Customer Reviews

Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was looking forward to this book when it was first ordered, but it is a real disappointment. There is no analysis or information that is new. It has all been said and said better. The book is filled with errors - historical and even typos. It seems that the author just read alot of books and then created her own opinion without doing any new research. The story of the Nixons is much more complex than is presented here. There's just gossip and some mean stuff. The author claims to be a "presidential scholar" and boy that is some jump in logic. Anyone can read a bunch of books and throw their opinion out. The Eisenhowers are totally ignored and dismissed. The carters are put down as sort of backward hicks. The author seems to just have alot of media connections to get interviews but there is nothing new here. Save you money.

I don't think this book is as awful as previously stated. If you take it for what it is - a gossipy, fast reading analysis on presidential marriages - it is enjoyable. The author did make several mistakes on common knowledge information. She never mentioned the fact that Betty Ford was previously married (which most everyone knows) and she stated that upon entering office, Richard Nixon had dinner with his daughters and their husbands. This is incorrect, since Tricia Nixon wasn't married at the time her father became president. She was married in the White House.

Marton's effort doesn't rate as very good journalism or gossip. No historian, and not much of a pseudo intellectual, Marton offers simply a round up of some Presidential marriages without particularly keen psychological insights other than the fact that either one or other ( in the case of the Clintons, both) partners is hung up on the quest for power, and what that obsession means for the marriage. Marton should know, since she's the former wife of ABC anchor Peter Jennings and currently Richard Holbrook, what it's like to stand subordinate to a bigger presence and the subject of this book - as well as the shallow depth of the analysis and lack of original reporting - certainly (albeit poorly) reflects on her own life experience. Save for the paperback, this is definitely summer beach reading.

Hidden Power is a misnomer. I mean after all if the power, or the subject of the book, was really hidden how was the author able to write about it?? The book is a tease and much of the information has been reported before in various tabliods. For example, the closenest of the Carters and the isolation of Richard Nixon is old hat, so when I was reading it I fealt as if I were listening to a broken record. There is an old saying: "Where is the beef?", but with this book I have to ask: "Where is the new?". Answer: I can't tell you.

This is a fast read, but also nicely written, and very enjoyable. It is not exactly a scholarly work. A more scholarly work would probably cover all the most influential presidential marriages, or all the presidencies of the 20th century. Instead,Kati Marton pays word service to the likes of Abigail Adams and Mary Todd Lincoln, and assumes (rightly so) that we would have little interest in reading about Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge,or Herbert Hoover. I was a little disappointed, however, that she skipped so summarily over the Eisenhowers. She justifies this by saying that "[Mamie]played no significant role in her husband's administration." (11) However, I can't imagine anyone playing less of a role than Marton attributes to Pat Nixon, and yet their marriage is covered at length.

With a few exceptions, I didn't find any surprises here. For the most part it just gave me more details about what I already knew or suspected. The surprises were how badly Richard Nixon treated Pat, to the extent that H.R. Haldeman felt free to send her press secretary scathing memos; how truly "out of it" Ronald Reagan was by the end of his presidency (more than it even appeared); and the stubborn and sanctimonious attitude of Jimmy Carter. Of course, the last chapter, about the younger Bushes, is necessarily dated, having been written before Sept. 11.

While this book seems to be based more on heresay, and the author's observations, than in-depth research, to Marton's credit, none of this is kiss and tell expose. Those looking for sordid little details will have to go elsewhere. Even the Kennedys' and Clintons' marriages are handled with decorum.

I am an avid reader of history who appreciates tomes based on several years of research. However, as a break, now and then, I enjoy a "light" history, especially when it's based on recent events with which I am familiar. If you feel the same, or if you prefer your history simplified and easy to digest, you will certainly enjoy this book.

I found the book very interesting. It was fast, easy, fun reading and I have recommended it to several of my friends. If you are looking for deep, intellectual, thought provoking insight, this is not the book for you. However, if you are just looking for an interesting and fun book, you will enjoy Hidden Power.

I was extremely impressed with "Hidden Power," which explores 20th century presidential marriages and the impact that first ladies have had on White House politics. The book begins with a chapter devoted to Woodrow and Edith Wilson and culminates in an epilogue about George W. and Laura Bush. Author Kati Marton gives readers a fascinating (albeit a bit light) account of the lives of these famous political couples and explains how each first lady coped with being married to the most powerful man in the world, handled the duties and expectations that come along with being a presidential spouse, and adjusted to the ever-changing roles that women have in this country.

This isn't a super intense or scholarly book and much of the information in it has been presented before, but I've never encountered a book that's solely dedicated to the influence first ladies have had on the American presidency, and I enjoyed every page. "Hidden Power" is not a boring history book: It's an exciting compilation of the lives of this country's first families, and I couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed this book. It deals with the relationships of various American Presidents and their wives. The author chose 11 marriages. This is not a complete history, but a combination of remembrances, quotes, and some gossip thrown in too. The title Hidden Power refers to many of the first ladies who had quite a bit of influence over their husbands. Some other first ladies were almost ignored by theirs.

The book begins with a short introduction to various presidents and their spouses and follows with eleven chapters.
1. Edith & Woodrow Wilson: Fools for Love
2. Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt: The Partnership That Changed the World
3. Bess & Harry Truman: The Good Husband
4. Jacqueline & John F. Kennedy: A Marriage All the Same
5. Lady Bird & Lyndon Johnson: The Singular Object of Their Affection
6. Pat & Richard Nixon: Misalliance
7. Betty & Gerald Ford: Ordinary People
8. Rosalynn & Jimmy Carter: Virtue Unrewarded
9. Nancy & Ronald Reagan: Virtually Perfect
10. Barbara & George Bush: Mother Knows Best
11. Hilary & Bill Clinton: Unlimited Partnership
Epilogue: Laura & George W. Bush - The author does discuss them a litte, but the book was published in 2001 the same year that they moved into the White House.

I learned to like some of the people that I knew very little about before and to be disappointed in some others for the way they treated their wives. I had already known that President Truman adored his wife, but I found her to be unlikable. President Wilson and his wife were crazy about it each other! President Ford and Betty seemed to have an excellent relationship as did President Reagan and Nancy. I believe both Presidents George and George W. were in good marriages. President Kennedy and Jackie are still rather an enigma to me regarding their relationship.

There are over 30 pages of notes and reference material at the back of HIDDEN POWER. I felt that the author, Kati Marton did her homework!

Kati Marton knows Washington, and high powered marriage. In Hidden Power, she gives a serious, but not overly scholarly look at the ways the White House changes marriages. It seems to make decent marriages better, and fractures marginal ones.Marton strives for objectivity, and comes very close. However, I found her section on the private pain of Pat Nixon to be touching, and very real. I am not a Republican. I have more empathy now for Pat Nixon. I admired her, but had no idea.The chapter about the Kennedys is well written, and not sensationalized at all.This is a well-written piece of medium-weight journalism.

In contrast to the star-struck cheeriness of the well known pop-historian of first ladies, Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Kati Marton's book is thought-provoking and somber. Marton's reason for not writing on some of the presidential couples is that these relationships offer little that would interest a reader--a effort that Sferrazza-Anthony would have done well to have made. Although Marton offers few new historical facts, her book is unique because of the side-by-side analysis--often comparison--of presidential couples. There is plenty of good gossip here. Analyzed at length, are presidential mistresses--continually present in the White House, it appears. How some first ladies--Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton each handled these affairs in her own way is of interest. Seeking clues with regard to enhancing my marriage, I found lots of advice.