22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Written Ghost Stories, October 10, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Haunting of the Presidents: A Paranormal History of the U.S. Presidency (Paperback)
I disagree with the one and two-star ratings. The book is well written and a page turner. In fact, I have been reading it late at night and sometimes the hair on the back of my neck stands up: not because I believe everything I am reading, but because the book can stand alone as a fine collection of well-written, entertaining ghost stories. If you are willing to suspend the "need to disbelieve" while reading the book, prepare to be spooked. If you are looking for concrete, logical proof of ghosts, you will be disappointed. (Hence my four, and not five-star rating.)
In my opinion, both authors respect the paranormal experience and avoid sensationalism. The authors claim to base the book on documents, both declassified secret service and CIA files and through old letters and transcripts. They also write that the White House is the most haunted house in the US. The book includes an extensive bibliography on the paranormal and a listing of presidential haunts by state because birthplaces can also be haunted.
Abraham Lincoln is the most documented sighting, especially at the time of FDR and World War II, but a total of 22 (or so) US presidents have been sighted, as well as former first ladies, and a few of the "first children."
*Haunting* goes deep into the history of the paranormal experiences of the presidents themselves. For example, George Washington, who never lived in the White House, wrote a friend that he had a "visiting angel" while at Valley Forge telling him he mustn't give up, even under the horrendous conditions. Then the book explores the documented visitation of Washington's spirit to the Union officer Chamberlain during the Battle of Gettysburg, giving the Union officer strategic advice.
According to written accounts, Washington also tried to warn Gen. McClellan that if he (McClellan) didn't take action soon, he would be removed from his post. McClellan did nothing and, of course, Lincoln did indeed oust McClellan, replacing him with US Grant.
But the best part of the book is about the ghostly activity at the White House through the years, and the First Families who were open to the experience, albeit secretly. I have always been fascinated with the *possibility* of a haunted White House, but this is the first book I have found on the subject. I visited the White House in an era long before 9/11 when you could actually tour the place, and I felt then that it was filled with otherworldly energy.
Many of us need concrete documentation of the paranormal experience, and the authors fail to provide us with it in some, but not all, circumstances. A few of us need less concrete proof because what the authors write "rings true" within us somehow. Does that make us more gullible? Perhaps, but all of us believe what we want to believe. I am a "skeptical mystic" and I took what was mine to take from the book and left the rest. I advise other readers to do the same.
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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible claims with few details or supporting evidence, February 23, 2003
This review is from: The Haunting of the Presidents: A Paranormal History of the U.S. Presidency (Paperback)
The idea of assembling together evidence on the reported hauntings at the White House and other important historical sites seems like an idea long overdue. One hears stories about Lincoln's ghost and other such rumors, but there really is no authoritative book detailing all of the facts and legends. Unfortunately, I must say that there is still no such authoritative book. Martin and Birnes have certainly presented readers with a lot of information; apparently, they have never met a rumor or unsupported fact they didn't like. That becomes a problem. These pages contain more ghost references than I would ever imagine possible, thus making the need for supporting documentation crucial. Frankly, almost nothing the authors give us supports what they are saying. Going beyond the sore lack of provenance to these reports, I became increasingly frustrated at the huge leaps of faith and incredible assumptions the authors try to pass off as fact. More times than I can count, we are told that this ghost has been known to appear here or that ghost would return a century later. Only rarely do we get any details whatsoever to back up these incredible statements. Matters only get worse as one forges ahead. Along with the lack of any detail whatsoever, the authors begin to tell us that a certain manifestation must surely have been that of a certain individual. Somebody may or may not have seen something at a certain place, but the authors conclude that the person almost certainly witnessed the apparition of some famous person. When they delve into the subject of spiritualism and psychic abilities among the presidents, they provide private dialogue between parties that they cannot possibly have documented. The most absurd statement in the book involves the authors' refusal to let the supposed death curse on zero-year presidents die; perhaps, they opine, President Reagan began "dying" at the hands of Alzheimer's Disease before he finished his second term.
There are just tons of examples of unsupported accounts and conclusions in this book, so many that I cannot put much faith in anything reported on these pages. I know this is not an academic text and I don't expect footnotes, but I do expect to actually learn the most basic of details of the reports cited. There is a significant bibliography in the back of the book, but even there the authors say that there was not enough room to list all of the sources they used. The trouble does not end here, as the authors make authoritative statements about such controversial events as the Kennedy assassination; these guys have an answer for every mystery in American history. Undoubtedly, there is some factual, important information in this book, but it's hardly worth finding amid the morass of unreliable reporting. While this book was interesting, I began to regard it as rather foolish halfway through it. The authors have some of these spirits making more public appearances in death than they ever did in life. My final complaint concerns the political agenda that clearly finds its way into the final hundred pages; the authors resort to snide comments and accusations that made clear their stand on modern-day politics. I don't care what the authors' political views are, but I don't think they have any place in a book supposedly devoted to presidential hauntings.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
No Credibility, May 11, 2003
This review is from: The Haunting of the Presidents: A Paranormal History of the U.S. Presidency (Paperback)
I agree with the review posted by darkgenius below. The book simply does not provide enough documentation for its claims. Many of the stories seem to rest on the slenderest foundations. For instance, the authors recount a tale of George Washington encountering a ghost - or angel - at Valley Forge in 1778. This lengthy, detailed narrative, written in a pseudo-Biblical style, is attributed to Washington himself. However, we then learn that Washington didn't write it, after all - it was written up by a "young aide, Anthony Sherman, who many years later, in 1859, retold the account" to a reporter. So what we have is a second-hand story circulated 81 years after the alleged event (and bearing obvious references to the Civil War - astoundingly prophetic in 1778, but not so remarkable in 1859, when the war was imminent). Things get worse as the book continues. Nostradamus is dragged into the discussion. We hear of a ghost story reported by "an unnamed source" in "a national tabloid." The Bible Code makes an appearance. All credibility is lost. In the Foreword, Joel Martin says, "We wanted this book to be more than merely a collection of anecdotes." They failed.
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