Citizen-in-Chief
The Second Lives of the American Presidents
-
-
3.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
“[A] remarkably revealing history.…This well-researched, opinionated account does a fine job of filling a surprisingly empty historical niche.”
—Publishers Weekly
Citizen-in-Chief, The Second Lives of the American Presidents, is a smartly researched, surprising, often witty, and always revealing look at former presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush. Authors Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss offer readers entertaining true stories of the radical turns, provocative rehabilitations, and tragic trajectories of presidential lives after the White House. Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen calls Citizen-in-Chief, “an engrossing book, Benardo and Weiss tell a fascinating tale,” and he properly states that where our nation’s leaders went after leading is often “more interesting than the presidency itself.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eight presidents died in office, leaving 34 whose subsequent careers make up this remarkably revealing history. Journalists Benardo and Weiss (coauthors of Brooklyn by Name) point out that America's founders believed pensions smacked of royal privilege, so ex-presidents were on their own. Some have handled the transition more gracefully than others. The invariably sensible George Washington remained solvent, while Jefferson, Madison and Monroe accumulated mountains of debt and died penniless. After the Civil War, entering business became acceptable, but in Grant's case, poor judgment led to disaster. Only when Truman, uninterested in exploiting his name, moved in with his mother-in-law did Congress vote pensions in 1958. Soon after, riches awaited those willing to speak and write memoirs. The authors dub John Quincy Adams and Jimmy Carter our leading postpresidents. Adams served 17 years in the House, a leading antislavery advocate. Carter's diplomatic and humanitarian activities won him a 2002 Nobel Prize. Even without a formal post, say the authors, "just a handful of former presidents have withdrawn into anonymity," and this well-researched, opinionated account does a fine job of filling a surprisingly empty historical niche.
