Imperfect Presidents: Tales of Misadventure and Triumph [Hardcover]

Jim Cullen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

When people make bad decisions, odd remarks, and just plain silly mistakes, the results are sure to haunt them. But when these things happen to the president of the United States, they can change the course of history. In this clever portrait of the American presidency, Jim Cullen takes ten presidents down from their pedestals by examining key missteps in their careers--and how they transcended them. Examples include Abraham Lincoln smearing a preacher and rediscovering his religious vision in emancipating slaves; Lyndon Johnson's electoral fraud in his 1948 Senate race and his role in the signing of the Voting Rights Act; and Ronald Reagan's subversion of the Constitution in the Iran-Contra affair and affirmation of world peace in helping bring about the end of the Cold War. Targeting Republicans and Democrats alike, Cullen's insights are surprisingly timely and hugely entertaining.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cullen (Born in the USA) unmasks the major mistakes of 11 American presidents. Some of his choices are predictable, such as FDR's fumble in trying to subvert the judiciary. Other choices seem quirky. Lincoln's greatest error? Arrogantly criticizing Methodist minister Peter Cartwright when the future president was a young man. Clinton's real misstep was not his failure to keep his pants zipped, but his health care plan. Cullen overreaches when he suggests that this political disaster was linked to Clinton's sexual shenanigans: in Cullen's view, Clinton delegated health care reform to his wife "in part [as] an act of personal atonement for marital infidelity." Cullen singles out the invasion of Iraq as the current president's grossest blunder, with his mishandling of Katrina a close second. A few of the portraits are redemptive. LBJ, who engaged in electoral fraud to get elected to the Senate in 1948, later signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Cullen's grand conclusion takes the tone of a tedious inspirational speech and trades in clichés ("Effective governance is a two-way street") as he pedantically explains that what really matters is not who the president is, but "who the people are" and what presidential behavior the American electorate will accept. This is a sadly thin contribution to presidential history. B&w illus. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In an anecdotal style, a perennially popular form of American presidential history, Cullen counterpoises a slipup with a success in 11 chief executives. From a twelfth, incumbent George W. Bush, Cullen withholds the achievement half of his dual structure, condemning him as "among the worst [presidents] the United States has ever had." Whether time validates or dismisses Cullen's opinion, its verdicts on Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, LBJ, FDR, TR, Chester Arthur, Abraham Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington have formed, and Cullen thematically conforms to conventional views of these figures. For example, he reveals FDR's 1937 "court-packing" proposal as the political bungle it was but praises his recovery of political acumen in navigating the international crises of the 1930s. Cullen's presentation of Arthur, ever at the bottom of historical esteem, is the most novel section as the author redeems the party hack with credit for beginning the dismantlement of the spoils system. Presidential opportunism contrasted with presidential principle--Cullen's format has the potential to attract readers through its character-illuminating stories. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403975132
• ISBN-13: 978-1403975133
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,043,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Cullen was born in Queens, New York, and attended public schools on Long Island. He received his B.A. in English from Tufts University, and his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in American Civilization from Brown University. He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, including Harvard and Brown. He is currently a teacher at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City. Jim's articles and reviews appear at the History News Network and Common-Place, among other online publications; he blogs at "American History Now." He is married to historian Lyde Cullen Sizer and has four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An irreverent guide to the American Presidency -- a great offspring of a website called American History for Cynical Beginners, October 1, 2009

By 

R. Neil Scott "Writer, Professor & User Servi... (Murfreesboro, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Imperfect Presidents: Tales of Misadventure and Triumph (Paperback)

While this fascinating book, is a bit all over the place -- jumping from one president and topic to the next -- it's still very much worth reading for the wonderful, juicy tidbits about some of our most esteemed (and some less respected) presidents. Focusing on how they got themselves in awkward, difficult situations, and the courage they often showed to extricate themselves, Jim Cullen offers a great source for history teachers looking for good content to spice-up their lectures.

The chapter titles and subtitles tell it all:

Prologue: "General Washington Coddles a Protege: In which we see a winter soldier demonstrate the limits of power, the power of limits, and a new kind of leadership for a new kind of nation"

Ch 1 "Vice-President-Elect Jefferson Stabs a Friend in the Back: In which we see a hypocritical ideologue apprehend the value of pragmatism"

Ch 2 "Former President Adams Can't Stop Gagging: In which we see that a privileged upbringing need not handicap a (very) senior citizen"

Ch 3 "Representative [Abraham] Lincoln Smears a Preacher: In which we see an ambitious politico achieve the moral--and spiritual--clarity of a great emancipator"

Ch 4 "'Gentleman Boss' [Chester A.] Arthur Bites the Hand that Feeds Him: In which we see a great political hack discover the virtues of good governance"

Ch 5 "Dude T.R. Enters the Arena: In which we see an imperial democrat reveal the impatience can be a virtue"

Ch 6 "FDR Courts Disaster: In which we see a handicapped man learn he must not be a bully if he wants to save the world from despotism"

Ch 7 " "'Landslide Lyndon' Takes a Position: In which we see an amoral opportunist commit an act of courage"

Ch 8 "Vice-President Ford Stumbles at the gate: In which we see a naive man pardon a crook--and heal a nation"

Ch 9 "'The Gipper' Loses One: In which we see a saber-rattler break some rules, get caught, and go on to win an important contest--in good faith"

Ch 10: "'Slick Willie' Slips and falls: In which we see an offensive player master a defensive strategy"

Epilogue: President Bush Fumbles an Invasion: In which we see why this book was written"

Cullen, author of the 1997 profile of Bruce Springsteen, BORN IN THE USA, received his BA in English from Tufts and a Master's and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. His many years of teaching experience includes stints at Harvard, Brown and -- more recently -- the Ethical Culture Fieldstone School in New York City.

Recommended for high school, public library and college/university collections and individuals teaching American History.

R. Neil Scott
Middle Tennessee State University