Synopses & Reviews
Following on the heels of his national bestseller A Treasury of Royal Scandals, Michael Farquhar turns his attention to matters a little closer to home with A Treasury of Great American Scandals. From the unhappy family relationships of prominent Americans to the feuds, smear campaigns, duels, and infamous sex scandals that have punctuated our history, we see our founding fathers and other American heroes in the course of their all-too-human events. Ineffectual presidents, lazy generals, traitors; treacherous fathers, nagging mothers, ungrateful children, embarrassing siblings; and stories about insanity, death, and disturbing postmortems are all here, as are disagreeable marriages, vile habits, and, of course, sex: good sex, bad sex, and good-bad sex too. We can take comfort in the fact that we are no worse and no better than our forebears. But we do have better media coverage. Bonus educational material:
- A brief history of the United States, including scandals!
- The American Hall of Shame!
- A complete listing of presidential administrations!
Synopsis
- A Treasury of Royal Scandals is now in its ninth printing- A Treasury of Royal Scandals was a national bestseller and spent nineteen weeks on the Washington Post bestseller list- Visit www.royalscandals.com
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-321).
About the Author
Michael Farquhar is a writer and editor at the Washington Post specializing in history. He is the author of the bestsellers A Treasury of Great American Scandals and A Treasury of Royal Scandals. He appeared on the History Channel’s Russia, Land of the Tsars and will be featured on a forthcoming program about the French Revolution.
Table of Contents
Introduction --pt. 1.Family ties that bind ... and gag --1.Prepare for a shock --2.Mother Mary, quite contrary --3.Foundering father --4.I now pronounce you miserable --5.Dishonor thy mother --6. Ashort, ugly story --7.With this ring, I thee dread --8.Smother-in-law --9.One bad apple tree --10.Oh, brother! --pt. 2.Cold wars --1.Feuding founding fathers --2.Showdown at Weehawken --3.Giving the Devil his duel --4.Overreaction Jackson --5. "TheEaton malaria" --6. Anot so civil war --7.When "Mush" came to shove --8."I'd rather vote for Hitler" --9.General dissatisfaction --10.LBJ vs. RFK --pt. 3.Hail to the chaff --1.Zachary Taylor --2.Franklin Pierce --3.James Buchanan --4.Andrew Johnson --5.Ulysses S. Grant --6.Grover Cleveland --7.William McKinley --8.William Howard Taft --9.Woodrow Wilson -10.John Tyler --pt. 4.Congressional follies --1.Floor fights --2.Sexcapades --pt. 5.Cruel campaigns --1."One continued tempest of malignant passions" --2."May God Almighty forgive her murderers" --3. "Ahorrid looking wretch he is" --4."Ma! Ma! Where's my Pa?" --pt. 6. TheAmerican Hall of Shame --1.Benedict Arnold : hero, traiter, whiner --2.Aaron Burr : "Embryo-Caeser" --3.Roger Taney : one mean supreme --4.Henry Wirz : manufactured monster --5.A. Mitchell Palmer : seeing red --6.Warren G. Harding : nice guy finishes last --7.Joe McCarthy : Wisconsin sleaze --8. t J. Edgar Hoover : what a drag --9.Richard Nixon : say what? --pt. 7.Murder, madness, and just plain strange episodes --1.Bewitched --2. Theman who would be queen --3.Cellar dweller --4.Explorer off course --5. Thecase of the cuckholded congressman --6. Theother assassinations --pt. 8.Remains to be seen --1.Boiling "Mad" 002.Tom Paine's farewell tour --3.Abe Lincoln's indecent exposure --4. The"resurrection" of John Scott Harrison --5.John Paul Jones : pickled in Paris --appendix 1.Presidents of the United States --appendix 2. Abrief history of the United States (through 1980) --Select bibliography --Acknowledgments.