First Friends
The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
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By:
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Gary Ginsberg
About this listen
In the best-selling tradition of The Presidents Club and Presidential Courage, White House history as told through the stories of the best friends and closest confidants of American presidents.
Here are the riveting histories of myriad presidential friendships, among them:
- Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed: They shared a bed for four years during which Speed saved his friend from a crippling depression. Two decades later the friends worked together to save the Union.
- Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson: When Truman wavered on whether to recognize the state of Israel in 1948, his lifelong friend and former business partner intervened at just the right moment with just the right words to steer the president’s decision.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Daisy Suckley: Unassuming and overlooked during her lifetime, Daisy Suckley was in reality FDR’s most trusted, constant confidant, the respite for a lonely and overworked president navigating the Great Depression and World War II
- John Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore: They met as young men in pre-war London and began a conversation over the meaning of leadership. A generation later the Cuban Missile Crisis would put their ideas to test as Ormsby-Gore became the president’s unofficial but most valued foreign policy advisor.
These and other friendships - including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Franklin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan - populate this fresh and provocative exploration of a series of seminal presidential friendships.
Publishing history teems with books by and about presidents, first ladies, first pets, and even first chefs. Now former Clinton aide Gary Ginsberg breaks new literary ground on Pennsylvania Avenue and provides fresh insights into the lives of the men who held the most powerful political office in the world by looking at the friends on whom they relied.
First Friends is an engaging, serendipitous look into the lives of commanders in chief and how their presidencies were shaped by those they held most dear.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Gary Ginsberg (P)2021 TwelveListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"FIRST FRIENDS is an overdue reminder that deep friendship has always played a priceless role in shaping the contours of history. It gives us a fresh reminder of the power of relationships." (Tom Brokaw)
“One of the most important roles in any administration is that of First Friend, the person a president can trust completely and be relaxed around. It’s a wonderful idea for a book, and with his great research and personal feel for true friendship, Gary Ginsberg has woven together fascinating stories and memorable insights. His lessons are important not just for studying the presidency, but for understanding leadership and life.” (Walter Isaacson, number one New York Times best-selling author of Leonardo da Vinci)
"Even if you're an avid reader of presidential biographies, you'll find yourself saying, 'Who knew?' all the way through FIRST FRIENDS. Gary Ginsberg combed through diaries, letters and interviews with an investigator's eye, teasing out personal details about the intimacies of nine presidents and their best friends. It is one of the best reads of the genre, rich with well-told anecdotes, new angles on critical historical events and evidence of the vital importance of friendship for presidents - and all of us. This book is a joy to read." (Lesley Stahl)
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In the first single-volume cradle-to-grave portrait in six decades, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis delivers a stunning account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life of transformation. An orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, she converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Franklin Roosevelt transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York’s Lower East Side into a matching partner in New York’s most important power couple in a generation.
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Stands apart from other biographies of ER
- By Debra Malone on 11-20-20
By: David Michaelis
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The Man Who Ran Washington
- The Life and Times of James A. Baker III
- By: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 26 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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For a quarter-century, from the end of Watergate to the aftermath of the Cold War, no Republican won the presidency without his help or ran the White House without his advice. James Addison Baker III was the indispensable man for four presidents because he understood better than anyone how to make Washington work at a time when America was shaping events around the world. The Man Who Ran Washington is a pause-resisting portrait of a power broker who influenced America's destiny for generations.
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We Need Baker Now More Than Ever
- By @Gazi2a on 01-08-21
By: Peter Baker, and others
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Leadership
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Beau Bridges, David Morse, Jay O. Sanders, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the man make the times or do the times make the man? In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon four of the presidents she has studied most closely - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) - to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized by others as leaders.
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What makes a president great?
- By tru britty on 09-25-18
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God's Hand on America
- Divine Providence in the Modern Era
- By: Michael Medved
- Narrated by: Michael Medved
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Has God withdrawn his special blessing from the United States? Americans ponder that painful question in troubled times, as we did during the devastation of the Civil War and after the assassinations of the '60s, and as we do in our present polarization. Yet, somehow - on battlefields, across western wilderness, and in raucous convention halls - astounding events have reliably advanced America, restoring faith in the Republic’s providential protection. In this provocative historical narrative, Michael Medved brings to life 10 haunting tales that reveal this purposeful pattern.
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Every American is so fortunate
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Michael Medved
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Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents
- What Your Teachers Never Told you About the Men of The White House
- By: Cormac O'Brien
- Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents features outrageous and uncensored profiles of the men in the White House - complete with hundreds of little-known, politically incorrect, and downright wacko facts.
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Sloppy, dull, partisan
- By Scott D. Gray on 06-25-15
By: Cormac O'Brien
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The Presidents
- Noted Historians Rank America's Best - and Worst - Chief Executives
- By: Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, Douglas Brinkley - introduction, and others
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann, Grace Angela Henry
- Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The complete rankings of our best - and worst - presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership. Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories - their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with everyone in between.
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Too Much Praise
- By veronica d on 02-05-21
By: Brian Lamb, and others
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Counselor
- A Life at the Edge of History
- By: Ted Sorensen
- Narrated by: Ted Sorensen
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Abridged
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Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor, recounts in full, for the first time, his experience counseling Kennedy through some of the most dramatic moments in American history. Rising from legislative assistant to speechwriter and advisor, the young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book Profiles in Courage. Sorensen encouraged the junior senator's political ambitions and was later named special counsel to the president.
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Rare Insight
- By Robert on 05-10-08
By: Ted Sorensen
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The Matriarch
- Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty
- By: Susan Page
- Narrated by: Kate Levy
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A vivid biography of former first lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and underappreciated women in American political history.
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Insightful
- By Jean on 04-14-19
By: Susan Page
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Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero
- By: Chris Matthews
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In Chris Matthews’ extraordinary biography, we see this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.
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What Might Have Been?
- By Mel on 12-06-11
By: Chris Matthews
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1948
- Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year That Transformed America
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning historian David Pietrusza unpacks the most ingloriously iconic headline in the history of presidential elections - DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN - to reveal the 1948 campaign's backstage events and recount the down-to-the-wire brawl fought against the background of an erupting Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the birth of Israel, and a post-war America facing exploding storms over civil rights and domestic communism.
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1948 Presidential election retold by Truman hater
- By The Fabulous GT on 01-21-19
By: David Pietrusza
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First Ladies
- The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump
- By: Betty Boyd Caroli
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
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Thorough
- By Kindle Customer on 10-11-20
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1960
- LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon--The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the election that would ultimately give America "Camelot" and its tragic aftermath. 1960 is a stunning recreation of the bare-knuckle politics of the primaries, the party conventions' backroom dealings, the unprecedented television debates, along with hot-button issues of race, religion, and foreign policy. And, at the center of it all, three future presidents - Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon. In this essential work of history, David Pietrusza chronicles 1960's struggle for power by bringing to life its towering events and personalities, unlocking its secrets, and turning expert scholarship into rich, human storytelling.
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No F words, but the N-word is allowed
- By Porter on 12-04-18
By: David Pietrusza
What listeners say about First Friends
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Fran
- 11-01-21
Certainly will learn Something
Interesting choice of presidents and friends. Went down several paths I had not considered before. Well researched and presented. Really enjoyed the audio version.
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- Maxine
- 11-07-21
Not to be missed
Enjoyed this book immensely. Each Friends chapter can be read independently Narrated with pace and emphasis as appropriate. Highly recommend
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- Uncle Techy
- 03-22-22
insightful
informative and wonderful read.
It makes you say to yourself, really?
I had no idea.
worthwhile read
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- David Tousey
- 07-25-21
A story that needed writing
The book was very good
The narrator needed more “punch.”
However I recommend the read
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-31-24
Interesting history, but bit dry
The narrator was very good. I enjoyed the last few chapters more than the earlier ones. It seemed to me that the portrayal was a bit dry. Nevertheless well worth a credit. But do not expect to be drawn in, as say by a Larson history telling.
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- Susan
- 09-06-21
First Friends
Fascinating account of the closest friends of some of the U.S. Presidents. I hated for it to end. I am curious at how and why these particular pairs were chosen.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Richard
- 02-15-22
Interesting read
Although I’d read bios of many of these presidents, this book provides fascinating perspective and insights that I found quite interesting
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joan Zak
- 11-24-21
One of the best books I have listened to
Above all, the book convinced me that not much has changed in 300 years. The press was nasty in Jefferson's day and politics was brutal.
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- Douglas
- 07-12-21
An intuitive romp through history.
Excellent concept for a book, on the merit of its inception alone, it is just terrific. Looking at the Presidency through the eyes of a “third party” or first friend, is an amazing and in some cases frightening perspective. The author gives us a very unique and interesting romp through history. Bringing to light new facts and ideas relating to each friendship. Well worth the read.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Kyle Michel
- 08-31-21
Highly recommended, enjoyable book
Five stars. This is a very interesting walk through the lives of nine US Presidents through the lens of their relationships with their best friends. The idea is intriguing from the start. But, I was a little concerned that the product might be disjointed from varying levels of information available on each “friend,” or that it might be a little fawning in its treatment of the friendships. My concerns were unwarranted. The book is well-sourced with ample material on each friend and how they interacted with the President prior to, during, and after the Presidency. The friendships are treated honestly and in a straightforward fashion with the author noting the extraordinary qualities of some aspects of the friendships, but he avoids the temptation to overstate the impact or import of the friendships on the Presidency. The book is also well-structured, with each of the nine friendships presented in a manner that gives biographical sketches of each President and each friend. The author also tells the reader the historical context of each Presidency, providing nine succinct history lessons on each Presidency and the context of the times in which they held office. The author follows each President and friend all the way through their lives, letting us know how the friendships played out in their years after leaving office. Finally, the narrator is not the author, which I typically do not like. But, this narrator is above average with a nice treatment of the material, in contrast to some 3rd party narrators who sound like game show announcers making a little money on the side. Highly recommended for an enjoyable jaunt through American history from a very interesting perspective. Well done!
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6 people found this helpful