Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and how They Changed America, 1789-1989Simon & Schuster, 2007 - 430 pages From the acclaimed bestselling author ofThe Conquerors Michael Beschloss has brought us a brilliantly readable and inspiring saga about crucial times in America's history when a courageous President dramatically changed the future of the United States. With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Beschloss brings to life these flawed, complex men -- and their wives, families, friends and foes. Never have we had a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of Presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives. You will be in the room with the private George Washington, braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England. John Adams, incurring his party's "unrelenting hatred" by refusing to fight France and warning his enemies, "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war." Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States. Abraham Lincoln, risking his Presidency to insist that slaves be freed. Beschloss also shows us Theodore Roosevelt, taunting J. P. Morgan and the Wall Street leaders who dominated his party. Franklin Roosevelt, defying the isolationists -- and maybe the law -- to stop Adolf Hitler. Harry Truman, risking a walkout by top officials to recognize a Jewish state. John Kennedy, the belated champion of civil rights, complaining that he has cost himself a second term. And finally, two hundred years after Washington, Ronald Reagan, irking some of his oldest backers to seek an end to the Cold War. As Beschloss shows in this gripping and important book, none of these Presidents was eager to incur ridicule, vilification or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, bolstered by friends and family, hidden private beliefs and, sometimes, religious faith, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, "born for the storm." |
From inside the book
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Page 51
... peace mission in advance , Adams did not divulge his intentions to his Cabinet . On Monday , February 18 , 1799 , when the President's message was read aloud to the House of Representatives , one flabbergasted Federalist asked , “ Is ...
... peace mission in advance , Adams did not divulge his intentions to his Cabinet . On Monday , February 18 , 1799 , when the President's message was read aloud to the House of Representatives , one flabbergasted Federalist asked , “ Is ...
Page 55
... peace mission be postponed until the po- litical upheavals in Paris cleared . He predicted the French might rein- stall their old king , Louis XIII . Adams retorted that the “ sun , moon and stars " were more likely to " fall from their ...
... peace mission be postponed until the po- litical upheavals in Paris cleared . He predicted the French might rein- stall their old king , Louis XIII . Adams retorted that the “ sun , moon and stars " were more likely to " fall from their ...
Page 62
... peace with England . Always measuring himself against the Hero , Adams dared hope that future scholars might recognize his own greater per- sonal sacrifice in making peace with France . Irked by how Washington outshined him , he ...
... peace with England . Always measuring himself against the Hero , Adams dared hope that future scholars might recognize his own greater per- sonal sacrifice in making peace with France . Irked by how Washington outshined him , he ...
Contents
Chapter Fourteen | 103 |
Chapter Fifteen | 113 |
Chapter Sixteen | 119 |
Copyright | |
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