Best of
Us-Presidents

2019

The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff


Phillips Payson O'Brien - 2019
    Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-ChiefAside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy--not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world.In a time of titanic personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his U.S. Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House.

Camelot's End: Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight that Broke the Democratic Party


Jon Ward - 2019
    The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Kennedy. And so, 1980 became a civil war. It was the last time an American president received a serious reelection challenge from inside his own party, the last contested convention, and the last all-out floor fight, where political combatants fought in real time to decide who would be the nominee. It was the last gasp of an outdated system, an insider's game that old Kennedy hands thought they had mastered, and the year that marked the unraveling of the Democratic Party as America had known it.CAMELOT'S END details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge -- what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects -- with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war.And, at its heart, CAMELOT'S END is the tale of two extraordinary and deeply flawed men: Teddy Kennedy, one of the nation's greatest lawmakers, a man of flaws and of great character; and Jimmy Carter, a politically tenacious but frequently underestimated trailblazer. Comprehensive and nuanced, featuring new interviews with major party leaders and behind-the-scenes revelations from the time, CAMELOT'S END presents both Kennedy and Carter in a new light, and takes readers deep inside a dark chapter in American political history.

George Washington Dealmaker-In-Chief: The Story of How The Father of Our Country Unleashed The Entrepreneurial Spirit in America


Cyrus A. Ansary - 2019
    Ansary gives a riveting account of how George Washington sought to put in place in America an economic system that was the antithesis of what had existed in the colonies under British rule. The entrepreneurial economy – which nurtures and rewards innovation and inventiveness – did not sprout into being in the United States by sheer happenstance. It was put in place by our first President. He painstakingly laid the foundation for it, but it did not take root without a struggle. He needed extraordinary tenacity to overcome fierce opposition to his program. President Washington’s economic initiatives are the least well understood facets of Washington’s busy and productive life. They enlarged the dreams and opportunities of Americans, led to a flourishing entrepreneurial climate, and are an inspiring tale for our time.

After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon


Kasey S. Pipes - 2019
    president to resign from office—to avoid almost certain impeachment. Utterly disgraced, he was forced to flee the White House with a small cadre of advisors and family. Richard Nixon was a completely defeated man. Yet only a decade later, Nixon was a trusted advisor to presidents, dispensing wisdom on campaign strategy and foreign policy, shaping the course of U.S.-Soviet summit meetings, and representing the U.S. at state funerals—the very model of an elder statesman.How did he do it? Nixon leveraged his still sharp mind, his peerless political instincts, his deep connections with foreign leaders—but, above all, his stubborn refusal to accept defeat—to achieve a political restoration as astonishing as the fall that preceded it.Kasey S. Pipes, advisor to President George W. Bush, tells the fascinating story of Nixon’s comeback. Using unprecedented access to the private post-presidential documents at the Nixon Library, Pipes reveals inside information that has never been reported about Nixon’s successful campaign to repair his reputation and resuscitate his career, including: The true story behind the supposed medical “hoax” to get Nixon out of testifying at the Watergate trials of his aides in WashingtonThe strategy behind Nixon’s apparently accidental on-air “confession” of the Watergate coverup to interviewer David FrostHow Nixon’s advice on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) shaped Ronald Reagan’s negotiations with Gorbachev—and changed historyHow Nixon traveled to China after Tiananmen Square to help preserve the U.S.-Chinese relations that he had opened up years earlierThe Saturday morning presidential radio address: a Nixon ideaNixon’s surprising friendship with Bill ClintonAfter the Fall is the gripping and never-before-told story of one of the most remarkable reversals of fortune in American political history.

The Case For Impeaching Trump


Elizabeth Holtzman - 2019
    She is the expert we need to deal with an accidental President who got there as a serial sexual harasser, a candidate who lost the popular vote, and an unsuccessful businessman who was born on third base and thinks he hit a home run. Now what? Ask Liz!"—Gloria SteinemIn the era of Donald Trump, collusion, detention of immigrants, and fake news, it is important to hear what Elizabeth Holtzman has to say. She has been a principled leader and a persistent voice for equality and accountability since she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 1973, which she remained for forty-two years. But she sees American democratic ideals, and the rule of law in the United States, eroding under President Trump.And as a member of the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Nixon, and one of the members of the Homeland Security advisory council who resigned in protest of President Donald Trump’s policy of separating families at the border, former Congresswoman Holtzman knows that of which she speaks:“President Donald Trump threatens our democracy. He lies, attacks our constitution, assaults the press, and obstructs justice. He causes unfathomable damage. The Constitution has a remedy for presidents who commit ‘great and dangerous offenses’: impeachment.A fair, lawful, bipartisan impeachment inquiry into President Trump means getting to the bottom of things. It means analyzing with a clear head and heart what President Trump has done and what the law requires.Impeaching a president is a grave undertaking. The compassionate and diverse America I know demands we get ready to do it.” The Case for Impeaching Trump establishes the requirements for impeachment as set out by the Constitution and proves that President Trump’s actions have already met those requirements. Holtzman makes the definitive, constitutional case that Trump can be impeached—and the process should start now.