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America Needs a Buddhist President
Brett Bevell , and
Eben Dodd
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America Needs a Woman President
ASIN: 1883991978 |
Book Description
Bold poetic vision of America under the leadership of a Buddhist president. Brett Bevell's prophetic voice and Ebsen Dodd's simple but elegant line drawings proclaim a radical alternative American dream in the tradition of Buddhism-inspired writers Allen Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac.
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely Wonderful!.......2007-06-13
I loved this illustrated poem! The poem is written so beautifully and really captures the heart of what we all want in a leader. The illustrations are both comical and elegant which adds to the words themselves. I think it would make a fantastic gift as well as a nice little conversation piece on anyone's coffee table. Definitely worth purchasing!!!
Simply Profound-America Needs More Books Like This.......2007-04-29
Brett Bevell's book provides a profound message woven into the simplicity of his words and the the artistry of the Eben Dodd's drawings. Bevell's verses cause the reader to question, through the subtlety of his humor and the authenticity of the statements, just what qualities make for a successful Commander-in-Chief. The message is clear, timeless, and thought provoking. I look forward to Bevell's next book, America Needs a Woman President.
Average customer rating:
- A Perceptive New Take on Presidential Power.
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Presidential Temples: How Memorials and Libraries Shape Public Memory
Benjamin Hufbauer
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
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Historians in Public: The Practice of American History, 1890-1970
ASIN: 0700614222 |
Book Description
When Bill Clinton, flanked by Presidents Bush past and present, stood in the rain in Little Rock to open his presidential library, the moment seemed to transcend the partisan fray. The imposing structure itself was carefully crafted to play up Clinton's accomplishments and legacy, while downplaying the impeachment affair that shadowed his second term. That focus-on the higher purposes, meanings, and accomplishments of a particular presidency-also deeply reflected the spirit of most other presidential libraries and memorials.
Expanding on this essential theme, Benjamin Hufbauer explores the visual and material cultures of presidential commemoration--memorials and monuments, libraries and archives--and the problematic ways in which presidents themselves have largely taken over their own commemoration. Describing how presidential commemoration has evolved over the past century, Hufbauer reviews the making and meaning of the Lincoln Memorial, the development of Franklin Roosevelt's archives into the first federal presidential library and museum, and the imperial implications of LBJ's truly monumental library in Austin. He contrasts the recent $20 million reinvention of the Truman Library, designed to boldly tackle controversial issues related to racism, McCarthyism, and nuclear anxiety, with the Nixon Library's and Reagan Library's efforts to minimize fallout from the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals. He also provides the first detailed study of the meaning and influence of the Smithsonian's popular First Ladies exhibit.
Hufbauer sees these various commemorative sites as playing a key role in the construction of our collective political and cultural self-images and as another sign of our preoccupation with celebrity culture. Ultimately, he contends, these presidential temples reflect not only our civil religion but also the extraordinary expansion of executive authority--and presidential self-commemoration--since FDR.
While presidential libraries and memorials have also become media-driven attractions that often contribute significantly to the economies of their home cities, Hufbauer shows that their primary function remains the transformation of presidential history into presidential myth for the general public.
This book is part of the CultureAmerica series.
Customer Reviews:
A Perceptive New Take on Presidential Power........2006-01-19
Remember those true presidential giants? FDR, Harry Truman, and LBJ--and larger-than-life Bill Clinton. Did you know that FDR was his own architect for his presidential library at Hyde Park? Jefferson wasn't the only architect-president. But most fun of all is to get another look in the imperial-yet-downhome machinations of Lyndon Johnson as he strove create a library that rivaled the Egyptian tombs. OK, so it looks like a scholarly book--and it is, but there is a lot of good reading here. Hufbauer is too polite to employ his scholarship to point out what intellectual pygmies some of our leaders are, and now more than ever, it is important to understand the significance of memory in national life.
Book Description
After decades of domination on campus, college sports' supremacy has begun to weaken. "Enough, already!" detractors cry. College is about learning, not chasing a ball around to the whir of TV cameras.
In Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University James Duderstadt agrees, taking the view that the increased commercialization of intercollegiate athletics endangers our universities and their primary goal, academics. Calling it a "corrosive example of entertainment culture" during an interview with ESPN's Bob Ley, Duderstadt suggested that college basketball, for example, "imposes on the university an alien set of values, a culture that really is not conducive to the educational mission of university."
Duderstadt is part of a growing controversy. Recently, as reported in The New York Times, an alliance between university professors and college boards of trustees formed in reaction to the growth of college sports; it's the first organization with enough clout to challenge the culture of big-time university athletics.
This book is certainly part of that challenge, and is sure to influence this debate today and in the years to come.
James J. Duderstadt is President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering, University of Michigan.
Customer Reviews:
An Important perspective on College Athletics.......2001-04-16
This book provides an excellent perspective from the President of a major academic and sports university of the challenges of intercollegiate sports. Athletics don't make money at any collegiate level (if costs included fixed plant expenses). They can cause serious scandal for Universities. But still the public demands winning programs. Dr. Duderstadt was perfectly experienced to speak on this issue coming from a great school but also a former athlete. He also brings an interesting perspective of the role of the Provost, which he held prior to being President.
But even after listing all of the woes of how athletics affect colleges, he cops out and says they still have a place. I think this shows just how tough the problem is. It was interesting that quite a bit of his reading overlapped mine, and in fact, he agreed with me that Rick Telander, Sports Illustrated writer and former college football player, had a worthwhile solution of making college "pro" sports optional for colleges.
He also had great discussions of the personalities of coaches and athletic directors and how that affects the programs, as well as discussions on how the media can harm college athletics. Sports journalists don't score high on his list.
This book doesn't solve any problems but does give a different and insightful analysis of the challenge. I recommend this book to those trying to understand the finances of college athletics and how an athletic department exists inside a major university.
Too Little, Far Too Late.......2001-02-23
During a season when there are some excellent books on college sports (Shulman and Bowen's Game of Life, and Murray Sperber's Beer & Circus), Duderstadt comes up with something of a dud (sorry for the pun). He calls for the reform of college sports but this is the guy who, as president of the University of Michigan, tolerated a special academic program, Sports Management, in which his jocks with academic problems were sheltered. It is really hard to take him seriously with a background like that. It's as if he has found religion--reform college sports.
Good luck to him, and I suppose that any critic of big-time college sports should be congratulated for taking an unpopular stand but this book is too little and far too late.
Universities punt when it comes to managing athletics.......2000-12-29
Jim Duderstadt, former President of University of Michigan, an intercollegiate athlete himself and a full-time Big 10 fan, has finally decided the shred the public relations shroud around the reality of Division I athletic teams. He demonstrates the wanton excess associated with college basketbal programs, as well as most football programs. At the same time, he reaffirms the value of most other sports programs at the college level. His voice is a rational warning, unfortunately heard by few university presidents where accountability for this issue really sits. Too many of them, according to Duderstadt, pass the buck for the appalling professionalization of major college sports, placing blame on alumni, the public, state legislatures, faculty or others. Fortunately, he nails down the responsibilities of each group with incriminating detail, and urges massive reform. The cost of the current game plan in Division I schools is rising, he demonstrates, and may end up in defeat for the institutions we consider essential to educating future generations. Read it now -- before March Madness sucks you into the p.r. spin!
Book Description
Jack and Jackie sailing at Hyannis Port. President Kennedy smiling and confident with the radiant first lady by his side in Dallas shortly before the assassination. The Zapruder film. Jackie Kennedy mourning at the funeral while her small son salutes the coffin. These images have become larger than life; more than simply photographs of a president, or of celebrities, or of a tragic event, they have an extraordinary power to captivate--today as in their own time. In Shooting Kennedy, David Lubin speculates on the allure of these and other iconic images of the Kennedys, using them to illuminate the entire American cultural landscape. He draws from a spectacularly varied intellectual and visual terrain--neoclassical painting, Victorian poetry, modern art, Hollywood films, TV sitcoms--to show how the public came to identify personally with the Kennedys and how, in so doing, they came to understand their place in the world. This heady mix of art history, cultural history, and popular culture offers an evocative, consistently entertaining look at twentieth-century America.
Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath, Donna Reed, Playboy magazine, Jack Ruby, the Rosenbergs, and many more personalities, little-known events, and behind-the-scenes stories of the era enliven Lubin's account as he unlocks the meaning of these photographs of the Kennedys. Elegantly conceived, witty, and intellectually daring, Shooting Kennedy becomes a stylish meditation on the changing meanings of visual phenomena and the ways they affect our thinking about the past, the present, and the process of history.
Customer Reviews:
Camelot Rewritten.......2003-11-27
Of the books that have been published on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination on display in my local bookstore, which include memorial editions of LIFE and LOOK magazine that compile all the iconic photos of that time (and sponsored by the History Channel in one case), SHOOTING KENNEDY is a bracing antidote to the lachrymose nonsense posing as historical insight and edifying remembrance that litter the publishing landscape.
In SHOOTING KENNEDY, Lubin employs a process that in post-modern cultural critique has become the prevailing strategy: the Dadaist practice of placing on the dissection table the sewing machine and the umbrella and reporting on their encounter. SHOOTING KENNEDY may, thus, for some readers, seem a bizarre and desacralizing example of the kind of "relativistic" post-modern cultural criticism that upends and sabotages the "milestone event" narrations of history by treating everything as a cultural text, everything as grist for the cultural critique mill.
As an example of this technique, Lubin, late in the book, examines a LIFE magazine spread showing a liquor ad featuring a dandy tipping his hat in salute on the page facing the famous photo of John John's salute of his father's passing coffin. He then offers a disquisition on the suggested birth of the salute in the era of the knight errant, who it is believed, lifted up the visor on his helmet to show another knight his eyes to show he intended no harm. He then goes on to discuss the notion of Camelot as a metaphor for the Kennedy presidency, and then ties in JFK's boyhood reading during his sickly childhood of romantic tales of knighthood by Sir Walter Scott and others.
To the average reader of political history, this will seem an inappropriate invasion of one discipline into the precincts of another -- in this case materials of history and politics examined with theories and tools of art criticism. The similarities Lubin finds between notable paintings from the Western canon and news photos of the Kennedy's and JFK's assassination will seem superfluous, beside the point. So will the parallels he finds between the structure of the Zapruder film and the standard Hollywood movie both now and then. Average readers will be more comfortable with coincidence as the principle behind the suggestive links he finds in history and art,(e.g., Oswald jumping onto the stage in the Dallas movie theater where he sought to hide from the police, John Wilkes Booth jumping onto the stage of the Ford Theater after shooting Lincoln, the Nazi villain in Lubitsch¹s "To Be or Not to Be" being chased onto the stage before being captured and killed), and less comfortable with the idea that life and art are inseparable and dialogic. This approach may seem destabilizing and even decadent. Lubin admits as much. Indeed, he often recognizes that his approach may serve to cast dirt on the icons whose images and histories he examines. He explains that this is not his intent; one's reaction will depend entirely upon whether mentioning Camelot and the Beverly Hillbillies in the same breath seems appropriate.
The post-modern argument has come to prevail in the academy, although in fact it was never really all that radical a position to begin with: reasonable readers of history always recognized that whatever claims to the contrary, historians came to their work with agendas (even "objectivity" is an agenda). Historians, like art historians and art critics develop followings depending on both their skills as a storyteller as well as by how well they support their version of history in their selection of and retelling of facts. In both cases, what emerges always is the sensibility of the critic. There are schools of history in the same way there are schools of art and art criticism.
Still, even accepting the post-modern notions of the text, Lubin's selection of facts and materials has something of the magpie about it -- meaning that his choices, while mostly hits are occasional misses. For instance, how relevant is it that Marat's assassin was the same age as Lee Harvey Oswald? This "insight" is one of those stray facts that pose as enlightening but are not. It is the same kind of quasi-fascinating fact that conspiracy theorists yoke together in their fantastic farragoes. Incidentally, Lubin does an excellent job on the cultural output of these re-writers of the circumstances of the assassination. He takes no sides, he only examines their output in conjunction with that of other forms of reportage, history and journalism.
Altogether an illuminating, creative, and corrective work of criticism.
Book Description
Sure to quell the dull history doldrums, this little book is packed with funny, interesting, unusual information about our nation's leaders from George W. through George Dubya. You'll learn as you zip through the pages, encountering hundreds upon hundreds of exhilarating, interesting facts along the way. It's a raucous historical revue that makes learning fun!
Book Description
In the early part of the 19th century, America was skeptical of popular politics, distrustful of political parties, and disdainful of political management. However, as prominent historian Joel H. Silbey demonstrates, Martin Van Buren took the lead among his contemporaries in remolding the old political order as he captured the New York state governorship, a seat in the United States Senate, and ultimately the Presidency. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics takes a fresh look at the life and political career of one of America's most often overlooked, yet most influential, public figures.
Customer Reviews:
Broad Brush Analysis of Van Buren.......2005-02-17
This book focuses on Van Buren's role in the development of modern political parties in America, but Silbey also ably narrates the life of Van Buren. This is a broad brush biography--Silbey does paint the whole canvas, and he paints it well, but you won't find the exquisite (and sometimes excruciating) detail that most biographers give.
Silbey is very good at relating Van Buren's life to the times he lived in. By far the strong point of the book is the cogent analysis of Van Buren's life, why he took certain actions, and fitting it all into his life purpose of party formation.
One question I had about the biography was whether Van Buren really did do nothing as president (which would have fit his political philosophy) or whether Silbey just narrated the events that had to do with party formation during his administration and that there just weren't many of them. I suspect the former.
The book is well-written, although there aren't many of those memorable turns of phrases; but it certainly won't put you to sleep either. A bit pricey, especially for the length. Overall, a good book.
A Tragic Genius and the American Tragedy.......2004-01-01
Martin van Buren invented the American Democratic Party.
More broadly, he was responsible as much as any other single man for the overall political party structure which exists in the United States to this day.
Yet, to most of his latter-day countrymen, he is merely one of those forgettable nobodies who inhabited the White House between Andy Jackson and Honest Abe.
Joel Silbey's readable and engaging book tries to correct that historical neglect.
Silbey ably tells the story of van Buren's rise from modest beginnings to dominance of the New York political scene, van Buren's movement to the national stage and his restructuring of the national political party system, his ascendance to the Presidency, and his ultimate failure to attain his long-term political goals.
As fascinating as is the story of van Buren's successes, it is his failures which hold the greatest lessons for posterity.
As a young, loyal Jeffersonain, van Buren early in his career supported "Mr. Madison's War" (the War of 1812). But the increase in federal power and enhancement of federal legitimacy which came from that war led the country in the direction of expanded federal activity and authority relative to the states.
This offended van Buren's laissez-faire/states-rights Jeffersonian sensibilities. To combat what he denounced as resurgent Federalism, van Buren created a new political structure around a new political party based on states rights, limited government, and laissez-faire economic policy.
That party was the Jacksonian Democratic Party and, until the end of the nineteenth century, the Democratic Party largely adhered to the principles which van Buren imprinted upon it at its birth.
(It may seem strange to hear that the Democratic Party was, through most of its history, the limited-government/states-rights party in the United States. Yet, as late as 1928, Frank Kent, in his lengthy "The Democratic Party: A History" defined states rights as the central unifying principle of the Democratic Party. It was only in the depression of the 1930s that party positions were reversed and the Democrats abandoned the founding principles upon which van Buren had built the party.)
Although the Democrats did generally adhere to van Burenite principles through the nineteenth century, in the course of the nineteenth century the Democratic Party slowly lost its ability to control the nation's destiny. By the middle of the twentieth century, the party had abandoned all of its founding principles: van Buren would have been appalled by the militarism, welfare-statism, corporate favoritism, and outright imperialism which now characterize the Republic he so loved.
What went wrong?
Van Buren himself was brought low by two intractable problems of nineteenth-century America: imperial expansion and slavery. As Silbey narrates in detail, van Buren lost the Democratic nomination in 1844 due to his refusal to countenance imperial expansion (the annexation of Texas, which led, ultimately, to the U.S. seizure of half of Mexico). Van Buren vacillated wildly in his attitudes toward the slave states: as President he was an outspoken enemy of the abolitionists and ally of the slave power, but in 1848 he became the Presidential candidate of the anti-slavery Free Soil Party.
In his final years, van Buren endorsed Abraham Lincoln's military crusade against the slave states, a crusade that decisively destroyed the states-rights position which had been the guiding star of van Buren's political life.
But perhaps the ultimate problem, which van Buren failed to perceive, was the inner logic of the Constitutional structure established in 1787. The Constitution, unlike the preceding Articles of Confederation, created a strong federal Executive and granted the power of taxation to the central government: the Constitutional system was, in its intrinsic logic, despite the Founders' intentions, not a confederation of sovereign states but a centralized, national government.
Of course, neither the actual text of the Constitution nor the intentions of its authors mandated the huge, interventionist, imperialist federal government which we possess today. But to believe, as the Framers and van Buren did believe, that the Constitutional government could be prevented from turning into an all-encompassing leviathan was politically naive.
So great was van Buren's political genius (he was known in his time as the "Little Magician") that he almost succeeded in his grand historical aims. For over three decades, until the catastrophe of the War Between the States, the poltical structures created by van Buren succeeded in defying the logic of history and keeping America as a decentralized federation rather than a centralized nation-state.
But van Buren's grand design for a strictly limited federal government was ultimately wrecked by the War Between the States and by the economic and geopolitical disasters of the twentieth century.
In our own day, both American citizens and all the nations of the world must confront the results of van Buren's historically tragic failure. Can the federal government of the United States of America somehow be restrained in either its domestic powers or its international adventurism? Silbey's brief but fascinating book is a cautionary warning to all who now grapple with this central problem facing the human race.
Book Description
hat do you do with yourself after holding the most powerful office in the world? A relatively young man, Bill Clinton probably has many years to come up with his own answers to this question. After the White House is the first book to take a systematic look at the post-presidential careers of Clinton and his prede-cessors. Thirty-two completed their terms. Four became presidential candidates again (one was even elected), two served in Congress, one accepted election to the Confederate Congress, and one became Chief Justice. Clinton has the unique distinction of his first lady becoming a United States senator. Jefferson created the University of Virginia. Teddy Roosevelt embarked on an African safari upon leaving office. Many remained influential figures; others were ostracized when political rivals succeeded them (like Hoover during FDR's terms). Rich with anecdotes, After the White House provides an entertaining and unique per-spec-tive on the lives of presidents.
Customer Reviews:
An insteresting, though partisan, read.......2006-05-22
This book provides a fascinating read about an area the author correctly labels ignored: What presidents did after retirement. Written in a fashion made for the general public, with brief summeries of each president, anecdotes, and unique things about each post-presidentail career, this manages to be informative without being a scholarly work. However, he frequently punctures his analysis with political opinion that will annoy across the political spectrum; but if you find this book for cheap, it is worth a read.
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- A fascinating account of a fascinating woman
- Jacqueline Kennedy Through a Different Prism
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Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier (Modern First Ladies)
Barbara A. Perry
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
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The Kennedy Mystique: Creating Camelot
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The Jackie Handbook
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The Secret Memoirs of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Novel
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Diana
ASIN: 0700613439 |
Book Description
In a mere one thousand days, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy created an entrancing public persona that has remained intact for nearly forty years. Even now, a decade after her death, she remains a figure of enduring-and endearing-interest. Yet, while innumerable books have focused on the legends and gossip surrounding this charismatic figure, Barbara Perry's is the first to focus largely on Kennedy's White House years, portraying a First Lady far more complex and enigmatic than previously perceived.
Noting how Jackie's celebrity and devotion to privacy have for years precluded a more serious treatment, Perry's engaging and well-crafted story illuminates Kennedy's immeasurable impact on the institution of the First Lady. Perry vividly illustrates the complexities of Jacqueline Bouvier's marriage to John F. Kennedy, and shows how she transformed herself from a reluctant political wife to an effective, confident presidential partner. Perry is especially illuminating in tracing the First Lady's mastery of political symbolism and imagery, along with her use of television and state entertainment to disseminate her work to a global audience.
By offering the White House as a stage for the arts, Jackie also bolstered the president's Cold War efforts to portray the United States as the epitome of a free society. From redecorating the White House to championing Lafayette Square's preservation to lending her name to fund-raising for the National Cultural Center, she had a profound impact on the nation's psyche and cultural life. Meanwhile, her fashionable clothes and glamorous hairdos stood in stark contrast to the dowdiness of her predecessors and the drab appearances of Communist leaders' spouses.
Never before or since has a First Lady (and her husband) sparkled with so much hope and vigor on the stage of American public life. Perry's deft narrative captures all of that and more, even as it also insightfully depicts Jackie's struggles to preserve her own identity amid the pressures of an institution she changed forever.
Grounded on the author's painstaking research into previously overlooked or unavailable archives, at the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, as well as interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy's close associates, Perry's work expands and enriches our understanding of a remarkable American woman.
This book is part of the Modern First Ladies series.
Customer Reviews:
A fascinating account of a fascinating woman.......2006-06-19
Unlike more gosspiy biographies, political scientist Barbara Perry approaches the life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy as a scholar. She writes about the early influences in her life, her role as first lady and the passions and causes that she undertook in her official life. Perry touches on such issues as JFK's infidelity and deftlly handles the criticism leveled at Mrs. Kennedy for, among other things, her spending on her wardrobe and her "francophile" attachments. So while the book doesn't get bogged down in the tawdry details of their personal lives, neither does it ignore them. It's a well-written, well-documented account of a White House that was so different than any other in modern times -- much due, in part, to the youth and flair of Jacqueline Kennedy. For those who want an objective account, this is an excellent read.
Jacqueline Kennedy Through a Different Prism.......2005-05-17
As one of the most charismatic and intriguing women in modern American history, Jacqueline Kennedy has been the subject of numerous books, articles, and even made-for-television movies. Those attempts, however, focused almost exclusively on Mrs. Kennedy's aura of celebrity---until now. Enter Dr. Barbara Perry, the Carter Glass Professor of Government at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. In "Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier," Perry does an outstanding job of telling a familiar story from a scholar's perspective. She provides a highly readable, yet serious examination of Jacqueline Kennedy in the White House.
In researching the glamorous and sometimes enigmatic First Lady, Dr. Perry states that her mission "was to write the first scholarly treatment of her [Kennedy's] work as first lady and filter out the extremes of previous books that range from hagiographic tributes to mean-spirited or sensationalized accounts." That mission was a particularly daunting one in that Jacqueline Kennedy's personal papers and oral history, located in the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, remain closed. Not to be dissuaded, Dr. Perry apparently did exhaustive research into virtually every available primary source. The result is a fascinating, insightful look at a first lady who emerges as a surprisingly assertive, independent, and even bold actor on the White House stage. Jackie, of course, is best known as the driving force in the restoration of the White House, but she was equally influential in the creation of the White House Historical Society, the preservation of Lafayette Square, and support of the arts. Her personl correspondence on these projects is quite revealing, suggesting that she had a clear vision of how the White House, the presidency, and the first family should be presented to the public---and how she attempted to preserve and present her own identity. Professor Perry is especially effective in exploring this area, having previously authored a compelling analysis of the symbolism and imagery of the U.S. Supreme Court and how the court presents itself to the public (see "The Priestly Tribe: The Supreme Court's Image in the American Mind").
Barbara Perry's work is a much-appreciated scholarly addition to the body of literature on Jacqueline Kennedy. Until the Kennedy papers are opened to the public (in about 40 years), it will stand unchallenged as the definitive account for viewing and understanding an American icon inside the White House.
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The American President in Popular Culture
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ASIN: 031332705X |
Book Description
The American presidency has held a unique role within the realm of the nation's culture. From the character of George Washington in early American mythology, to Richard Nixon's now famous utterance of "Sock it to me!?" on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In to George W. Bush waving the starting flag at a NASCAR event, the leader of the executive branch has often taken stage in the forum of American popular culture. This edited collection presents chapters that survey the ways popular culture has both reflected and been influenced by presidents throughout history. Chapters focus on Birthplaces and Homes; Drama; Film; Libraries; Memorabilia; Magazines and Tabloids; Myths, Legends, Stories and Jokes; Newspapers; Paintings and Sculptures; Political Cartoons and Comics; Popular Music; Radio; and Television. A timeline traces intersections of the presidency and popular culture, and a subject index provides an additional resource for researchers.
Average customer rating:
- Truth is stranger than fiction!
- This is a fun book!
- A lot of Nixon in an Elvis-book
- Astounding parallels between the lives of Nixon and Presley
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Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream
Connie Kirchberg , and
Marc Hendrickx
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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| Biographies & Memoirs
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Nixon, Richard
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Presley, Elvis
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General
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Popular Culture
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Culture
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1945 - Present
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
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General
| 20th Century
| United States
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| History
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General
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General
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ASIN: 0786407166 |
Book Description
Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon are two of the most important and controversial figures of the twentieth century. Although fame came to them in very different ways, they rose from very similar backgrounds of poverty to seek the American Dream. These two remarkable men both had to face falls from grace, but while Nixon rebounded from Watergate to regain a reputation as a distinguished elder statesman, Elvis was destroyed by the pressures of fame, only to have his image restored after his death. Here, for the first time, the remarkable parallels in their lives are examined, balanced on the point of their historic December 21, 1970, meeting. Their similarities and differences as American icons are analyzed, and numerous photographs, including all those taken during their meeting, are included. Together, the stories of these two men form part of the essence of American culture.
Customer Reviews:
Truth is stranger than fiction!.......2002-10-04
This book tells of two men who made history , One in politics and the other of course in music, Both lives of these two men who met are explored into great detail with some simarlarites ??
You will have to buy the book to understand that one ? This is a factual account of then President Nixon and Elvis Presley meeting not once but twice to discuss the direction of America?
Enjoy!
This is a fun book!.......2000-11-30
Although my mom wrote this book, don't take my review as biased. It is just a really good book! Anyone who wants to know more about Elvis and Nixon should read this book. Although I am not much of a non-fiction reader, I found this book to be informative, enlightening, and a little bit amusing. The reason I say "amusing" is because picturing either of these so-call "distiguished" men doing the things described in this book is enough to give anyone a good chuckle. This book is a quick read, has great information, and is very well put together. The whole experiance of reading this book is fun!
A lot of Nixon in an Elvis-book.......2000-06-16
This book by Connie Kirchberg and Marc Hendrickx examines thelives of two Americans fulfilling the so-called AmericanDream.
Both made it from rags to riches. There are a lot of similarities in the way these two persons made it to the top, but of course also differences. This book handles both. By writing the biographies of these two people who briefly met in December 1970, the authors try to paint a picture of two lives which seem to have a lot more in common then expected. For us, more familiar with Elvis than with Nixon, there were some interesting eye-openers on the last one. Although we couldn't get rid of the idea that some of the comparisons are a bit sought for. More interesting than the exact comparisons between the two man making it to the top in their own field (becoming 'The King' and the president of the USA), are the differences after making it to the top and what happened then.
As we all know Elvis made it to the top and lost his spot at the top because of the addictions that led to his death. The last couple of years only his loyal fans kept him 'on top' by still buying his records and going to his shows (even if they were not the quality they once had).
We also know the story of Richard Nixon, making it to the top of the (Capitol) Hill and tumbling down on the other side as a result of the 'Watergate' scandal. Both persons made a `comeback', and we're not referring to the TV special with the same name. But there are differences. Nixon became a 'respected elder statesman' and was rehabilitated in the eyes of the general public. He lived to enjoy that. Elvis' rehabilitation came after his death. There are three moments most people remember what they were doing when it happened: the first man on the moon, the shooting of Kennedy and the death of Elvis, this does say something on the man and his achievements. Unfortunately he wasn't able to enjoy it.
A great pro of the book is that describing the lives of these two people from birth we also get a lot of information on Elvis parents, something which isn't seen in too many books and a nice extra for Elvis fans to complete their `picture' of Elvis' entire life. Another nice feature of the book is the appendix in which a lot of documents and pictures surrounding the Presley - Nixon meeting are presented...Our conclusion:
'Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream' is an interesting book since it goes into the backgrounds of the lives of two men we all know, the 'American Dream' is the red line used to tell the stories of these two people. These backgrounds add some interesting views on the youth of Elvis dealing with a lot of rumours surrounding his upbringing. Besides that, the view from which this book is written is different from other Presley-books which makes it also interesting. For those like us, primary interested in Elvis, we must mention there's a lot of `Nixon' in this book about Elvis' life and achievements, but we admit to be narrow-minded...
Astounding parallels between the lives of Nixon and Presley.......2000-06-09
This book gave me a great amount of insight into the lives of both Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon which I did not know before reading. The lives of Presley and Nixon, from their upbringing to their metoric rise to fame and success, had many surprising, unseen parallels which this book explained very well. The way the book is written, comparing the lives of Presley and Nixon as they grew and evolved, really illustrated to me how similar the course of events which lead to their rise and fall were to each others. This book is an interesting read as well as a thoroughly researched text which I would recommend to not only the Elvis or Nixon buff, but any person who wants insight into the climate of the late twentieth century
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