Customer Reviews

Sold to the Highest Bidder : The Presidency from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush

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I started reading this book with the fear that Friedenberg would start bashing particular Presidents based on their political affiliation, but I was glad to discover that he provides a critique of each leader without much bias to his own beliefs. While the tone of his narrative tends to side with the liberals, he nevertheless thoroughly scrutinizes each administration regardless of whether the leader was a republican or democrat. No president here was exempted from his criticisms. All were judged. His narratives contain numerous humorous anecdotes regarding the various presidents' personal and political follies. The information is also recent, ending with a look at the Clinton Administration and expressing some concluding remarks about what the Bush Administration might bring in the future. He focuses not only on each president's personal weaknesses, but he also connects these personal inadequacies to the president's national policies and the consequences of their failures.

His narrative is an easy read, and it is well-suited for the general public. It is not a concise academic analysis of political science and leadership. Rather, with its humor, wit, and sarcasm - this book serves more as a "wake-up call" by revealing to the public a side of the White House that is in many ways human and vulnerable to the machinations of human weaknesses and dark vices - such as immorality, corruption,greed, sexual scandals, racism, and ignorance. I mainly saw this book as a general read concerning politics, but because of the wonderful humor that it espoused, I simply could not put it down! Friedenberg's writing is crisp, vivid, smart, and funny. It was definitely a good read!