Rating: 
Summary: Wead is right on every one should read this one
Review: Fantastic book-More then history-Principles to live by!
Insight into Bush this fella knows he worked for his Dad
and was very close to 43-Really a super book!
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive!
Review: For a history buff this is the best book I have read in years. There is detail here and nuance that one cannot find in most books of the presidents. I was especially struck by Alice Roosevelt, such a press favorite that the darkness behind her acid, witty tongue was obviously concealed by an adoring press. And George W. Bush, love him or hate him, is surely a fscinating figure in this account. I appreciated the appendix and the 50 pages of source notes.
Rating:
Summary: The family names we know, the individuals we don't.
Review: Having an interest in US history, but by no means an authority, I casually bought Wead's book. After starting to read it, I couldn't put it down. I read it from cover to cover in two sittings. Previously, I had never thought about the children of presidents and don't know of another author who has written on the subject. Wead writes so clearly -- as great storytellers always do -- that I felt like I was there with the children. I celebrated with some, felt sorry for others and laughed throughout the book. A facinating look into the famous families whose names we all know, but whose members we have never heard of. Enjoyable, fascinating reading!
Rating:
Summary: Unique View
Review: Here are some great tales from the lives of the first families. Gives one a view of these men from a totally different perspective. Considering that one of these children has been having his impact on world history in our times makes the study especially relevant. The Grant and Roosevelt children were poignant stories - interesting accounts that one will not ordinarily encounter in a study of history.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Look at the First Families!
Review: I caught the author on a TV show and was immediately attracted to this book, it's mix of history and celebrity. It makes for "hard to put down" reading, at least in the first three quarters of the book. As a parent, it broke my heart to see so many first families lose so many of their children. And from what we consider today to be minor illnesses, croup, scarlet fever(strep), an infected cut, tetanus, things modern medicine can cure w/a single innoculation or pill. Lines like "they lost three sons before they celebrated their second birthdays" made me thankful that for all our problems, I live now rather than in the 1800's. The earlier first families are very interesting, amusing gossip and tons of philanderers, drunks, and ner' do wells in every family make for fun reading. It's when I hit the more modern President's kids that I thought the book ran out of steam. I looked forward to the "dirt" on the kids I recall, the Carters, the Fords, the Nixons. But alot of their profiles could have been (and probably were) written by their own press secretaries. Not a ner'do well or philanderer in the bunch, or so you'd be lead to believe, despite some of the Carter boys multiple marriages. Made for DRY reading, "today she is devoted wife and mother who works w/many charities". S-N-O-R-E. Despite it's rather dry last quarter, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history.
Rating: 
Summary: strangely disappointed
Review: I found this strangely dull. I wish I had liked it - I wanted to. I didn't find any relevance whatsoever to these lives and didn't think the profiles were well-organized - actually willy-nilly. I also thought it was confusing in its conclusions - there were too many conclusions!
Rating:
Summary: Not just for history buffs
Review: I have read most of the biographies writtern in recent years about America's first families but this book is by far one of the best. The first impression you will get is the amount of work that was put into the research. I have read all the biographies available on Washington, Lincoln, Grant, kennedy, Bush and yet there was information I never read in other books. The color and black/ white photographs are a nice touch.Doug Wead has done a really good job of telling the reader what became of these Presidental children after the White House.
Rating:
Summary: Families in a League of Their Own
Review: I just finished reading Doug Wead's book on presidential children. I found it to be fascinating to read about the children of our presidents and how each of these families were shaped and influenced by the activities of their presidential fathers. It was quite apparent that presidents and their wives in the earlier years of our nation were quite strict and expected too much of their children so that many of them had difficulty meeting those expectations. On the other hand, there were a few who rose above their identities to become recognized for their own contributions to society. Fortunately, presidential children have fared much better in the latter half of this century. Mr. Wead ends the book with describing the personalities of the only two men in our history to follow their fathers in the role of president of the United States. This book is a thorough and well-written narrative giving an inside look at presidential families and how they were affected by this highest office in our nation and molded by expectations both within their families and by society at the time. For anyone that likes history, Wead's book on presidential children should be a "must-read" and part of their personal collection.
Rating:
Summary: biased history
Review: I looked forward with great excitement to receiving this book. I find American History very interesting, and was curious about the lives of Presidential children. I was very disappointed, however, by the subtle (and not so subtle) bias in the writing. Wead uses this platform to bash children of Democrats and praise children of Republicans. Statements along these lines are cheap shots, and totally unnecessary. To my view, this book actually does a disservice to Wead's bosses--the Bushes. The partisanship ruins what could have been a great book, and a wonderful addition to the real history of our nation.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Wead
Review: I've been following the writings and speaches of Doug Wead for over 25 years. This is classic Wead. He finds the "moral of the story" in the lives of people we think we know. He has captured history and made it come alive.
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