Customer Reviews

How to Be President: What to Do and Where to Go Once You're in Office

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

 

 

This is an interesting overview of the responsibilities and perks of being the president of the United States. I don't think it's something Sam Donaldson is going to wish he'd had when he was skulking around the White House. And if anyone actually elected chief executive needs a book like this to find his (obligatory: "or her") way around, well, we're in worse shape than I thought. But for a general audience, it's not a bad, or time-consuming, way to get a better picture of what being president actually entails.

I'm not entirely clear on whether this book was explicitly written for a juvenile audience (the cataloguing info doesn't seem to indicate that), but it reads that way. Some of the questions it addresses are childish (Do I have to make my own bed? Who walks my dog?) or else things the president probably need not concern himself (obligatory: "or herself") about, like how do I order a new desk chair, or do I get to keep the pens. Other sections, though, like the discussion of the president's daily schedule, the interaction with the Secret Service, and the layout and functions of various White House spaces, were pretty interesting. But does the Secret Service really refer to the "First Spouse," or "FS"?

"How to be President" is a quick and easy read that many people may find entertaining and broadly illuminating. I would categorize it as best suited for young adults for whom So You Want to be President? Revised and Updated Edition by Judith St. George (2000) is a little too lightweight. Adults looking for something with more depth, but not heavily weighted by politics, might want to check out a title mentioned in this book's bibliography, Real Life at the White House: 200 Years of Daily Life at America's Most Famous Residence by Claire and John Whitcomb (2002).

This slim, poorly written, poorly illustrated, poorly referenced paste-up might have a few interesting tidbits, but it's so error-filled that it should not even be idly browsed. A few examples:

* "There is no official White House barber" (p 16). Don't tell Milton Pitts.

* "Offices in the West Wing are usually ... windowless" (p 49). Huh? On Williams' own diagram, 3 executive offices are windowless and 16 have windows.

* "The oval shape of [the Blue Room] inspired the shape of the Oval Office, when the West Wing was constructed in 1902" (p 21). In 1902 the president's new office was a rectangle. The oval-shaped ones were later additions.

* He says Nixon filled in FDR's pool (p 49). Almost right: it's still there, just floored-over.

* He calls the Eisenhower Executive Office Building by its former name, then says it's accessible by tunnel (p 45). It's not. There is a tunnel to the Treasury Building.

* He gives a chatty but wrong history of presidential bowling lanes (p 113).

With so many patent errors and no references, the rest of his "info" has the ring of guesswork. (Williams has "written for the New York Times"? Written what!)

The book is lousy with fillers: A box on the colors in the U.S. flag. An entire page on HOW TO PUT YOUR HAND OVER YOUR HEART. Pages advising how to tell a joke, tie a tie, remember names. A list of some White House paintings - not photos of them, mind you, just a list.

The illustrations by Nancy Leonard are a computer graphic disaster.

* She cannot be bothered to draw a round oval, but ends up with flat parts in the oval rooms, the south portico, the elliptical drives, and the Oval Office rug. Fireplace and furniture icons are grossly oversized and oddly angled.

* Her colonnade pillars come in bunches between gaps.

* Her graphic program apparently could not handle tricky angles in rooms, so these are represented by what look like potato chip outlines.

* She clearly relied on the Independent Counsel's West Wing map and uses that labeling (and mis-labeling). The famous press briefing room, therefore, is called "West Terrace Upper Level" without a hint of its actual function.

* For decorative facing pages, she colors her floor diagrams to look like old-fashioned blueprints, but neglects to reverse the colors of the white and gray squares she used to make "holes" for doors in the wall lines, leaving a floor with weird, massive boxes all over it.

* Other illustrations are worse than clip-art. The TelePrompTer diagram implies that the president stands on a glass screen.

Williams doesn't mention the East Wing, the third residential floor, or the sub-basements, apparently because these were not in the Zweifels' "White House in Miniature" book and so do not exist for him. For that matter, bills, vetoes, executive branch appointments, judicial nominations, treaties, and other stuff a president should know how to "do" aren't explained. (For example, can you veto a bill by phone? Don't ask Williams.)

A book like this could have been delightful. This one is vapid, ugly, and wrong.

I don't recall what possessed me to order this book, but it was a waste of money. Not much of interest that's even worth mentioning.

I'm not sure why some of the reviews are negative. This is a book that is not meant for a new president to carry around and reference when they are confused. It's meant to inform and entertain the buyers, nothing more. I thought it was a very interesting read and learned a few things. For only a measely sum of money it is worth the purchase.

This is a perfect behind the scenes book for that child who wants to know more about the office of the Presidency

Presented in a notebook like form that would suggest a book passed from president to president, this book is filled with interesting information that will urge young readers (and old) to read more about the White House and the presidency.

Laid out in an accessible format, it gives an overview on a wide variety of topics related to the presidency from the point of view of helping a president-elect transition from regular citizen to their new job. Big questions about how the secret service works, the interior of Air Force One, and what all those vehicles in the presidential motorcade are for to little ones about who does your laundry fill this book.

This book should be in every elementary school library and on every shelf of a kid who's had questions about what it's like to be President. It would make a great gift to a child who is heading to Washington D.C. on a field trip or family vacation.

Very funy and informative. Makes you get a real feel for the perks, and hassles, of being president. Makes a great 35th birthday present.

Fun, quick read on everything from how to get your dry cleaning done to ordering breakfast at the White House (and who pays for it). Gives the essentials; how to salute, location of the "red phone" and who carries the "football". Lots of fun facts - it makes you feel like an insider. It's a short book, and that's the only real downside. I would love for it to be longer and in more depth. A great gift for fans of the television show - The West Wing as well as anyone interested in politics and the presidency.

I would recommend this book for anyone entering public service, it is extremely informative.

Stupid, trivial and worthless toilet paper, this book takes a few basic facts and reduces what was once a position of respect into one of disrespect - it's all just some big joke about a job with perks - as opposed to public service. Don't waste your money