Book Description
The austere president who presided over the Roaring Twenties and whose conservatism masked an innovative approach to national leadership
He was known as “Silent Cal.” Buttoned up and tight-lipped, Calvin Coolidge seemed out of place as the leader of a nation plunging headlong into the modern era. His six years in office were a time of flappers, speakeasies, and a stock market boom, but his focus was on cutting taxes, balancing the federal budget, and promoting corporate productivity. “The chief business of the American people is business,” he famously said.
But there is more to Coolidge than the stern capitalist scold. He was the progenitor of a conservatism that would flourish later in the century and a true innovator in the use of public relations and media. Coolidge worked with the top PR men of his day and seized on the rising technologies of newsreels and radio to bring the presidency into the lives of ordinary Americans—a path that led directly to FDR’s “fireside chats” and the expert use of television by Kennedy and Reagan. At a time of great upheaval, Coolidge embodied the ambivalence that many of his countrymen felt. America kept “cool with Coolidge,” and he returned the favor.
Customer Reviews:
Coolidge truly deserved a better biographer.......2007-09-26
As many small "r" republicans and libertarians have noted, Coolidge is truly underrated. Unfortunately this biography will not do overly much to boost his image or reputation.
Mr. Greenberg's political beliefs get in the way of a non-partisan review of Calvin Coolidge. He does not much like his hands off philosophy nor very obviously, his small government/non intereference beliefs. This gets in the way of real examination of the man and his accomplishments. Though he admits to admiring aspects of the man's personal life, he cannot extend that admiration to Coolidge's lack of ambition or vision as president.
From the begining of his national notice as governor of Taxachusetts, Coolidge is portrayed as a man who dithers from indecision rather than a man who refuses to overstep his potical boundaries (police strike of 1919). Greenberg labels Coolidege's propensity to delegate rather than do things himself as weakness rather than sound executive ability.
He does note Coolidge's accomplishments in the use of radio (the new media then)to actually contact the people in lareg numbers. His ability to use the medium let him avoid the Congress and go direct to the people, something few presidents have forgotten since. With this use of radio and regularly scheduled presss conferences, he was the first 'modern' president.
Greenberg's personal political philosophy gets in the way too many times of the process of looking into Coolidge. From the falsehood of tax cuts "costing the Treasury money better spent on infrastructure" (how about what taxpayers would have done with it?) to his deploring of Coolidge's decision to let the ICC languish rather than up its choking of the American railroads (FDR reversed that quickly enough, look at that result),Greenberg fails to keep his personal views from is often a pleasurable read. He does note very astutely that Coolidge was no true laissez faire man but rather on tariffs at least, a traditional Republican out for big protective tariffs.
He does grudgingly though note that Coolidge was a true believer in the limits of political power. It would be this belief that would cause him to declare that he would not run for reelection. As Coolidge himself said, "the office has lost its attraction for me..."
Perhaps its Coolidge's style, concern for the taxpayer, and overall simplicity that many Americans long for. For sure, many of us would love to see someone in office who did not have to pronounce on every event in the nation like our last few decades of leaders have gotten into the habit of doing...
Nice read.......2007-08-09
The author does a good job of explaining a little known president. I am always intrigued by the story behind the story and the author of this book does it well.
A Luke-Warm Look at Coolidge.......2007-02-14
Why is it that my interest in the executive office seems to fade following the presidency of Warren G. Harding? The answer probably lies in the fact that the man who succeeded Harding was remarkable only for one thing: for being so personally un-remarkable.
Calvin Coolidge was an accidental president, assuming that office upon Harding's death, and so he does warrant at least a passing nod of respect for the way he calmly entered the presidency and led the nation at a difficult time. Absent this, however, Coolidge barely registers a mention in most highschool history texts. And really, that may not entirely be his own fault, considering the fact that he was president during a peaceful time in the nation's history. There were no great battles to be faught, no important measures that called for a strong, activist leader.
The book is well written, though it may not generate much interest generally. It will find its place among readers who are interested in the presidency. The author, David Greenberg, does a fine job in reminding readers of a relatively little-known or understood man who became the 30th President of the United States. Coolidge was a good man. However, one cannot escape the fact that "Silent Cal" was a bland figure who really didn't do anything. The economy was in good shape during the 20's, and so Coolidge sat back and let things pass. He is remembered today (if at all) as little more than a place-holder--- someone who happened to occupy the Office of the President for awhile before turning over the ship of state to an equally bland figure (Herbert Hoover).
Silent but Steady.......2007-01-28
David Greenberg does a nice job of humanizing "Silent Cal". Against the backdrop of the roaring twenties, he brings a quiet but even handed Calvin Coolidge to life. The objective reader will likely find himself at least a modest fan of our only President from Vermont.
Book Description
The most successful and neglected president of the 20th century.
Customer Reviews:
Coolidge alive.......2005-09-19
Author Sobel creates an interesting read, bringing to life an obscure President, obscure from the fact historians and the general media have tended to ignore him. Cooledge exhibited an unusual degree of statesmanship, while cognizant of the politics that got him to the highest elected office in the land.
Much of Sobel's writing is in a matter of fact vain. While helpful, I found the constant insertions of Cooledge quotes to be distracting at times.
Fair assessment of an elusive man.......2005-01-30
I purchased the late Robert Sobel's "Coolidge: An American Enigma" by happenstance. I had no particular opinion of Calvin Coolidge, beyond the general impression that he was one of the very few "caretaker" presidents of the 20th century. After completing this biography, that impression remains unchanged. Despite Sobel's infectious enthusiasm for his subject, Coolidge remains a cipher: likable, decent, honest, but very deliberately lacking in color or discernable personality.
Sobel knows how to write an entertaining biography, especially in light of how dry his subject is. He skillfully follows Coolidge from his childhood in Vermont, his education at Amherst, his governance of Massachusetts, and finally his rise to the office of first vice-president, then president. Through this, Sobel paints interesting portraits of the man and his times. Indeed, some of the most exciting parts of the book occur when Sobel shifts his focus away from Coolidge and focuses on the events that affect the outcome of Coolidge's life. While some of the examination of the Massachusetts political machine seem a little tangential, the passages recounting the Boston police strike and the 1920 Republican convention are particularly gripping. His overview of the scandals of the Harding administration are paticularly instructive.
Still, Sobel never loses sight of the fact he's writing a book about Coolidge. His examination of Coolidge as president is intriguing, if a little sparse. Sparse, because Coolidge himself is difficult to pin down. He was very much from the laissez-faire school of government, taking great pains to limit federal intervention in state and local matters, as well as business. The downside of this was, as Sobel does note, Coolidge did very little beyond pay lip-service to social issues of the country, e.g., the plight of African-Americans and Native Americans. He was also not terribly interested in international matters, although as Sobel points out, Coolidge was able to handle tensions with Mexico. He is also very explicit that the tendency to lay the Depression at Coolidge's feet is totally unfair, as Coolidge was only in the vaguest awareness of what could happen to the booming economy, and was far less equipped to do anything about it.
The most substantial problem I had with this book is Sobel's tendency to allow too much of his own bias show. Sobel, from what I can tell, was very much a Reagan Republican. This was obviously a reason for his decision to attempt to rehabilitate Coolidge. However, that often leads to awkward editorializing. The most overt example is a lengthy dissection of previous Coolidge historiography, including an an attempt to reutt the works of Arthur M. Schlesinger on the failure of the Harding-Coolidge-Hoover era. While I realize that Sobel's intent was to take on the popular view of Coolidge as some sort of failure, I felt that Sobel's decision to place this argument in the beginning of Chapter 9 inappropriate. This would have made perfect sense in the introduction or the epilogue materials. Including it in the body was distracting, and caused me to set it down for a little while.
Another concern was Sobel's copious use of block excerpts, particularly in the opening of the book. It felt like Sobel was padding a little. As the work progresses, the quotes seem more useful, and less intrusive.
On the whole, I surprised by "Coolidge: An American Enigma". I found Coolidge the man appealing. While he would have been horribly out of step with this day and age (indeed, just years later he would have been quaint), Coolidge was a man of his time, lending further credence to the idea that times make men as much as men make times. Had Sobel distanced himself a little more from his subject, it would have been about perfect. As it stands, it's an excellent single volume about a caretaker president.
Only a Beginning. . ........2004-07-20
How interesting that as we look at the last century, President Coolidge has become a polarizing figure. After smears from William Allan White, Arthur Schlesinger and others, Coolidge has finally merited re-evaluation. While not an activist President in the vein of, say, Franklin Roosevelt, Coolidge was far from indolent or passive. He gave more press conferences than any other, inaugurated the use of radio, and sponsored airplanes in the military. However, it was indeed his belief that government should exist for the people, not the other way 'round. Interestingly, he was the last President to refuse to have a telephone in the Oval Office--he considered it undignified. He supported women's suffrage and his wife, Grace, was the first First Lady to smoke in the White House. I have undertaken to read many accounts of Coolidge; he does remain a mystery to us in so many ways. Regardless of the slant of the source, though, his deep sense of decency and honor in performing public service always shines through. I'd recommend purchasing a copy of 'Grace Coolidge and Her Era' from 1962 to give a more human side to both the President and his wife. Another characteristic of this man is that despite his reserve, his overriding love for his wife and sons remains there. The heartbreak that he and Mrs. Coolidge endured with the needless death of their youngest son in the White House cannot be overstated. Especially since we know now that the Staph. infection from which young Calvin died would nowadays have certainly not been fatal. I think part of the reason the Coolidge times have become fascinating for those of us interested in history is the obscurity to which these years have been consigned. The terms of FDR with his extensive radio and movie coverage has overshown the previous three Republican administrations, not by accident. I have concluded that no one book can cover all the aspects of President Coolidge, and he deserves further reading.
Coolidge: Public Servant; King of Dry Humor.......2004-04-04
Great book for an overall view of Coolidge. A very unassuming man with a dry sense of humor. He was a great public servant who realized that the answer does not come from some government program.
The real Coolidge.......2004-02-24
The late author, Robert Sobel, has done a fine job in peeling away the crusty layers of our thirtieth president. Known for his taciturn and somnolent personality, Calvin Coolidge is revealed in this book to have had more substance than one might have given him credit.
Biographers of presidents who are generally regarded as average or below average often write about their subjects with a bent of pushing them up a notch or two in history. A current biography of Warren G. Harding written by John Dean of Watergate fame, for instance, lays out a theme of trying to lift Harding out of the cellar of presidential comparison. Sobel is a bit less interested in Coolidge's lasting reputation although he would like the reader to be reminded that Coolidge did have some accomplishments while in the White House and that his administration, in stark contrast to Harding, his predecessor, was scandal free and that Coolidge, himself, was a man of tremendous virtue.
The myth that Coolidge was a hard worker is not quite dispelled in Sobel's book. One can surmise that the only midnight oil Calvin Coolidge ever burned was on the night of his sudden inauguration at his father's home in Vermont following Harding's death..... the oath being administered by Coolidge's father.
Sobel spends a little too much time on analyzing the country's finances during the Coolidge administration. At these times the author's writing becomes bogged down in detail and his prose begins to sound like that of his subject...humorless and dry.
That said, I would recommend this book to those who are not only interested in the period between the two World Wars but also in the juxtaposition of the Harding and Coolidge administrations. I also think that reading the Dean biography on Harding in conjunction with the Sobel book on Coolidge would give a fairly accurate, if not overly deep sense of the United States during this period.
One cannot imagine a Coolidge as president during World War II (or for that matter during the depression) any more than one might look at Franklin D. Roosevelt as president during the 1920s. The point of this book seems not to be so much about the successes of Coolidge policy but rather an effort to glimpse the president in a slightly more favorable light. To this end Sobel triumphs. Yet he reminds us in the end that Coolidge was a man who was decent, sometimes shrewd and who filled his role as president in a detached but popular way. Perhaps Calvin Coolidge was indeed the right fit for his times.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome!.......2006-01-07
Ideal for anyone who wishes to make a sensible remark to impress a lady or win the confidence of a potential ally.
Very good selection.......2005-01-28
This is a great addition to your library if you are a fan of presidential quotes or books. Coolidge's presidency has been reassessed as of late by many and has been the topic of a few recent writings. This is an even-handed look at Coolidge through his own writings, speeches and interviews.
Hannaford begins with a short discussion of the renewed interest in President Coolidge. He then moves onto a very abbreviated biography and a timeline of his life. After these 34 pages, the rest of the book is dedicated to quotes listed by subject. Each quote has its source and context (when appropriate) of the quip.
Through this book, you begin to get a little deeper understanding of Coolidge.
A Small Treasure.......2004-07-22
As history finally catches up with reassessing President Coolidge and putting him in his proper place, this small, thin volume of his quotations is a breath of fresh air, indeed, in these days of TV ops and media handling. Presidents are always a product of their times and Coolidge was of his. His calls for simplicity, decency, honesty and character would open a current President up to all sorts of cynics, but they ring true with President Coolidge. I do hope this little tome will help lay to rest many misconceptions. A must read. . .
Reassessing "Silent Cal".......2001-01-22
This book is a fascinating collection of Coolidge quotations with an intriguing introduction by Peter Hannaford. Hannaford points out that the New Dealers stereotyped Coolidge for political reasons, and New Deal historians quoted selectively from William Allen White's two biographies of Coolidge, furthering the stereotype of Coolidge as a failed president, unimaginative, lacking in intellectual curiosity, and unknowledgeable about history--among other faults. The Coolidge reassessment began in 1998--or perhaps really in 1981, when President Reagan hung a portrait of Coolidge, one of his favorite presidents, in the Cabinet Room in the White House. This book gives the reader Coolidge, the man, on many topics. Coolidge wrote all his own speeches and, for a year after leaving the presidency, a five-day-a-week newpaper column. Historians have had to reassess Dwight Eisenhower, and the reassessment of Ronald Reagan is underway. Another confirmation that the accepted wisdom on Republican presidents, especially when they are viewed as not too bright and not too knowledgeable, is usually wrong.
QUOTABLE COOLIDGE BLOWS "SILENT" CAL'S COVER.......2000-12-10
If you know nothing about Calvin Coolidge, then this book - The Quotable Calvin Coolidge -- is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you know President Coolidge to have been a man of integrity, wisdom, and humor -- then, this is the book for that friend of yours who can never see what you see in the 30th president, and, what's more -- won't listen if you try to explain. You know the type: Your friend perhaps admires Jefferson for believing "that government is best that governs least." Then, ridicules `Silent Cal' for showing how it's done!
Editor Peter Hannaford has taken on the task of rounding up all the usual Coolidge quotes as well as providing many that are less familiar. He cites chapter and verse, too, supplying context and date for every quotation. Selections range from a view expressed in a graduation `oration' by 18-year old J. Calvin Coolidge to private remarks to a friend days before his early death in 1933 at age 60. Quotes are arranged alphabetically by subject -- beginning with African Americans and concluding with Zeal. This compilation is a treasure to be mined by speakers, politicians and writers; however, it's a mine field for the ideas of born-again New Deal scholars committed to parroting the narrow views of their mentors bent on belittling "Silent Cal".
The Quotable Calvin Coolidge has a helpful chronology detailing Coolidge's life, beginning in 1872 with his 4th of July birth in Plymouth, Vermont and on through his education and subsequent steady rise in Massachusetts' political ranks to our nation's highest office. There's a 26 page introduction to the man, the political figure and icon of an era. In his long public career, Coolidge often said, "The things I did not say never hurt me." Yet, the things he did say are clearly of service to us today and will remain worth considering, tomorrow.
Customer Reviews:
Competent, funny, worthwhile.......2001-02-10
Believe it or not I frequently as I read this book laughed aloud--sometimes with Coolidge, sometimes at him. While three presidents (Jefferson, John Adams, and Monroe) have died on the 4th of July, Coolidge is the only president to have been born on the 4th of July. His rise to the presidency is actually a story of amazing luck, and McCoy tells the story very well. While in hindsight it is easy to see that Coolidge was not a great president, at the time he did everything seemingly right, and was very successful in making people think he was a good president. I found this book held my interest throughout and was a very satisfying read. I will admit that there were a few chapters on his presidency which were on topics not of interest (can one be intrigued today by, e.g., the Kellogg-Briand pact?) but since one wants to cover the entire life they have to be there. For those of you reading a biography of every president, this does very adequately for Coolidge. (Actually, I read William Allen White's A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge, but that was back on May 5, 1947, and my memory of that was not too fresh, so I thought I should read this more recent bio, and am glad I did.)
Average customer rating:
- The biography of one of our greatest Presidents.
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A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge
William Allen White
Manufacturer: Simon Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1931541523 |
Book Description
"Honest, shrewd, sentimental, resolute, American primitive," this is how the author characterizes President Coolidge. The storry of the Coolidge period, a stirring drama, hangs on the undramatis and slight figure of the man who dominated the era, and by his qualities rather than by his words or deeds gave it substance and direction.
Customer Reviews:
The biography of one of our greatest Presidents........2004-06-17
Ok, so Silent Cal was not one of our greatest Presidents. He was a very honest President, who had a very shy personality. White wrote this biography in the thirties, and knew Calvin. Even though White knew Coolidge, criticism is still present in this biography. The most damning was Coolidge not taking action to prevent the build up of credit and speculation in the stock market. All indications are there that he should have limited money at some point, but Coolidge let the market make its own correction. This was one of the reasons why the market went down so fast.
White does a good job of showing how someone like Coolidge (and Harding) rose to the top of the heap. Throughout this book, Coolidge is shown as an honest politician who lived off his salary. He even stayed in boarding houses when he was Governor and Vice President. He was very shy and limited his talking. He asked people to vote for him and they did. He only lost one election, so this shows people trusted him. He worked the political system for his constituents and his beliefs. Although conservative, he backed some very liberal ideas at the time including the vote for women and opposed anti immigration efforts against the Japanese. When he told people what he was going to do, people could trust he would do it. He even made fun of himself and his personality. His personal characteristics were very admirable.
White's biography is a bit dry at times, but the subject comes across in very human terms. The book is divided into four sections, so one can read bits and pieces of that history which may interest the reader. The first one hundred pages was slow going, but it gets better after that. For those interested in a President who governed for six years, this is a good read.
Book Description
A thorough, illustrated biography discussing the president's childhood, his career, his family, and his term as President of the United States. Includes a time line and glossary.
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous.......2004-04-09
"The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" is a fabulous autobiography. Calvin Coolidge was a good man and a good writer, and in his autobiography, Cooidge talks about growing up, his career in law and politics, his family, and everything anybody would want to learn about President Coolidge. People who are interested in becoming President should read Calvin Coolidge's autobiography: Coolidge shared with his readers some duties of the President and what seeking a third term can do to you. How a President is elected has changed since Coolidge's time, but Coolidge became President because of the death of his sucessor, Warren G. Harding. Even though Coolidge shared his opinion, anybody in the White House because of the death of their sucessor should take Coolidge's opinion. Calvin Coolidge was a good man, and there are lessons everyone could benefit from by reading his autobiography.
The life story of an unsung American hero.......1997-09-16
President Calvin Coolidge was a good man and great President who deserves to remembered for more than his reticence. Read here the life story of the President who grew up learning that hard work and a thoughtful outlook are the keys to success. He cut taxes four times and vetoed agricultural subsidies twice. He was unusually tolerant of minorities for his time. The story of President Coolidge is one that deserves to be read. Conservatives and libertarians will find his story especially appropriate for their children.
Average customer rating:
- Fascinating Presidential History
- Incredible Man - Incredible Feats
- A Real American Hero
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The Presidents' Doctor : An Insider's View of Three First Families
Milton F., III Heller
Manufacturer: Vantage Pr
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0533131596 |
Book Description
The Presidents' Doctor: An Insider's View of Three First Families is a biography of the late Joel Thompson Boone, Vice Admiral, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (Retired). It touches on all aspects of this man's diverse career, with emphasis on the eleven years he served as physician/confidant to three First Families—Harding, Coolidge and Hoover.
This extraordinary person served his nation with great distinction as naval officer, physician, humanitarian and administrator in the first part of the twentieth century. Joel Boone was a fighter—for his country, for upholding the highest standards of the medical profession, in helping his fellow man and woman, and in repelling repeated threats to his own health.
Boone was born and brought up in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. Son of a hard drinking and demanding father, a feed merchant, the lad had a rough start in life, losing his mother at an early age, enduring subsequently the presence of a mean-spirited stepsister, and working from dawn to dusk before and after school with only a cold plate for supper. But late in his teens, things began to look up when he met Helen Koch, the young lady who was to become his wife and helpmate in pursuing a long and fascinating life. Then the opportunity to spend his senior high school year at Mercersburg Academy, a fine preparatory school, made an important contribution to his education and personal development. It also led to a close and lasting association with the school.
Upon graduation from Mercersburg and Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, Boone joined the navy and served with the Marines in Haiti and then again in World War I in France with the Second Division. It was this front-line exposure that offered the opportunity for heroic deeds and led to an incredible record as the most highly decorated member of the navy medical service.
Having gained the attention of senior naval officers as a result of earning the Congressional Medal of Honor among other decorations in France, Boone and his wife, Helen, were invited in 1922 to the White House for tea with First Lady Florence Harding. Only later did they learn that the purpose was to determine whether Boone was socially acceptable as a candidate for the position of medical officer aboard the presidential yacht, the USS Mayflower. Soon the man who might have become just another country doctor found himself on the national stage, with responsibility for caring for the health of the nation's chief executive, his family and staff. No one was to become better acquainted with the personalities—one might even say White House secrets—of the administrations of the 1920s. Boone was a figure of importance, in a position to know a great deal. By the end of his life, he could count nine presidents--Harding through Nixon--as friends.
Following White House duty, Boone served at sea and ashore in various capacities, including duty with Admiral William F. Halsey as Third Fleet Medical Officer. At the end of World War II, he was the first person to go ashore in the Tokyo Bay area, where, characteristically, he sought out and found many hundreds of neglected, war-weary U.S. and other Allied prisoners. During the administration of President Harry S Truman, Boone led a historic medical survey of the bituminous coal industry, which was cited in congressional hearings as recently as May 17, 2000. Subsequently, he managed the world's largest non-military hospital system as chief medical director of the Veterans Administration. Following an extended illness, Boone died on April 2, 1974.
Boone was a maverick who did not consider himself a maverick because he usually adhered to convention, dressing immaculately, paying attention to protocols of the navy and society, applying strict moral and ethical codes to himself as well as to others. He did not look the part, as he was a mere 5 feet 6, but he had a mind that sought to make sense out of every situation he encountered, and if it did not make sense he said so.
Boone's independence caused him to risk confrontation that most other officers would have sidestepped.
He was willing to incur the wrath of a patient, the President of the United States, in an effort to protect the health of the president and his family in a manner the president found distasteful.
He did not hesitate to tell his incompetent boss, the surgeon general of the navy, that he should resign in the best interests of navy medicine.
He insisted on treating a patient needing help despite the orders of a superior not to do so.
He testified to congress in opposition to plans of his boss to close military hospitals that Boone felt were needed.
He lectured medical colleagues on perceived greed and failure to consider best interests of the patient above all else.
There was another notable characteristic. Boone considered himself on an equal footing with line officers and on occasion fought as one of them, ignoring the tradition of subservience associated with the role of a staff officer. This certainly contributed to his nonpareil war record.
In recognition of Boone's outstanding achievements, including those as a leader of a number of organizations, his name has been memorialized by attaching it to a navy medical clinic in Little Creek, Virginia, Boone Hall at Mercersburg Academy, an annual award of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the USS Boone, a guided missile frigate still in active service in 2000.
Boone kept voluminous notes and collected a mass of documents, photographs and newspaper clippings, which in later years of life he organized in a huge account as a basis for an autobiography. Failing health prevented him from fulfilling that ambition. Now for the first time, his life story is told by his son-in-law in The Presidents' Doctor.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Presidential History.......2000-11-23
Once I started reading The Presidents' Doctor, I found it difficult to put the book down. What especially intrigued me were the insights into the personal sides of Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover as seen by Dr. Joel Boone, who served as a White House physician during their administrations. Despite their prominence, the three Presidents had individual and family joys, sorrows and challenges just as everyone else.
As I read Mr. Heller's descriptions, I pictured myself in the shoes of Dr. Boone and his family. Imagine meeting, providing medical care to and socializing with key national (and in some cases international) leaders and then at the end of the day returning to "regular" home life and routines.
The book captures the spirit of the times it covers. As an example, the reader can easily imagine the scene of President Harding and his entourage on their meandering, transcontinental train trip followed by an ocean voyage to Alaska and then a last train trip down the Pacific Coast to San Francisco where Harding met his untimely death. Indeed, in our current era of ever-faster communication, it is hard to conceive of a President running the nation without the benefit of airplanes, televisions, computers, fax machines, cell phones, etc. Yet, despite the lack of these conveniences, the leaders of the time somehow were able to manage the country.
In summary, I highly recommend The Presidents' Doctor for an absorbing and personalized account of three Presidential administrations and life in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century through the perspective of the extremely dedicated and talented White House physician, Dr. Joel Boone.
Incredible Man - Incredible Feats.......2000-11-18
If this book were a novel it would be a great read.. It is lively, has fascinating characters, and colorful background.
As a novel, however, it would have one fatal problem. As my English professor used to say, it would lack "an aura of verisimilitude". To put it in plain English, "You wouldn't believe it!".
However, it's not a novel. It is a well researched and thoroughly documented LIVE history book. It describes an absolutely incredible man, who performed absolutely incredible feats in his admirable life.
A few examples:
Joel Boone was a medical doctor. He was awarded a congressional medal of honor, the nation's highest award for bravery, while he was serving as a doctor! There are few enough medal of honor winners, but did you ever hear of a doctor - a non-combatant - winning one? Now you have.
In his early days he led and commanded troops in combat, even though his commission was as a medical officer.
He served several U.S. presidents and their families as their doctor.
Any one of these by itself is interesting and unusual. Taken all together they are unheard of - until now.
The book has a tremendous advantage over a novel. Since it reports on a real person, who really did these astonishing things, you have to believe they really happened. Poetic license would never get you this far. This is a book you don't want to miss.
A Real American Hero.......2000-11-01
Milton F. Heller,Jr. tells the story of his father-in-law with grace and lucidity. Admiral Boone came out of Pennsylania, along with his wife, to carve a nitch in history. His career spanned 50 years, a youthful Medal of Honor, serving as doctor to three first families, to director of Vetrans Administration. This slim volume is just what the doctor ordered for all americans who love their heroes. Great Christmas gift.
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Calvin Coolidge (Profiles of the Presidents)
Robin S. Doak
Manufacturer: Compass Point Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 0756502764 |
Books:
- Chasing Ghosts: A Soldier's Fight for America from Baghdad to Washington
- Criminal Procedure (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac )
- Cross
- Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology
- Debrett's Book of the Royal Wedding (A Studio book)
- Dereliction of Duty : Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Soldier, President, Statesman (Contributions in Political Science)
- Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr
- FDR
- For One More Day
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- I Am
- Wild Sweet Love
- Sombras nada más
- The Boleyn Inheritance
- The Audrey Hepburn Treasures
- Virtual Principles in Aircraft Structures: Volume 1: Analysis Volume 2: Design, Plates, Finite Eleme
- Tropical Nature: Life & Death in the Rain Forests of Central & South America
- Resort Development Handbook
- The Book of Luck: Brilliant Ideas for Creating Your Own Success and Making Life Go Your Way
- Contemporary Financial Reporting: A Casebook
Gerald R. Ford
Richard M. Nixon: The American Presidents Series: The 37th President, 1969-1974 (The American Presidents)
James A. Garfield (The American Presidents)
Grover Cleveland: (The American Presidents Series)
Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents)
