Customer Reviews

First Families: The Impact of the White House on Their Lives

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Living a life in a family is difficult enough. Imagine having an argument with your spouse while the TV cameras are on. Imagine your kids report card being broadcast all over the world, worse imagine that you're that kid and it's your report card. Imagine being a kid, particularly a young one and hearing what the other side is saying about your dad. Imagine trying to go to grow up and have a relationship with someone of the other sex. Imagine being a girl, do you think anyone would ever get up the courage to ask you out? On the other hand, with the secret service around you wouldn't have to worry much about date rape. But you probably didn't get to try smoking pot.

Ms. Angelo is a long time correspondent for Time magazine. Her first book was First Mothers, on the mothers of the presidents. Here she has expanded to the people closest to the presidents.

I just finished this book last night, and it is wonderful. Not only is it filled with intimate facts about all of the First Families, but it very interesting. It makes you realize that they were real people and did they're duties even if they despised them.

I couldn't put this book down! I am reading constantly, and this is one book that was so good I didn't want it to end! I would recommend this to anyone, 5 stars~

A lot of the antecdotes in this book have been published elsewhere but the insights on how each of the more modern presidential families view the White House were interesting. In all, I would have borrowed this book from the library rather than purchase it. A nice read but not a book I will take off the shelf from time to time to review or share with others.

"First Families" contains a number of highly entertaining anecdotes about the first families: how the White House shaped their lives, and how they in turn shaped the White House. I enjoyed it and stuck it through to the end. I'll keep it for a few of the First Ladies' quotes about life in the public eye.

However,the book could have benefitted from sharper editing. Bonnie Angelo shifts from one presidential term to another, back in forth in time, without any apparent reason for her organization of anecdotes. Some stories (e.g., a Martha Washington quote abou happiness or misery being dependent upon our dispositions), are distinctly repeated twice; others are obliquely referred to more than once. Her chapters are loosely organized. The concept of "out we go, in they go" is purposely the title of one chapter, but remains a constant theme throughout the book. I would have preferred tighter organization and a more linear timeline.

On the other hand, I have to give Bonnie Angelo credit for bringing long-forgotten First Ladies and their stories to life, for showing us the courage and independence shown by our First Ladies long before American society was ready for women to do so. The First Ladies (and oftentimes First Daughters) are the real stars of this book.

A fascinating account of life in the White House. What is it like being a First Family? How has life in the White House changed over the years? How was it different for Dolley Madison, Bess Truman and Jacqueline Kennedy? Which first ladies were beloved by all and which were the most difficult to like? Who is responsible for the Japanese cherry trees which blossom each April? Who was married in the White House and which presidential children got into the most trouble?

I found this an entertaining and easy book to read. Some stories I'd heard before, but most were new. Bonnie Angelo is a longtime correspondent for Time and reported on the White House for years. She's definitely done her research and shares many delightful anecdotes about past presidents and their first ladies and families, from George Washington to George W. Bush. We learn which First Ladies relished their roles and which ones were reluctant celebrities.

While Ms. Angelo cites many references, she doesn't do so until the end of the book. I found myself wishing that there were footnotes so that I could check references and sources, none of which are found in the actual text. She does have an extensive bibliography at the end of the book, many of which sound interesting and will probably end up on my reading list!

A lively, entertaining book about America's House. Simply enjoyable.

This book rambles on gushing over some entries - "a perfect marriage," i.e the Sr. Bushes; and then glaringly inaccurately in the very next paragraph states "Patti Davis termed her stepmother harsh..." - a very unkind cut indeed if Patti had termed her her STEPmother. I do not see how the author and her editor could have erred so obviously. I was already bored by the poor quality of both the content and the writing and stopped reading at that point (page 119). A true waste of space.