A Veteran Reporter On The Presidency
Written: Oct 22 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: photos, primary source material on the Presidency, Hugh Sidey (one of the best)
Cons: organization can be a bit confusing
The Bottom Line: One of the most important first hand accounts on the White House since usher J B West.
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| keithpruitt's Full Review: Hugh Sidey's Profiles of the Presidents: From FDR ... |
Hugh Sidey is perhaps one of the most renowned reporters on the American Presidency. He and Helen Thomas have been around since Taft got stuck in that bath tube. Well… sorry Hugh and Helen, perhaps not quite that long, but Hugh’s first mix with our nation’s chief executive was when Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House.
So now he is retired from his work with Time, and he has graced us with his wonderful remembrances of his years on the White House beat. I first picked this up in the store thinking it was just a Time special not realizing that Sidey had actually written a pictorial book chronicling his years on the beat. And what a volume it has turned out to be. Full of beautiful photos, many before not seen outside of the inner circles of the magazine, Sidey tells us both in words and in pictures about the people who served as President from Roosevelt to Clinton.
The written matter is made up of articles written for Time by the noted journalist. Each section begins with a profile of the president followed by a series of pictures reflective of the time and the person. And interspersed in the respective of the times are insights into the personalities of each man. We do often forget that these are mere mortals who get up every morning and go to the office just as we all do. They put their pants on one leg at a time. And within each was a special character that Sidey was privileged to see and share with us.
I particularly loved the photos. A picture can often tell a great deal about a person. I believe readers will especially find that true of this selection of photos. There’s Jimmy and wife on the Truman balcony, the President with his foot propped up on the railing. There is the picture of John John and Caroline in the Oval Office and Gerald Ford flying another golf ball into the gallery. You’ll see FDR campaigning by car and Harry Truman giving them hell on the back of a train. Clinton plays the sax while Bush, Sr. encourages the troops. There are the agonies of LBJ and the showing off of scars. LadyBird campaigns for flowers; one of those Nixon kids flirts with Ike’s grandson (oh, yeah, they got married), while Carter inspects the peanuts (the real ones not the comic strip). All of these, and dozens more, captivate the reader as Hugh Sidey takes you back through the modern Presidency.
It is a charming chronicle, one owing to a fine career as a journalist, one that will find a welcome home among Presidential collectors, history students, and those who enjoy the pictorial histories of Life. It will also serve as a marvelous primary source of information for children needing to do school reports. As a Presidential historian (such was my undergraduate training), I highly recommend this volume as an important part of American History literature and photo chronology.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Keith Pruitt
Location: Old Hickory, TN
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