $1.19

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> Authors
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Why Henry doesn't get around much anymore 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you wonder why Henry Kissinger can't jump on a plane to just any old where these days, this is the book for you. Hitchens carefully lays out an indictment for war crimes and other misbehavior that have led more than one country to ask the wily professor to appear in court. You always knew that someone who was THAT close to Johnson, Nixon and both Bushes couldn't be a goodun, but it's much worse than you think. After reading it I am left contemplating Kissinger's Nobel Peace Prize and shaking my head.

review 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Superb book. There are a few generalities, lousy index, and no footnotes or bibliography. Otherwise, very good and it seems very accurate.

Excellent Reporting and Criticism 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Hitchens' logic and reasoning are impeccable; his willingness to take on controversial topics renews my faith in the liberties we have in America, including freedom of speech and of the press.

Editorial Review:

Drawing on first-hand testimony, previously unpublished documentation and broad sweeps through material released under the Freedom of Information Act, Hitchens mounts a devastating indictment of a man whose ambition and ruthlessness have directly resulted in both individual murders and widespread, indiscriminate slaughter.

"One Hell of a Gamble": Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964

Aleksandr Fursenko, Timothy J. Naftali

List Price: $27.50 By: W W Norton & Co Inc Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $2.70

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> Cuba
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1960s

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Cuban Missile Crisis' Origins, Events, and Decisions 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

In 1958, Fidel Castro and his band of guerillas successfully overthrew the despised Batista regime in Cuba. At the time, Castro was a question mark for US policymakers. He actually was invited to visit the US and gave a speech at Harvard. However, his domestic socialist reforms caused consternation in Washington, while the communist affiliations of his leading supporters (e.g. his brother, Raul, and Che Guevara) created outright alarm. The authors infer that in 1958 Castro could have gone either way, i.e. communist or non-communist. However, Washington's thinly veiled distrust and eventual outright hostility against him supposedly pushed him into seeking Soviet support.

The book then continues, following Castro's ascension to power, his increasing fear of US-backed invasion, and his greater and greater demands for increased Soviet protection. Surpisingly, the Soviets initially had as little interest in Castro's Cuba as Washington. However, the Cold War was on, and Kruschev was eager to project Soviet influence at the expense of Mao's communist China. And what better way to assert Soviet prestige than by establishing a Soviet communist beachhead just off America's shores.

As the US stepped up its belated and ineffectual covert operations aimed at destabilizing and eventually toppling the Castro regime, Castro sought ever more Soviet economic, and especially military, assistance. One of the Soviet's first major successes was in implementing the block surveillance program. Arms shipments became greater, more frequent, and more obvious. However, Soviet-Castro relations became endangered by one of Castro's rebellious communist lieutenants, and the Soviets were stymied by their deficiency in ICBMs. Thus, Kruschev made the fateful and audacious decision to deploy Soviet medium and intermediate range nuclear missiles and bombers in Cuba.

Much of the rest of the story is well-known. American U2 reconnaisance flights over Cuba reveal the construction of Soviet missile and bomber bases. Kennedy goes on national TV to alert the US public to the crisis and gain support for potential military action. Behind the scenes, a deal is desperately sought to end the crisis. Ultimately, Kruschev publicly agrees to remove nukes from Cuba, while Kennedy privately agrees to reciprocate in removing American missiles from Turkey.

The book reveals a great deal about how strongly individual personalities affect history and national leadership. It also demonstrates how completely inept and unrealistic the CIA's operations were in Cuba. There were a few times during Castro's rise to power that the US had a chance of courting him; however, their own ignorance of Cuba's internal politics assured they would never capitalize on it. From my standpoint, the entire crisis could have been easily avoided by resolute leadership in the White House - either make Castro an ally, oust him when he was still weak, or guarantee that Cuba will not be military threatened by the US. The fault lies with both Eisenhower and Kennedy for their weak and vacillating policies towards Castro.

Editorial Review:

Kennedy did not live to write his memoirs; Castro will never reveal what he knows; the records of the Soviet Union have long been sealed from pubic view. Of the most frightening episode of the Cold War--the Cuban missile crisis--there exists only an incomplete picture. Based on exclusive access to secret Soviet documents, this book offers the first complete examination of this event, and a powerful glimpse of the plans, mistakes, and fears of the leaders involved.

Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy

G. Gordon Liddy

List Price: $26.95 By: St. Martin's Press Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $5.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Political
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

American hero ! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Great book by a Loyal American , didn't rat out President Nixon, did his time , came out made a new life and a fortune , If I ever had a hero he's mine. With all this left wing scum undermining our country, thank God for guy's like G Gordon.

Editorial Review:

From soldier to Washington insider; from a prisoner who preferred the walls of a prison rather than the betrayal of his principles; to a writer and top radio personality, G. Gordon Liddy is a hero to some, a villain to others, but always an enigma.

In 1980, G. Gordon Liddy shocked, surprised, and, ultimately, delighted the world with his vivid, brutally honest, and controversial autobiography, Will. A number one national bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, Will has stood the test of time like few other books. With over 1,000,000 copies in print, it is nothing less than a quintessential American biography-a classic story of a life interestingly led.

Now available in hardcover for the first time in over fifteen years, and updated to bring his amazing story to the present day, G. Gordon Liddy's Will is sure to remain an inspiring and necessary volume for generations to come.

Millie's Book

Barbara Bush, Millie Bush

List Price: $14.95 By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 60 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> People, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Bush, George
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Pictures! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book has WONDERFUL pictures of Millie inside and outside of the White House. It is wonderful to see pictures of President Bush laying on the grass with puppies climbing all over him. It reminds us that Presidents are human too.

Great Book 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book featuring the late Millie Bush.

Former President George Bush Sr.'s Springer Spaniel

It shows Millie with various politicians and famous people.

how can you not like it? 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I ran across this book that I had bought a few years ago and once again was fully entertained by it. We have a Springer Spaniel also, so that made it even more enjoyable. The pictures are fantastic! The story was adorable and gave us a look at how hard life in the White House is for a well loved pet. :) Give it a look, I think you will enjoy.

Editorial Review:

The Bush's dog, Millie, describes a day in the life of George Herbert Walker Bush and family, discussing morning briefings, deliberations in the Oval Office, and short breaks for squirrel hunting. Reprint. 100,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo.