Rating: 
Summary: Engaging account of presidential fishing
Review: Mr Mares has managed to combine two of my personal passions, history, and fishing in this book. An engaging account of Presidential fishing habits, starting with George Washington. He has collected quite a bit of anedcotal information, and interspersed it with political cartoons appropriate to the period. My personal favorite is a photo of a very sour-looking Richard Nixon being taught the rudiments of fly-fishing by Eisenhower. A very worthy follow-up to his other book, "Out: The Vermont Secession Book"
Rating:
Summary: Amazing man
Review: Mr. Mares now teaches at my high school, in fact he is my Western Civilization teacher (and U.S. Foreign Policy next year). I must say that I am quite impressed with Bill Mares, both as an author and as a man. His resume is longer than one would expect. The result is an excellent book and, more importantly, an excellent educator. He is a graduate of Harvard, part of the United States Marine Corps, photojournalist, adventurer, marathon-runner, and statesman. As for the book; it is intelligent and enjoyable. I often found myself belly laughing at what I, as a typical American teenager, would find disinteresting
Rating:
Summary: A Timely and Refreshing Read!
Review: What a timely and refreshing read! Here's your chance to truly see presidents as human beings (even liars!) without a single reference to Bill Clinton! Perhaps Mr. Clinton would be well served to read the chapter on 'Streamside Situation Ethics' where we learn that LIES CAN BE TOLD AT ANY PLACE OR TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. We do learn that Calvin Coolidge swears and that FDR once lied to his son and the pictures of 'Nixon the Inept' are priceless! Fishing with the Presidents is a delightful book that will be enjoyed by all ages. It is a visual feast, brimming with political cartoons and rare photographs. I suppose you could read this book cover-to-cover, but I think it should be savored. Just open the book and take a nibble now and again. Washington spin doctors would be well advised to grab a copy of this book.. They might want to take a close look at the 1936 column of commentator Dorothy Thompson suggesting that promoting a fishing image is a good campaign strategy because '...all fishermen are safe, sane fellows. Not only are they incapable of harm to anything except a fly or a fish, but they are sounder, mellower, and more profoundly learned than any other breed of humans.' Mares has written a splendidly entertaining and educational book. Don't be fooled by its breezy, anecdotal style... there is plenty of serious scholarship. The annotated bibliography is not to be missed!. Fishing with the Presidents will make a great gift for anglers and political junkies alike. Even we piscatorially-challenged readers will be hooked by this book!
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