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The Second Lives Of The American Presidents
William Morrow
February 2009
On Sale: February 1, 2009
370 pages
ISBN: 0061244961
EAN: 9780061244964
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction History
"The American presidency . . . is merely a
way station en route to the blessed condition of being an
ex-president."
—John Updike The
presidency is a captivating concept in the hearts and minds
of the American people. Part commander-in-chief, part
national symbol, the role of president of the United States
of America has been studied and commemorated by a rich trove
of literature—in fiction and nonfiction, in serious
political analysis and lighthearted satire. Yet despite the
vast scholarship available, the lives of our presidents
after leaving office remain remarkably unprobed. In
Citizen-in-Chief, Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss
reveal that the true stories of these great leaders, whose
quest for power brought them to the country?s highest
office, are rarely complete once they leave the White House.
Now, as another president strides uncertainly
toward the sunset, Citizen-in-Chief examines the
dramatic, little-known, and often heart-rending
postpresidential lives of former Oval Office occupants. It
offers the most in-depth look to date at the diverse and
broad-ranging paths these famous—sometimes notorious—men
have taken: - Destitute at his death, fifth
president James Monroe was buried in New York, too poor to
be transported to his native Virginia.
- After ending Reconstruction and removing Union troops
from the South during his single-term presidency, Rutherford
B. Hayes went on to crusade for universal education on
behalf of African Americans.
- Known for
"Hoovervilles" and not heroics during the Great Depression,
Herbert Hoover spent his postpresidential years
orchestrating overseas relief work.
- After
a middling presidency, John Quincy Adams reinvented himself
as a progressive member of Congress, spending seventeen
years as a significant antislavery advocate.
- After his lone term in office, William Howard Taft went
on to advocate peace-building efforts through international
arbitration during World War I and later ascended to the
position of chief justice of the Supreme Court.
- Following a centrist presidency and a farewell
address decrying the military-industrial complex, Dwight
Eisenhower covertly counseled and prodded Lyndon B. Johnson
to bring troops into North Vietnam.
From
the high-profile humanitarianism of Jimmy Carter and Bill
Clinton to the quiet achievements of Rutherford B. Hayes and
Herbert Hoover, Citizen-in-Chief is a surprising and
thoughtful must-read for political junkies and history buffs
alike.
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