Synopses & Reviews
The bestselling authors of The Preacher and the Presidents return with a riveting new history of the private relationships among the last thirteen presidents, uncovering and exploring the partnerships, private deals, rescue missions, and rivalries of those few men who served as commander in chief.The Presidents Club was born at Eisenhower’s inauguration when Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover first conceived the idea. Over the years that followed—and to this day—the presidents relied on, misunderstood, sabotaged, and formed alliances with one another that changed history. The world’s most exclusive fraternity is a complicated place: its members are bound forever because they sat in the Oval Office and know its secrets, yet they are immortal rivals for history’s favor.
Some presidents needed their predecessors to keep their secrets; others needed them to disappear. Most just needed help getting the job done. Truman enlisted Hoover to help him save Europe; Kennedy turned to Ike on Cuba; Nixon sought Johnson’s advice on getting reelected, but then tried to blackmail him; Ford and Carter couldn’t stand each other until they saw what they had in common; Reagan and Clinton relied on Nixon as an off-the-books emissary to Russia; Bush put Clinton and his father to work and they became like father and son; and Obama and Clinton became quiet rivals for the same crown.
Journalists and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy unravel the secret compacts, the shared scars, and the private cease-fires from Hoover to Obama. The Presidents Club will change the way we think about the presidency, for the club itself is an instrument of presidential power.
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and#8220;This is essential reading for anyone interested in American politics.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Robert Dallek, bestselling author of andlt;iandgt;An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917and#8211;1963andlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;Forget Romeand#8217;s Curia, Yaleand#8217;s Skull and Bones and the Bilderbergsand#8212;the worldand#8217;s most exclusive club never numbers more than six. . . . Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs have penetrated thick walls of secrecy and decorum to give us the most intimate, revealing, and poignant account of the constitutional fifth wheel that is the ex-presidency. Readers are in for some major surprises, not to mention a history they wonand#8217;t be able to put down.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Richard Norton Smith, author of andlt;iandgt;Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nationandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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"The Presidents Club
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and#8220;Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy have given us a great gift: a deeply reported, highly original, and wonderfully written exploration of a much-overlooked part of American history. The tiny world of U.S. presidents is our Olympus, and Gibbs and Duffy have chronicled the intimacies and rivalries of the gods.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Jon Meacham, bestselling author of andlt;iandgt;American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White Houseandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs have taken us inside one of the most powerful and unusual families in American lifeand#8212;the brotherhood of former presidents of the United States. Political junkies, historians, psychologists and main street citizens will find the tales of friendship, envy, conspiracy, competition and common cause irresistible.and#8221;andlt;Bandgt; and#8212;Tom Brokaw, bestselling author ofandlt;iandgt; The Greatest Generationandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;This is a brilliant idea for a book, wonderfully written! At Eisenhowerand#8217;s inauguration, Hoover and Truman half-jokingly decided to form a and#8216;Presidentand#8217;s Club.and#8217; With surprising reporting and insights, this book reveals the relationships and rivalries among the few men who know what itand#8217;s like to be president. It gives a new angle on history by exploring the essence of the presidency.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of andlt;iandgt;Steve Jobs andlt;/iandgt;and andlt;iandgt;Benjamin Franklinandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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"Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs offer more than a fresh and fascinating first look at the world's most exclusive men's club.
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and#8220;With their knowledge of the territory of presidential politics and personality, Gibbs and Duffy assemble a compelling account . . . [and] show that collisions of ego, personality and politics can often result in creation, not destruction.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Kirkus Reviews andlt;/iandgt;(starred)andlt;/Bandgt;
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“The Presidents Club is fascinating! If you are fascinated by history, politics, current events . . . or even appreciate reading books that are written beautifully, get this one.” —Greta Van Susteren
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andlt;divandgt;"andlt;iandgt;The Presidents Clubandlt;/iandgt;
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and#8220;This is a great scoop . . . Amazing.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Chris Matthews, NBC andlt;/Bandgt;
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"A fabulous book . . . I absolutely love it."
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"This is . . . the historical version of crack." --Joe Scarborough, MSNBC
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"Fascinating!" --Brooke Baldwin, CNN
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"It is a fascinating read, and I can't put the book down." --Clayton Morris, FOX News
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and#8220;Can I download it at midnight tonight? . . . I love this book, I love that somebody tackled it.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Chuck Todd, MSNBCandlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;This is a compelling look at how these men set aside their differences to shape policy and history.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Entertainment Weeklyandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;A lively history of the crisscrossing personal relationships among Americaand#8217;s post-World War II presidents.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;With research in presidential papers and the published record, this is a fascinating and fun read that will appeal to political junkies and history buffs alike. Highly recommended.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Library Journalandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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andlt;divandgt;"andlt;iandgt;The Presidents Club
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andlt;divandgt;"Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs offer more than a fresh and fascinating first look at the world's most exclusive men's club.
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and#8220;A fabulous book . . . I absolutely love it.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Greta Van Susteren, FOX Newsandlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;This is . . . the historical version of crack.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Joe Scarborough, MSNBCandlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;Fascinating!and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Brooke Baldwin, CNN andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;It is a fascinating read, and I canand#8217;t put the book down.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Clayton Morris, FOX Newsandlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;andlt;iandgt;The Presidents Club andlt;/iandgt;is magnetically readable, bursting with new information and behind-the-scenes details. It is also an important contribution to history, illuminating the event-making private relationships among our ex-Presidents and why we should do a far better job of drawing on their skills and experience.and#8221;andlt;Bandgt; and#8212;Michael Beschloss, bestselling author ofandlt;iandgt; The Conquerersandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs offer more than a fresh and fascinating first look at the worldand#8217;s most exclusive menand#8217;s club. Itand#8217;s a book of real substance about clashing egos and strange bedfellows at the top.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Jonathan Alter, bestselling author of andlt;iandgt;The Promiseandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
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and#8220;andlt;iandgt;The Presidents Clubandlt;/iandgt; is a lucid and well-written glimpse into the modern presidency and its self-sustaining shadow organization. It's worth reading and rereading for its behind-the-scenes insights.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;USA Todayandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Synopsis
The Presidents Club, established at Dwight Eisenhowerand#8217;s inauguration by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, is a complicated place: its members are bound forever by the experience of the Oval Office and yet are eternal rivals for historyand#8217;s favor. Among their secrets: How Jack Kennedy tried to blame Ike for the Bay of Pigs. How Ike quietly helped Reagan win his first race in 1966. How Richard Nixon conspired with Lyndon Johnson to get elected and then betrayed him. How Jerry Ford and Jimmy Carter turned a deep enmity into an alliance. The unspoken pact between a father and son named Bush. And the roots of the rivalry between Clinton and Barack Obama. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;I andgt;Timeandlt;/Iandgt; magazine editors and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy offer a new and revealing lens on the American presidency, exploring the club as a hidden instrument of power that has changed the course of history.
Synopsis
The infamous Nixon White House taping system captured 3,700 hours of Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and Camp David conversations between 1971 and 1973, automatically taping every single word spoken.and#160; These audio recordings have finally been released over the past decade byand#160;the National Archives, yet only fewer than 5% of them have been transcribed and publishedand#8212;until now.
Synopsis
The famous and#8212; and infamous and#8212; Nixon White House tapes that reveal President Richard Nixon uncensored, unfiltered, and in his own words President Nixonand#8217;s voice-activated taping system captured every word spoken in the Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and other key locations in the White House, and at Camp David and#8212; 3,700 hours of recordings between 1971 and 1973. Yet less than 5 percent of those conversations have ever been transcribed and published. Now, thanks to professor Luke Nichterand#8217;s massive effort to digitize and transcribe the tapes, the world can finally read an unprecedented account of one of the most important and controversial presidencies in U.S. history.
The Nixon Tapes,and#160;with annotations and commentaryand#160;by Nichter and Professor Douglas Brinkley,and#160;offers a selection of fascinating scenes from the year Nixon opened relations with China, negotiated the SALT I arms agreement with the Soviet Union, and won a landslide reelection victory. All the while, the growing shadow of Watergate and Nixonand#8217;s political downfall crept ever closer. The Nixon Tapes provides a unique glimpse into a flawed presidentand#8217;s hubris, paranoia, and political genius.
About the Author
Nancy Gibbs is Executive Editor of TIME magazine and co author with Michael Duffy of the New York Times bestseller
The Preacher and the Presidents; Billy Graham in the White House. Named by the Chicago Tribune as one of the ten best magazine writers in the country, she is the author of more than 150 TIME cover stories and now writes the back essay page. Her story for the black-bordered special issue on September 11, 2001, won the National Magazine Award, and she was the lead TIME writer on virtually every major news event from Oklahoma City to Hurricane Katrina, as well as the last five presidential campaigns; after the 2008 election, Politico.com described her as “the poet laureate of presidents.”
She graduated from Yale summa cum laude with honors in history, and has a degree in politics and philosophy from Oxford, where she was a Marshall scholar. Her writing is included in The Princeton Anthology of Writing, Best Political Writing 2005 and numerous writing textbooks. She has twice served as the Ferris Professor at Princeton, where she taught a seminar on Politics and the Press.
Gibbs is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, including the Today show, Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, Charlie Rose, and has appeared as an essayist on the NewsHour on PBS.
She is a former elder and deacon of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.
The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House, was published in August 2007 by Center Street, a division of the Hachette Book Group USA, and named one of the top politics and current affairs books of the year by Barnes and Noble. Michael Duffy is TIME’s Washington Bureau Chief and directs the coverage of presidents, politics and national affairs for both the magazine and Time.com.
Duffy joined TIME in 1985 as a Pentagon correspondent and in the 25 years since has covered the Congress, the White House, national politics and national security. In addition to serving as Washington Bureau Chief, he is currently the magazine’s Nation editor.
Duffy, who has written more than 50 TIME cover stories, has won the Gerald R. Ford Award for reporting both on the White House (1994) and defense and national security (2005). With a team from TIME, he has shared in the Joan Shorenstein Barone Prize for Investigative Journalism awarded by the Kennedy School of Government in 1997.
He is the co-author, with TIME’s Nancy Gibbs, of The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (Center Street, 2007). The two editors are currently at work on The Presidents’ Club, which will be published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster.
Duffy has been a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and has appeared regularly on PBS’s Washington Week in Review for the past 15 years. Prior to joining TIME, he was a staff writer at Defense Week.
Duffy was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Oberlin College in 1980. He and his wife, Demetra Lambros, have three sons and live in Maryland.