Paul F. Boller, Jr.'s widely admired and bestselling anecdotal histories have uncovered new aspects and hidden dimensions in the lives of our presidents. Now he turns to an uncharted--but unexpectedly revealing--element of our leaders' personalities as he brings us stories of what the presidents did for fun.In thumbnail portraits of every president through George W. Bush, Boller chronicles their taste in games, sports, and cultural activities. George Washington had a passion for dancing and John Quincy Adams skinny-dipped in the Potomac; Grover Cleveland loved beer gardens and Woodrow Wilson made a failed effort to write fiction; Calvin Coolidge cherished his afternoon naps, as did Lyndon Johnson his four-pack-a-day cigarette habit; Jimmy Carter was a surprisingly skilled high diver and Bush Senior loved to parachute. The sketches revitalize even the most familiar of our leaders, showing us a new side of our presidents--and their presidencies.

With the advent of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as presidential nominees, the examination of the role of celebrity culture in the White House takes on a fresh appeal. This book, by award-winning White House correspondent and presidential historian Kenneth T. Walsh, takes a detailed and comprehensive look at the history of America’s presidents as "celebrities in chief" since the beginning of the Republic. Walsh makes the point that modern presidents need to be celebrities and build on their fame in order to propel their agendas and rally public support for themselves as national leaders so that they can get things done. Combining incisive historical analysis with a journalist’s eye for detail, this book looks back to such presidents as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as the forerunners of contemporary celebrity presidents. It examines modern presidents including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, each of whom qualified as a celebrity in his own time and place. The book also looks at presidents who fell short in their star appeal, such as George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, and explains why their star power was lacking. Among the special features of the book are detailed profiles of the presidents and how they measured up or failed as celebrities; an historical analysis of America’s popular culture and how presidents have played a part in it, from sports and television to movies and the news media; the role of first ladies; and a portfolio of fascinating photos illustrating the intersection of the presidency with popular culture. An update looking at Hillary and "the Donald" puts contemporary politics in perspective with the evolution of presidential celebrity.

Presents entertaining details about the lives of the United States presidents in a compilation of fascinating facts and historical trivia that encompasses everything from politics and policy to presidential nicknames, White House pets, presidential diversions, and more.

As far back as middle school, I developed a passion for understanding what motivated people to take the political positions they were taking. I wondered why most people couldnt see clear things clearly and why they had to be told what politicians thought and felt. Couldnt they see that for themselves? I also wondered why some people seemed to wait until things happened or unfolded before they began telling everybody why they were better than the other guy at solving the problem. I guess it wasnt until my sophomore year in high school that I began reading more in-depth American history, especially American political history. I became interested in the second Adlai StevensonDwight Eisenhower presidential race. I didnt know anything about politics or economics. All I knew was that we didnt have very much and some other people had lots, lots more. I thought Stevenson was on the side of those that didnt have very much, so obviously, I wanted him to win. Little did I know that he was running against a Republican war hero and that Republicans were trying to paint the Democratic Party as sellouts because of their 1948 and 1952 platforms on racial desegregation. I had no idea that everything said in a presidential campaign didnt have to be the truth. I didnt think these grown men would lie just to win a job. Of course, I had lots of growing up to do. So from that point forward, I committed myself to the pursuit of truth in politics. I found that uncovering the truth about the American political process in the twenty-first century was far more than just a notion, and theres still lots left to do.

The full transcript of one of the most shocking testimonies of the Trump Era and in the history of the United States government. “I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts…. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.” —from Michael Cohen’s Opening Statement to the House Oversight Committee “Michael Cohen…was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time.” —President Donald J. Trump On February 27, 2019, with the world watching, Michael Cohen—former lawyer and fixer for President Donald J. Trump—took the stand in front of the House Oversight Committee and delivered one of the most sensational days of Congressional testimony in history. Not since President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel John Dean turned on him during the Watergate scandal has a close presidential associate attacked the character of the chief of state and charged him with criminal acts. Here in one volume is living history—the hard-hitting prepared statements, the damning evidence, the salacious charges, the belligerent questioning, and the stunning revelations.

From Cicero to Snooki, the cultural influences on our American presidents are powerful and plentiful. Thomas Jefferson famously said "I cannot live without books," and his library backed up the claim, later becoming the backbone of the new Library of Congress. Jimmy Carter watched hundreds of movies in his White House, while Ronald Reagan starred in a few in his own time. Lincoln was a theater-goer, while Obama kicked back at home to a few episodes of HBO's "The Wire." America is a country built by thinkers on a foundation of ideas. Alongside classic works of philosophy and ethics, however, our presidents have been influenced by the books, movies, TV shows, viral videos, and social media sensations of their day. In What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culturen in the White House presidential scholar and former White House aide Tevi Troy combines research with witty observation to tell the story of how our presidents have been shaped by popular culture.

In office less than half a year, President George Washington undertook an arduous month-long tour of New England to promote his new government and to dispel fears of monarchy. More than two hundred years later, American presidents still regularly traverse the country to advance their political goals and demonstrate their connection to the people. In this first book-length study of the history of presidential travel, Richard Ellis explores how travel has reflected and shaped the changing relationship between American presidents and the American people. Tracing the evolution of the president from First Citizen to First Celebrity, he spins a lively narrative that details what happens when our leaders hit the road to meet the people. Presidents, Ellis shows, have long placed travel at the service of politics: Rutherford "the Rover" Hayes visited thirty states and six territories and was the first president to reach the Pacific, while William Howard Taft logged an average of 30,000 rail miles a year. Unearthing previously untold stories of our peripatetic presidents, Ellis also reveals when the public started paying for presidential travel, why nineteenth-century presidents never left the country, and why earlier presidents-such as Andrew Jackson, once punched in the nose on a riverboat-journeyed without protection. Ellis marks the fine line between accessibility and safety, from John Quincy Adams skinny-dipping in the Potomac to George W. clearing brush in Crawford. Particularly important, Ellis notes, is the advent of air travel. While presidents now travel more widely, they have paradoxically become more remote from the people, as Air Force One flies over towns through which presidential trains once rumbled to rousing cheers. Designed to close the gap between president and people, travel now dramatizes the distance that separates the president from the people and reinforces the image of a regal presidency. As entertaining as it is informative, Ellis's book is a sprightly account that takes readers along on presidential jaunts through the years as our leaders press flesh and kiss babies, ride carriages and trains, plot strategies on board ships and planes, and try to connect with the citizens they represent.