James K. Polk

James K. Polk PDF Author: John Seigenthaler
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805069429
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Get Book Here

Book Description
"At home, however, Polk suffered a political firestorm of antiwar attacks, particularly from the Whigs. Despite tremendous accomplishments in just four years - from pushing the westward expansion to restoring an independent Treasury to ushering in an era of free trade - "Young Hickory" left office feeling the sting of criticism and suffering from a stressful presidency that had taken a heavy physical toll. He died within three months of departing Washington."--BOOK JACKET.

James K. Polk

James K. Polk PDF Author: John Seigenthaler
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805069429
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Get Book Here

Book Description
"At home, however, Polk suffered a political firestorm of antiwar attacks, particularly from the Whigs. Despite tremendous accomplishments in just four years - from pushing the westward expansion to restoring an independent Treasury to ushering in an era of free trade - "Young Hickory" left office feeling the sting of criticism and suffering from a stressful presidency that had taken a heavy physical toll. He died within three months of departing Washington."--BOOK JACKET.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes PDF Author: Hans Trefousse
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805069089
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book Here

Book Description
Trefousse points out, it was this decision that helped unify the country and restore legitimacy to the Oval Office.".

Polk

Polk PDF Author: Walter R. Borneman
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 158836772X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Polk, Walter R. Borneman gives us the first complete and authoritative biography of a president often overshadowed in image but seldom outdone in accomplishment. James K. Polk occupied the White House for only four years, from 1845 to 1849, but he plotted and attained a formidable agenda: He fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, and, most notably, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion’s share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. On reflection, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time. In this unprecedented, long-overdue warts-and-all look at Polk’s life and career, we have a portrait of an expansionist president and decisive statesman who redefined the country he led, and we are reminded anew of the true meaning of presidential accomplishment and resolve.

Hottest Heads of State

Hottest Heads of State PDF Author: J. D. Dobson
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1250139694
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 608

Get Book Here

Book Description
TigerBeat for U.S. presidents—a tour of our nation’s history through its irresistible commanders-in-chief Is there anything hotter than former U.S. presidents? Obviously, there is not. And yet, until now, there was no way to learn about these handsome and mysterious men that is funny, educational, and includes thoughtful analysis of which ones would make good boyfriends. Thankfully, Hottest Heads of State fills this void. Get to know each president intimately with an individual profile outlining his particular charms (or, in some cases, “charms”). Plus, inside you’ll find: · GAMES including “Match the Mistress to her POTUS” · QUIZZES like “Which President has a Secret Crush on You?” and “Can You Cover Up Watergate?” · that POSTER of Rutherford B. Hayes you’ve always secretly wanted! J. D. and Kate Dobson’s wickedly smart and refreshingly bipartisan debut is a spot-on parody of a teen magazine featuring such unlikely heartthrobs as Richard Nixon and William H. Taft. In the end, you’ll learn centuries’ worth of cocktail party-worthy trivia, and you’ll be slightly more prepared to take the AP U.S. History exam. You’ll also start tingling whenever you hear the name Herbert Hoover.

James Monroe

James Monroe PDF Author: Gary Hart
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466823054
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Get Book Here

Book Description
The former senator and presidential candidate offers a provocative new assessment of the first "national security president" James Monroe is remembered today primarily for two things: for being the last of the "Virginia Dynasty"—following George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison—and for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, his statement of principles in 1823 that the western hemisphere was to be considered closed to European intervention. But Gary Hart sees Monroe as a president ahead of his time, whose priorities and accomplishments in establishing America's "national security" have a great deal in common with chief executives of our own time. Unlike his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, Monroe was at his core a military man. He joined the Continental Army at the age of seventeen and served with distinction in many pivotal battles. (He is prominently featured at Washington's side in the iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.) And throughout his career as a senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war, and president, he never lost sight of the fact that without secure borders and friendly relations with neighbors, the American people could never be truly safe in their independence. As president he embarked on an ambitious series of treaties, annexations, and military confrontations that would secure America's homeland against foreign attack for nearly two hundred years. Hart details the accomplishments and priorities of this forward-looking president, whose security concerns clearly echo those we face in our time. "A well-written, useful précis of Monroe’s life and career." - Kirkus Reviews

Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes: 1834-1860

Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes: 1834-1860 PDF Author: Rutherford B. Hayes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 602

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Presidents

The Presidents PDF Author: Brian Lamb
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 154177437X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 653

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Presidents and the Constitution

The Presidents and the Constitution PDF Author: Ken Gormley
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479839906
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 711

Get Book Here

Book Description
Shines new light on America's brilliant constitutional and presidential history, from George Washington to Barack Obama. In this sweepingly ambitious volume, the nation’s foremost experts on the American presidency and the U.S. Constitution join together to tell the intertwined stories of how each American president has confronted and shaped the Constitution. Each occupant of the office—the first president to the forty-fourth—has contributed to the story of the Constitution through the decisions he made and the actions he took as the nation’s chief executive. By examining presidential history through the lens of constitutional conflicts and challenges, The Presidents and the Constitution offers a fresh perspective on how the Constitution has evolved in the hands of individual presidents. It delves into key moments in American history, from Washington’s early battles with Congress to the advent of the national security presidency under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to reveal the dramatic historical forces that drove these presidents to action. Historians and legal experts, including Richard Ellis, Gary Hart, Stanley Kutler and Kenneth Starr, bring the Constitution to life, and show how the awesome powers of the American presidency have been shapes by the men who were granted them. The book brings to the fore the overarching constitutional themes that span this country’s history and ties together presidencies in a way never before accomplished.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes PDF Author: Ari Arthur Hoogenboom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 678

Get Book Here

Book Description
He has also been criticized for championing the gold standard, for breaking the Great Strike of 1877, for inconsistent support of civil-service reform, and for being an ineffectual politician. Hoogenboom contends that these evaluations are largely false. Previous scholars, he says, have failed to appreciate Hayes's limited options and have misrepresented his actions in their depictions of an overly cautious, nonvisionary president. In fact, he was strikingly modern in his efforts to enlarge the power of the office, which he used as his own bully pulpit to rouse public support for his goals. Chief among these goals, Hoogenboom shows, was equality for all Americans. Throughout his presidency and long afterwards, Hayes worked steadfastly for reforms that would encourage economic opportunity, distribute wealth more equitably, diminish the conflict between capital and labor, and ultimately enable African-Americans to achieve political equality.

The American Presidents

The American Presidents PDF Author: Melvin I. Urofsky
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135581371
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 711

Get Book Here

Book Description
What makes a president great? Here is the ideal source for students, scholars, and the general public. The American Presidents is a collection of articles that analyze and evaluate the presidential careers of the men who have occupied the office since its inception in 1789. In this volume, the leading presidential historians in the United States offer insights into what makes a president great, mediocre, or--in the case of most of them--something in between. The contributors to The American Presidents were not asked to write straightforward biographies of the presidents; other sources are available for that. Rather, they were asked to evaluate their subjects. No strict patterns were imposed by the editor; each author approached his or her subject in the way that best illustrated the strengths and weaknesses of the president under consideration. Forty-one have held the office of president and all, in one way or another, were exceptional men. Some, like Andrew Jackson and Harry Truman, are usually thought of as representing the common folk, but nothing was common about either of them. Each proved to be an extraordinary and singular politician able to rally and represent the country through the challenges of their times. Some presidents had achieved brilliance in other fields (Ulysses Grant in the military and Herbert Hoover as an engineer and humanitarian, for example) but had presidencies that are considered unsuccessful. What accounts for this seeming paradox, in which insight, sensitivity, and competence suddenly become nontransferable when the man reaches the White House? This book offers the reader multiple perspectives on this and other issues. Examination of the ways in which challenges affect presidential greatness Theodore Roosevelt, a successful president by any standard, was acutely aware that the prosperity and peace the country enjoyed during his two terms in office would, ironically, prevent him from reaching the upper tier of greatness enjoyed by Washington and Lincoln. After he left office, he yearned to return in hope of finding the challenge that would seal his greatness. Earlier, in the late nineteenth century, the electorate placed competent men such as Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison in the White House, but they are little remembered today. None faced earth-shaking challenges at home and abroad, and their presidencies slipped into obscurity. Discussion of personal characteristics and presidential performance For more than two centuries the presidency has proved a remarkably durable institution. Presidential personalities have varied widely from the patrician aloofness of Washington to the moody introspection of Lincoln to the noisy exuberance of Theodore Roosevelt. The articles in The American Presidents consider the ways in which personality has affected performance. Special features *41 signed essays by the leading experts, illustrated with portraits of the presidents *Selected bibliographies *At-a-glance summaries of each president's achievements *Useful charts and tables on cabinet members, first ladies, and vice presidents from Washington to Clinton *Addresses and Web sites for major presidential libraries.