Rating: 
Summary: Easy and informative read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. An easy read with tons of anecdotes and facts that made the presidents and their families come alive.
Rating:
Summary: Easy and informative read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. An easy read with tons of anecdotes and facts that made the presidents and their families come alive.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding Our Roots, and Our Mothers
Review: Imagine if the public throughout history had been privileged to read books and concepts like this one. We might have had entirely different Presidents than we had, or we might have had a much better understanding of the kind of President we were getting. Barbara Bush has been around for some time, and most know both her influence, and her ability to put people at ease with her common sense and her style. We've yet to hear anything about the mothers of the current candidates in 2004, but who would not remember Lillian Carter, feisty as she was, a no nonsense strict disciplinarian if my memory serves me correctly, but endearing, and honored by her son, the President. One of the most powerful mothers of all was Bill Clinton's mother, and when I read her story I wept, not only for her, but for her family, and in part, for me, and for all of the women I'd known who had to march forward in life in less than ideal circumstances. Hers were pretty bad, but they sounded more familiar than not, unfortunately, as I'm sure they did to many others. I had never read a more powerful personal reflection and about such deeply troubling topics. Their familiarity continues to move me whenever I think about it. With all of our rhetoric about how we claim to be opposed to domestic violence, physical, emotional and verbal, we've done little to the vast need that actually exists. She may have been the first that I'm aware of in my lifetime to be so candid, and be connected to so powerful a person as a President of the United States. Surely, that is a major step forward for America, and one hopefully not lost on American women, even if it is usually on American men. Because we prefer our heroes complete with shining armor and white horse, we are not prepared for the knowledge that they had endured some of the common problems that affect so many families. The revelation was striking, and provides an extraordinary backdrop to understanding her son, the President, and perhaps a little of his administration despite their obvious gender differences. Men are often measured by their fathers as the "chips off the old block," as Dad's are inclined to view them, but in fact, most have far more affinity with their mothers to whom they have been the most intimate and honest. It is the reason that Barbara Bush can look at her son, and wonder if he would make a good President, as she did once, and why Lillian was not about to become lax with her son. The high expectations that mothers have of their sons as adults is far higher than their fathers do, and sons nearly always feel the pressure of that concern, as well as the love that accompanies it. Fathers have high expectations of their sons as youngsters, generally, to prepared them for that task, but it is usually the mothers who scrutinize and measure their progress the most intensely. Any book that attempts to define the relationship of Presidents and their sons, or even any prominent sons, and their mothers is well worth the effort and the expense for understanding how those gentlemen are able to rise to meet those expectations, and the struggles to get there. This is true family entertainment, and among the most worthwhile available for family values, and perhaps, for family progress.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't get my vote.
Review: Predictable. This book only made me turn the pages because I was hoping to find some golden nugget of information that would truly link the Presidents. It was not to be found.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't get my vote.
Review: Predictable. This book only made me turn the pages because I was hoping to find some golden nugget of information that would truly link the Presidents. It was not to be found.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and hard to put down!
Review: Starting with Sara Delano Roosevelt and ending with Barbara Bush, this book gives of biographies of the mothers that shaped the lives of the US Presidents. All strong women who helped their sons achieve their goals, it's amazing to see how alike all of these mothers and sons were/are. And, we learn many things about these women that make them truly women ahead of their time. An excellent book on a long-neglected subject!
Rating:
Summary: Could Be a Lot Better
Review: This book covers the early lives of all Presidents since Franklin Roosevelt. It purports to focus on the Presidents' mothers. Some of the information is interesting, but the author, whose writing leaves much to be desired, digresses too often into innuendoes, opinions, and unrelated comments. Thus, the book is overly long and overly opinionated. Obviously the author couldn't have witnessed these early lives. She therefore bases this book on a few interviews and many suppositions. She gives the impression in many instances that she is just filling white space.
Rating: 
Summary: Superficial, but nevertheless interesting
Review: This book gives many interesting details about the ancestry and the childhoods of presidents from FDR to Clinton. I was fascinated at how many of our recent presidents went through periods of real poverty during their childhoods. You really don't get too much information about the mothers though. It's mostly inferred from the situations and minor passing comments made by those who knew these women. The pictures are pretty few and small, so you don't always even get a good feeling of how these women looked. Also, as another reviewer remarked, it is kind of frustrating and confusing the way each chapter jumps back and forth in time.
Rating:
Summary: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree
Review: This book made me understand the presidents'personalities and even made me understand myself better. DNA means more than you think. When I finished this book, I turned to the first page and started all over. Haven't done that since Angela's Ashes. I'm ordering one for every young mother on my Christmas list so perhaps she, too, can raise a president.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific read
Review: This book was so much fun to read. It presents some heretofore unknown insights into the lives of presidents from FDR through Clinton. It specifically focuses on the mother-son relationships and it is full of surprises. It presents a total picture of the early years of these men and how many similarities there are within their family relationships. Fascinating! George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had poor relationships with their mothers! They were exceptions to the close, favored son duos of most of the presidents in the book. A page turner. Well written. I was sorry to see it end.
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