How to Be President: What to Do and Where to Go Once You're in Office

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I would recommend this book for anyone entering public service, it is extremely informative.

Rating:
Summary: adds to the great dumbing down
Review: Stupid, trivial and worthless toilet paper, this book takes a few basic facts and reduces what was once a position of respect into one of disrespect - it's all just some big joke about a job with perks - as opposed to public service. Don't waste your money

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining little guide, probably best for young adults
Review: This is an interesting overview of the responsibilities and perks of being the president of the United States. I don't think it's something Sam Donaldson is going to wish he'd had when he was skulking around the White House. And if anyone actually elected chief executive needs a book like this to find his (obligatory: "or her") way around, well, we're in worse shape than I thought. But for a general audience, it's not a bad, or time-consuming, way to get a better picture of what being president actually entails.

I'm not entirely clear on whether this book was explicitly written for a juvenile audience (the cataloguing info doesn't seem to indicate that), but it sort of reads that way. Some of the questions it addresses are childish (Do I have to make my own bed? Who walks my dog?) or else things the president probably need not concern himself (obligatory: "or herself") about, like how do I order a new desk chair, or do I get to keep the pens. Other sections, though, like the discussion of the president's daily schedule, the interaction with the Secret Service, and the layout and functions of various White House spaces, were pretty interesting. But does the Secret Service really refer to the "First Spouse," or "FS"?

"How to be President" is a quick and easy read that many people may find entertaining and broadly illuminating. I would categorize it as best suited for young adults for whom "So You Want to Be President" by Judith St. George (2000) is a little too lightweight. Adults looking for something with more depth, but not heavily weighted by politics, might want to check out a title mentioned in this book's bibliography, "Real Life at the White House" by Claire and John Whitcomb (2002).