Presidents

From George Washington to Barack Obama, this child's is a child's perfect introduction to all of the U.S. Presidents. On every spread, readers will learn about the Presidents' childhoods, families, careers, accomplishments in office, and life after the White House. Famous quotes, major events, and fun facts are all included.

"Many people today think of Ford as a man who stumbled a lot--clumsy on his feet and in politics--but acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley shows him to be a man of independent thought and conscience, who never allowed party loyalty to prevail over his sense of right and wrong. As a young congressman, he stood up to the isolationists in the Republican leadership, promoting a vigorous role for America in the world. Later, as House minority leader and as president, he challenged the right wing of his party, refusing to bend to their vision of confrontation with the Communist world. And after the fall of Saigon, Ford also overruled his advisers by allowing Vietnamese refugees to enter the United States, arguing that to do so was the humane thing to do. Brinkley draws on exclusive interviews with Ford and on previously unpublished documents (including a remarkable correspondence between Ford and Nixon stretching over four decades), fashioning a masterful reassessment of Gerald R. Ford's presidency and his underappreciated legacy to the nation."

"The edited, annotated diary of President Jimmy Carter; filled with insights into his presidency, his relationships with friends and foes, and his lasting impact on issues that still preoccupy America and the world. Each day during his presidency, Jimmy Carter made several entries in a private diary, recording his thoughts, impressions, delights, and frustrations. He offered unvarnished assessments of cabinet members, congressmen, and foreign leaders; he narrated the progress of secret negotiations such as those that led to the Camp David Accords. When his four-year term came to an end in early 1981, the diary amounted to more than five thousand pages. But this extraordinary document has never been made public; until now. By carefully selecting the most illuminating and relevant entries, Carter has provided us with an astonishingly intimate view of his presidency."

The story of Ronald Reagan's life, with comments by contemporaries and historians. Vol. l. Lifeguard (128 min.) -- Vol. 2. An American crusade (150 min.)

Former attorney general Edwin Meese began his political life as California Governor Reagan's legal advisor in 1966. In this memoir, he credits Reagan with the downfall of the Soviet Union as well as a surge in economic vitality in the 1980s.

"...includes Reagan's most memorable quotations on a wide variety of topics. These quotes capture the essence of Reagan's personality, wit, and charm-demonstrating why he was called the 'great communicator.'"

As the Reagans' favorite photographer, Harry Benson has long enjoyed a special relationship with the former first family, photographing them numerous times for Life and Vanity Fair magazines. His photographs of the couple, taken at the White House and at the Reagans' homes and ranches, are intimate and appealing records of a happy and fulfilling marriage. Recently, Nancy Reagan invited Benson to photograph the couple together one last time, a bittersweet occasion given the former president's Alzheimer's Disease. That portrait and others spanning nearly 40 years are gathered together in this book.

Interviews with more than 100 cabinet members, international leaders, and former presidents Bush and Ford clarify the circumstances of the fall of the Soviet Union, along with other highlights of the Reagan presidency.

"Ronald Reagan may have been may have been the most prolific correspondent of any American president since Thomas Jefferson. The total number of letters written over his lifetime probably exceeds 10,000. Their breadth is equally astonishing - with friends and family, with politicians, children, and other private citizens, Reagan was as dazzling a communicator in letters as he was in person. Collectively, his letters reveal his character and thinking like no other source. He made candid, considerate, and tough statements that he rarely made in a public speech or open forum."