Customer Reviews

Presidential Blips: Dips, Flips, Lip, Pips, Quips, Rips, Slips, Tips and Zips : Thousands of Fantastic Facts and Anecdotes About Our Chief Executives

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This book is loaded with errors. Some simple, like dates, but others much more interesting. On p. 227 we learn "No vice president who succeeded into the highest office has ever won an additional presidential term by election." Maybe in the 19th century, but Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson all were VP's who became President and won election in their own right. The book ignores TR and Truman, but does tell the reader L. Johnson was a loser. Wrong. Lots of minor date errors. One example on p. 133 we learn, "After winning the 1856 election, Franklin Pierce..." Excuse me, but Buchanan won the 1856 election. On page 65 we learn, "Six of the nation's First Ladies were previously wed before entering the White House." Excuse me, but almost all the First Ladies were previously wed before entering the White House. However, what they meant were previously married to men other than the President. The book includes Mrs. Nancy Davis who became Nancy Reagan. Not true. Ronnie was her first husband, and the authors ignore Betty Ford who was previously married. Although the book has its enjoyment, I wonder how many other errors are in it which I'm not aware of.

I have never run into a "history" book so filled with errors, misspellings, misstatements, and omissions as "Presidential Blips" by B.S. McReynolds. I am no historian, but do read my fair share of presidential history. I had just begun the book when I saw that Carter had appointed the first black Secretary of State. Wrong -- Secretary of the Army. George Washington took a boat "to work, sailing...from Mount Vernon to Washington, D.C." Hardly, since the capital was in New York City and Philadelphia during his tenure. John Tyler was 59 when he remarried. No, only 54. There are errors in dates, names, and facts on, I would guess, one of every three pages of the 258 pages. It is hard to decide on a "personal favorite" mistake. There are just so many, and some are so bizarre as to call into question the factual basis of the entire book. "Martin Van Buren was the first U.S. President who was not a signer of the Declaration of Independence." Well, Washington, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams, and Andrew Jackson -- in office before Van Buren -- didn't sign it. Alben Barkley, Truman's veep, is referred to as "Albern W. Barkly." The "olny" (sic) presidents to be left-handed? Oops, George Bush (# 41) isn't listed. Benjamin Harrison's veep of the first term wasn't renominated at the "1832 Republican Convention in Cincinnati..." Sorry, but that was in 1892 and it was in Minneapolis. The book may have some interesting comments, some illuminating stories, and some rarely-discussed events. But a reader can't rely on much when so many inconsistencies, errors, and omissions are rampant throughout the book. McReynolds uses one entire page of text and illustration to ridicule Dan Quayle's spelling problems. People who live in glass houses...........

I have read and enjoyed Presidential Blips and have now seen our Presidents in a new light. They are both sometimes funny and ridiculous. Most entertaining for ages......teens to retirement. Presidential Blips--I have found informative and enlightening from our first President, George Washington, to Bill Clinton. Litttle known facts as to who our first gay president was to the never talked about fact that the United States has had two presidents who were slaves before stepping into our nations highest office! . (Page 250) This book is a fun gift for anyone who enjoys both humor and trivia with a touch of history. I highly recommend this book. Lee Young

Presidential Blips: Dips, Flips etc. is a fun read even though it needs to be updated, which I am sure the author is doing. I enjoyed it immensely.

It is terribly sad that in todays ghastly political climate many of the bloopers and missteps by our leaders depicted in this book would result in calls for censure, resignation or impeachment.

Just like the stupid stuff going around about VP Cheney giving Patrick Leahy a very long overdue and deserved dressing down. I mean it is not like Democrats have been all flowers and frills lately. They need to give us a break and just get over it.

It is actually refreshing to see politicians let their true feelings and personality traits come through once in a while.

My God why is no one asking Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, or John Kerry to go to "Anger Management" courses, they have said offensive things recently.

And we are practically inundated with much worse in threaters, on TV and everywhere else today.

Gee let us not forget that Bill Clinton verbally attack an interviewer an no one seemed insensed about that. Or Hillary Clinton, who now suggest it for Cheney but who is herself reported to have yelled and used that same "F" word towards a Jewish person in the past and she was not sent to "Anger Management". Let us not forget the throwing of things in the White House (the peoples house) either. The hypocrisy is astounding.

It proves that they are all just human after all and not the Gods, Kings, Potentates or Prophets they sometimes think themselves to be. Nor are any of them the unblemished indispensable models of perfection we mere mortals sometimes try to cloak them in.

So, I very much enjoyed this book, which was a great airport and traveling companion, mostly due to the rather short nature of the information given. You could pick it up laugh a little and put it down and later take it up again without feeling like you lost the momentum of the book.

Ill tell you though, just to get my conservative dig into the mix. The one thing that really stood out in my mind, that completely justified me calling all politicians hypocrites. Is the fact that everyone on the left seemed to (including you know who) complain about the 70-80 million dollars spend by Ken Starr to do his job, as directed by that enabler Janet Reno herself. Yet in this book it says Bill Clinton spend 45 million (yep million with an m) just to go to China and accomplish nothing.

It must have been one of those legacy building taxpayer funded attempts at a legacy to match Richard Nixons historic breakthrough in China or Ronald Reagan's tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

I wonder how much Hillary spent taking that month or more long, around the world tour, with Chelsea when she found out Bill and all his cohorts in the White House and his Cabinet had willfully lied to the American people about his affair. Or how about all those taxpayer dollars to fund those so-called listening tours (which we all know without a doubt were illegal campaign trips) to New York to solidify her win of a Senate seat to keep the family involved in politics. I heard all these little trips came to many hundreds-of-millions of dollars!

They have marital problems and the poor children of America and the homeless and the out of work citizens must suffer and pay for her to travel and just get away or listen.

Gee where is Michael Moore when really disgusting political Blips were in progress? I enjoyed this book and recommend it for it's historical and it's comical nature.