Character : Profiles in Presidential Courage

Rating:
Summary: good news
Review: "Character, Profiles in Presidential Courage" tells the good news about American democracy. For all the negative attacks, tv commercials, paid consultants that dominate politics today--our Presidents have stood up and done the right thing throughout our history.
Chris Wallace teaches you something about our nation's history on every page.
This is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Book
Review: "Fun" is the word I'd use to describe Chris Wallace's new book. This certainly isn't scholarship, and anyone interested in that ought to look elsewhere.

It's a compilation of Presidential anecdotes -- some obscure (US Grant and the threat of war with Cuba; Grover Cleveland and the Pullman labor strike) and others well chronicled (Lincoln and The Emancipation Proclamation; Wilson and the League of Nations; FDR and Lend Lease). Modern (i.e., Post WW II) stories account for six of the 16 chapters. Readers over 45 will vividly recall Nixon's China Card and Reagan's Zero Option. And, GW Bush's Iraq War concludes Wallace's book.

For me, the Grant anecdote was the most revealing, and the subject I knew least about. While Wallace credits Grant with skirting war, the narrative makes plain that Sec of State Hamilton Fish was responsible for the triumph of diplomacy. (A Sec of State argues strenuously for diplomacy, while the War Sec lobbies hard for military action -- sound familiar?). The story behind the Great Thomas Jefferson's maladroit imposition of the Embargo Acts was also enlightening. But, it's hard to see how this episode merits inclusion since all the embargoes did was postpone the ultimate reckoning with Britain while unleashing economic misery. I also have reservations about JFK's Bay of Pigs debacle. Wallace argues that JFK learned from the incident and was more restrained during the subsequent Cuban missile crisis. Still, I don't see how withholding promised air support for the anti-Castro insurgents being slaughtered on the beach reflects character or courage.

It's questions like these and others that make Wallace's book so fun. "Does Andrew Johnson's impeachment battle belong in a book about character?" "Were LBJ's lies about Vietnam -- however well intentioned -- truly acts of Presidential courage?" We could debate these questions for hours.

I do take issue with some rather glaring errors of fact. As an earlier reviewer pointed out, associating the House Un-American Committee with Senator McCarthy is silly. And the claim that LBJ fought in the Pacific War is just plain wrong. As Robert Caro has proven, LBJ spent most of WW II lounging on the West Coast, except for one near-death experience as an observer on a bombing raid. LBJ's talent for embellishment and political connections inflated that one harrowing incident into a medal-winning war record.

A few factual errors aside, Wallace's book is an enjoyable read for anyone looking to broaden his/her knowledge of our past Presidents or U.S. history in general.





Rating:
Summary: Profiles in Presidential Revisionism
Review: Chris Wallace gives a a popular history book that for someone whom doesn't know much American History is a good primer. The reader will be exposed to many of our presidents such as washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, Wilson, Roosevelt (TR and FDR), Truman, Kennedy, Nixon , Johnson and GW Bush (the son).
The book starts with a Journalist hook on a not so known tidbit about each President. The one on Jackson is so interesting about him surviving a bullet from a duel that this reviwer wished he used footnotes instead of the more common endnotes and list of books as source material. Again many of these antedotes are little known and may indeed be tales . Chris Wallace in an interview did not seem to know the origin of these stories.
The book is basically a collection of stories of Presidential courage and the knowledgable reader may quibble with some of the choices. Picking the T Roosevelt's negotiating the talks between Russian and japan.My pick would be Panama and the canal. Picking Andrew Johnson for what ? Picking Lincoln's emacipation proclamation. I would pick Lincoln waging the Civil War. Chris Wallace has picked many of the key Presidents but some of the examples could have been different.
There were some errors such as saying Joe McCarthy was on HUAC -he was a senator.This book is a good bed time book and good primer for converations with your political savvy friends but for the serious historian the lack of footnotes,errors and ignoring some of the details on the Presients he chooses to talk about might be irritating. It is interesting that all the Presidents mentioned with the exception of Andrew Johnson won reelection and wonders whether this influenced Wallace's decision.

Rating:
Summary: Portraits of Character Revealed
Review: Chris Wallace's Profiles in Presidential Courage is a good book. The basic premise is that character (defined as courage, steadiness of purpose & vision) matter far more than intelligence or mastery of policy in presidential quality. Wallace uses sixteen examples to illustrate his premise and does so with simple, clear prose. He also uses excerpts from the words of each President that explains the moment. The book has a few factual errors, but none of them detract from the premise. A worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Presidential History in Bite-size Nuggets
Review: I breezed through this book quickly but found it a very light, enjoyable read. It will appeal to those who are not intimately familiar with the backgrounds of the US presidents. The book opens small windows back in time to focus on a particular event that highlights what the author considers to be the "essence" of all that was good about a particular president.

For example, he looks at the Bay of Pigs disaster that John F. Kennedy got lured into by war-mongering advisors and focuses on the big lesson that Kennedy learned that later saved his bacon when the Russians moved missiles into Cuba. In doing so the author manages to demonstrate that Kennedy had tremendous character and resolve, qualities we demand of all presidents. The other examples are by no means partisan, Republican and Democratic presidents shine alike.

Another nice touch that accompanies each nugget of history is the original text of the president's message to the people or to Congress. For example, Ronald Reagan's speech to the nation dated March 23, 1983, that marked the beginning of the end for Russia as far as the USA was concerned is included and makes for fascinating reading.

I recommend this book to those looking for illuminating examples of the best essence of the US presidents.

Rating:
Summary: Faux book
Review: I have not read this book so the star rating is not accurate. I did however, watch the Brian Lamb interview of Chris Wallace on C-Span's Booknotes. The book sounds interesting but Wallace attributes much of the information to researchers. On several occasions he could not answer Lamb's inquiries as to the source of the contents of the book and seemed woefully unprepared to hawk his own book. I am reminded of the accuracy of the research of CBS news and wonder just how good the book can be.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: I read the book with some trepidation, expecting a "propaganda piece." What a delightful surprise! The book is eminently readable, fair, balanced and essential for any student of American history--particularly of the American presidency. The last essay on George W. Bush seems especially relevant as we approach the November elections.

Dr. Kathryn Presley

Rating:
Summary: Did Wallace even read this book?
Review: Let alone write it? Or did he just lend his name to some obscure publisher anxious to gain a little traction? My guess is the latter- He's typical of the TV faux journalist now masquerading as a faux historian. The book has some interesting tidbits, but his researchers should be the ones with the names under the title, not Wallace.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Timing as we Near the Election
Review: This book comes at such an excellent time. I've just watched the Presidential debates and I can't help but wonder where we got these two. Now comes Chris Wallace's book CHARACTER. He reminds me that the challenges to be faced by whomever is selected as president will not be the ones talked about in the debates. The best president will not necessarily be the smartest - Clinton was undoubtedly one of the most intelligent in recent memory and he will be remembered for his impeachment.

I also find that I can't tell if Chris Wallace is a Democrat or a Republican. And that's just great. His treatment of Nixon and Reagan is just as even and fair as his treatment of Truman and Kennedy. I really like the beginning of his Introduction, "I'm not sure when it was that I realized everything I thought I know about being President was wrong." His conclusions:

Intelligence: Almost Irrelevant.
Mastery of policy: Helpful.
Judgment and Steadiness of Purpose: Priceless.

Here are sixteen stories, varying from what in our mind is ancient (Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion) to the current election (George W. Bush and the Iraq War.) This is one of those book that should be required reading by every voter. Unfortunately I doubt that it will even make the NY Times best seller list. As a country we're rather read a Michael Moore diatribe.

My final conclusion is that it's amazing that our electoral system has worked so well.