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The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians
Simon & Schuster
July 2012
On Sale: June 26, 2012
288 pages
ISBN: 1451625405
EAN: 9781451625400
Kindle: B0061QAYNU
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History
The author of the acclaimed biography of President James Polk, A Country of Vast Designs, offers a fresh, playful, and challenging way of playing βRating the Presidents,β by pitching historiansβ views and subsequent expertsβ polls against the judgment and votes of the presidentsβ own contemporaries. Merry posits that presidents rise and fall based on performance, as judged by the electorate. Thus, he explores the presidency by comparing the judgments of historians with how the voters saw things. Was the president reelected? If so, did his party hold office in the next election? Where They Stand examines the chief executives Merry calls "Men of Destiny," those who set the country toward new directions. There are six of them, including the three nearly always at the top of all academic pollsβLincoln, Washington, and FDR. He describes the "Split-Decision Presidents" (including Wilson and Nixon)βsuccessful in their first terms and reelected; less successful in their second terms and succeeded by the opposition party. He describes the βNear Greatsββ (Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, TR, Truman), the βWar Presidentsββ (Madison, McKinley, Lyndon Johnson), the flat-out failures (Buchanan, Pierce), and those whose standing has fluctuated (Grant, Cleveland, Eisenhower). This voyage through our history provides a probing and provocative analysis of how presidential politics works and how the country sets its course. Where They Stand invites readers to pitch their opinions against the voters of old, the historians, the pollstersβand against the author himself. In this year of raucous presidential politics, Where They Stand will provide a context for the unfolding campaign drama.
 Media BuzzPBS News Hour - September 25, 2012
Tell Me More - July 3, 2012
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