About the Book
Every generation of historians reviews and revises the work of its predecessors. With this book, the best historical writers of today's generation undertake such a task. Displaying wit and narrative flair, their elegant essays offer a fresh perspective on the most fascinating group of Americans: the American presidents. Who better to write a new assessment of the presidents than the most respected (and best-selling) historians of our time? In To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, members of the prestigious Society of American Historians deliver engaging, thoughtful analyses of the forty-one men who have led this country- some, of course, more successfully than others. In this copiously illustrated volume, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson, you will learn from Gordon S. Wood how George Washington, an extraordinary man, made it possible for ordinary men to govern; from Allen Weinstein how Theodore Roosevelt tested and extended the limits of the presidency; from Tom Wicker how Richard Nixon's hatreds and insecurities gripped him ever more tightly as he achieved his long-sought goal of power; and from Evan Thomas how much Bill Clinton cares about his place in the new presidential pecking order.
About the Author :
James M. McPherson: General Editor, Introduction, Abraham Lincoln James M. McPherson is George Henry Davis '86 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1962. He is the author of a dozen books, mostly on the era of the American Civil War. His Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era won the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1989, and his For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War won the Lincoln Prize in 1998. Gordon S. Wood: George Washington Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University. He is the author of The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (1969) and The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1992), among other books. James M. Banner, Jr.: John Adams James M. Banner, Jr. is an independent historian in Washington, DC He is the author most recently of "The Capital and the State: Washington, DIC, and the Nature of American Government" in Donald R. Kennon, ed., A Republic for the Ages (1999). Banner is now at work on a history of the origins of the American national state. Joseph Ellis: Thomas Jefferson Joseph J. Ellis is Ford Foundations Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of six books on American history, including American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award in 1998. His forthcoming book Founding Brothers: Stories from the Early Republic focuses on the clash of personalities and ideologies within the political leadership of the revolutionary generation. Jack N. Rakove: James Madison, James Monroe Jack N. Rakove is Coe Professor of History and American Studies (and Professor of Political Science) at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1980. Among the books he has authored are James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (1990) and Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (1996), which received the Pulitzer Prize in History. His edition of James Madison: Writings was published by the Library of America in 1999. John Patrick Diggins: John Quincy Adams John Patrick Diggins is Distinguished Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His latest books include Foundations of American History (2000), a Lincolnesque reinterpretation of America, and a forthcoming study of Eugene O'Neill, in whose play More Stately Mansions the antagonism between Jackson and John Quincy Adams reverberates. Robert V. Remini: Andrew Jackson Robert V. Remini is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His three-volume biography of Andrew Jackson won the 1984 National Book Award. He has also written biographies of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, and his latest book is The Battle of New Orleans (1999). Richard M. Pious: Martin Van Buren, John Tyler Richard M. Pious, Adolph and Effie Ochs Professor of American Studies, is chair of the Department of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. He is the author of The American Presidency (1979), The President, Congress, and the Constitution (1984), and The Young Oxford Companion to the Presidency (1996). He is a member of the editorial boards of Political Science Quarterly and Presidential Studies Quarterly and has served on panels to rate presidential performance organized by the New York Times Daniel Walker Howe: William Henry Harrison Daniel Walker Howe is Rhodes Professor of American History at Oxford University; he has also taught at UCLA and Yale. The author of The Political Culture of the American Whigs (1979), among other books, he is currently writing a narrative history of the United States between 1815 and 1848. Thomas Fleming: James K. Polk Thomas Fleming writes both history and historical novels. His most recent work of history is Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America (1999). His recent novel The Wages of Fame (1998) deals with the intricacies of James Polk's war with Mexico. Catherine Clinton: Zachary Taylor, Benjamin Harrison Catherine Clinton is Weissman Visiting Professor of History at Baruch College, City University of New York. Among her works on American history are The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century (1984), Tara Revisited: Women, War and the Plantation Legend (1995), and Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars (2000). Jean Harvey Baker: Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan Jean Harvey Baker is Professor of History at Goucher College. Among her publications are Affairs of Party: The Political Culture of the Northern Democrats in the Nineteenth Century (1983), Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (1987), and The Stevensons: Biography of an American Family. She is currently writing a book on the American suffragists. James A. Rawley: Franklin Pierce, Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Rawley is Carl Adolph Happold Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Nebraska -- Lincoln. His books include Turning Points of the Civil War (1966), Race and Politics: "Bleeding Kansas" and the Coming of the Civil War (1969), and The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History (1981). He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the recipient of the University of Nebraska's Outstanding Research and Creativity Award, as well as its Pound-Howard Award for his distinguished contributions to the university. Hans L. Trefousse: Andrew Johnson Hans L. Trefousse is Professor Emeritus of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he taught from 1961 until 1998. His areas of special expertise are the Civil War and Reconstruction, and his publications include biographies of Andrew Johnson, Carl Schurz, Benjamin Butler, Benjamin Wade, and Thaddeus Stevens, as well as books on the Radical Republicans, Lincoln's decision to emancipate, and diplomatic history. Michael Les Benedict: Ulysses S. Grant Michael Les Benedict is Professor of History at Ohio State University. He is the author of A Compromise of Principle: Congressional Republicans and Reconstruction (1975) and many articles and essays on legal and political issues of the Reconstruction era. Ari Hoogenboom: James A. Garfield Ari Hoogenboom is Professor Emeritus of History at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of Outlawing the Spoils: A History of the Civil Service Reform Movement, 1865-1883 (1961), the Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes (1988), and Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President (1995). Hoogenboom has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Professor (while serving as George Bancroft Professor of American History at the University History at the Gottingen). Bernard A. Weisberger: Chester A. Arthur Bernard A. Weisberger taught American history at Wayne State University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester before undertaking a full-time writing career in 1968. He has written extensively for American Heritage, has been a historical consultant and scriptwriter for Ken Burns and Bill Moyers, and is the author of numerous books, including The Age of Steam and Steel (1964) and The New Industrial Society (1969). He has just completed a book on the election of 1800. Vincent P. De Santis: Grover Cleveland Vincent P. De Santis is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught for many years. He is the author (or coauthor) of numerous books, including The Republicans Face the Southern Question (1959) and The Shaping of Modern America, 1877-1920 (1973). He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Professor to Italy, Australia, and India. Morton Keller: William McKinley, Warren G. Harding Morton Keller is Spector Professor of History at Brandeis University. Among his books are Affairs of State: Public Life in Late Nineteenth Century America (1977). He has also recently completed a history of modern Harvard. Allen Weinstein: Theodore Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman Allen Weinstein is founder and president of The Center of Democracy, a nonprofit foundation created in 1985 to promote and strengthen the democratic process. He chaired the American Studies Program at Smith College from 1966 until 1981 and later taught as a University Professor at both Georgetown (1981-84) and Boston University (1985-89) . In 1986, he won the United Nations Peace Medal for "efforts to promote peace, dialogue, and free elections in several critical parts of the world." His books include Perjury: The Hiss Chambers Case (1978), which was nominated for an American Book Award and The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America -- The Stalin Era (1999). Mark C. Carnes: William Howard Taft Mark C. Carnes is Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University. He is the author of Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America (1989), Mapping America's Past (1996), and (with John A. Garraty) The American Nation (1999). Carnes has also edited Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (1995) and (with Garraty) the twenty-four-volume series American National Biography (1999). James Chace: Woodrow Wilson James Chace is Paul W. Williams Professor of Government and Public Law at Bard College. He is the editor of World Policy Journal and author of Acheson: The Secretary of State who Created the American World (1998), among other books. Robert Cowley: Calvin Coolidge Robert Cowley is the founding editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. He is (with Malcolm Cowley) the editor of Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age (1966) and an authority on the 1920s Robert Dallek: Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Baines Johnson Robert Dallek is currently Professor of History at Boston University, having taught for thirty years at UCLA. In 1994-95, he was Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford. An elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dallek is the author of numerous books on American diplomatic and presidential history, including a two-volume life of Lyndon B. Johnson. Susan Ware: Franklin D. Roosevelt Susan Ware has written extensively on the New Deal and 1930s America. She is currently affiliated with the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, where she is editing Volume Five of the biographical dictionary Notable American Women. Herbert S. Parmet: Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Bush Herbert S. Parmet is Professor Emeritus of History at the City University of New York. He is the author Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972) and, most recently, George Bush: the Life of a Lone Star Yankee (1997), among other books. Richard Reeves: John F. Kennedy Richard Reeves, the author of President Kennedy: Profile of Power (1993), writes a syndicated newspaper column and teaches at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California. Tom Wicker: Richard M. Nixon Tom Wicker was a political columnist for the New York Times from 1966 until 1991. He is the author of fourteen books, including One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream (1991). Laura Kalman: Gerald R. Ford Laura Kalman, Professor of History at the University of California -- Santa Barbara, is the author of Legal Realism at Yale, 1927-1960 (1986), Abe Fortas: A Biography (1990), and The Strange Career of Legal Liberalism (1996). She is presently at work on Years of Transformation: The United States, 1974-1981. Douglas Brinkley: Jimmy Carter Douglas Brinkley is director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies and Professor of History at the University of New Orleans. He is the author of The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House (1998). James T. Patterson: Ronald Reagan James T. Patterson is Ford Foundation Professor of History at Brown University, where he has taught modern US history since 1972. He has also held visiting appointments as Harmsworth Professor of History at Oxford University, John Adams Professor of American Civilization at the University of Amsterdam, and Pitt Professor of American Institutions at Cambridge University. His publications include Mr. Republican: A Biography of Robert A. Taft (1972), America's Struggle Against Poverty: 1900-1994 (1995), and Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (1996), which won the Bancroft Prize. Evan Thomas: Bill Clinton Evan Thomas is assistant managing editor of Newsweek. In addition to coauthoring (with Walter Isaacson) The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986), Thomas has written The Man to See: Edward Bennett Williams (1991) and The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA (1995). His current project is a biography of Robert F. Kennedy.
Review :
What a wonderful way to learn about our American presidents. This handsomely illustrated volume--with essays by our nation's finest historians--brings with fresh anecdotes, stylish prose, and sharp analysis. A treasure! (Stephen E. Ambrose) This outstanding collection of essays... should be read by every citizen (Dallas Morning News) Well produced and richly illustrated, the book is an ideal introduction to the presidency (Chicago Tribune)
