Customer Reviews

The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders

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I enjoyed reading All The President's Children. I'm not much of a history buff, but my husband brought it to me while I was in the hospital after giving birth to our third child. I found it thrilling, so I was eager to read Mr. Wead's new book. He masterfully shows a side of the Presidents that is rarely seen. As a teacher I feel that his insights into history are worthy of great praise. As a parent I feel there are many lessons to learn from these powerful families. This may be the finest book ever written about Presidential parents. THIS WAS WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK.

Sub-Title: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders

We've had lots of presidents, and with the exception of the related ones there's been little about their origins. It seems that the history books mostly assume that the presidents have burst forth as adults ready to assume the mangle of leadership.

As I read about the various presidents I was struck by the differences in the families. Three like Clinton had fathers who died before they were born. Some (Kennedy/Bush) had very successful fathers (at least in terms of money). Some (Nixon/Lincoln) were quite poor. Some (Kennedy again) would push their children very hard. Some (Bush) merely strived to set the best possible examples for their children.

Out of all of these backgrounds came basically honorable men who had the drive and ambition to lead the country.

With the release of the private tapes made by the author of conversations with George W. Bush, it is unfortunately likely that the message of the book will become confused with the incident. This is a good book presenting an aspect of the presidency that breaks new ground.

Doug Wead gives us the reader a rare look into the childhood of the members of a very elite fraternity, The American Presidents. What is it about the upbringing of a child that develops in him the leadership and confidence to one day become the leader of the free world? As with almost all successful people our President's, current and past, have had difficulties that would make broken men of most of us. How did their backgrounds provide them with the strength to rise above those situations...well for that you'll have to read the book. Treat yourself to wonderful read chocked full of history.

I never bought this book from Amazon. To be honest Doug Wead sent me a copy. But I didn't read it. I had already read several chapters prior to its publication. As a college professor and the director of a family therapy program, Doug felt that I was enough of an "expert" to advise him. He would send me chapters and ask my opinion. I sent him information from psychology books and from research and from my own experience. I offered him a couple of interesting quotes I read. He used one or two in the book. I rarely needed to say a word because he already had some ideas that were right on target. I think I once asked him where he got his psych degree. We spent hours on the phone talking about these wonderful first families. Never have I been so honored and had so much fun for doing so little.

I think "The Raising of a President" is a great book. I do not know of any historian who knows the first families as does Doug. He asks and answers the questions that I would want to know. He has researched them. He has read about them. He has spoken to them (Doug spoke to every living Presidential child for his last book) and he even taped one of them. He knows his stuff and no one puts it down on paper like him.

Having looked at many of these pages prior to publication I can say that I feel them to be an accurate portrayal of the First Families. I would have actually bought a copy if Doug didn't send me one!

The strength of this book is its new material on the Bushes and Kennedys. Apparently the author got up to the Kennedy Library and tapped into the deluge of newly released documents. This is the best complete update on the Kennedys around. And those pages sizzle. But the account of the Bushes is truly mesmerizing. They are not as boring as I thought. There is much here, written dispassionately. Truly fascinating. Six hundred pages went very quickly.

The thing I like about this book is that there is so much to offer for parenting. I love the analogy of the child in the shadows -- it seems to be remarkably true in many, many families -- not just presidential. George Washington became president, not Lawrence. Jack Kennedy became president, not Joe, Jr. -- George W. Bush, not Jeb, (the one the family expected to become a national political figure). It's all very interesting.

The stories of these presidents totally changes when you put yourself in their parents shoes. It is just a remarkable perspective. What is especially poignant is that almost all of the parents die in ignorance of the greatness in their own home. They never know who they were raising and what they would end up doing. That is a bit bittersweet. I like the take on Sara Roosevelt. I have read things that make her look like a witch and the author does indeed have all the warts, including some I was not aware of, like not letting Franklin have a bath without her til he was nine years old. Ugh. But he showed her greatness too, in a way that I never understood before. I agree that Lincoln is just haunting and the account of the Bushes is probably the most insightful to date. A bit daring.

This completely fascinating book has history that tells how real these people are, real people living real lives with real problems! There are lessons to study here of what to do and not to do, that even the leader can succeed, and make mistakes, in spite of, and sometimes, because of, their raising. Mr. Wead has written another captivating history book, and this book deserves to be read by everyone.

I am a big fan of this whole series. It is great history because it is from such a different angle. All the Presidents'Children looks at the White House from the eyes of the kids and it looks totally different. But this looks at the presidents from the eyes of the parents. Fascinating material. Lincoln will stay with you. The author presents a very compelling argument that Lincoln was the subject of abuse and the conquering of his rage was at the crux of his rise to greatness. The part on the Bushes has a lot of new material.

Knee jerk reactions from persons who have admittedly not even read this book are not helpful. Some of us love books for what they are and are not interested in the author's religion or his or her methods of obtaining research. The quesion should be, is the information accurate? And we all now know that it is. This book is a brilliant account on a groundbreaking subject. It will have a long shelf life in libraries the world over.