Presidential Courage
Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989
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Narrated by:
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Michael Beschloss
About this listen
In Presidential Courage you will witness George Washington braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England; John Adams, incurring his party's "unrelenting hatred" by refusing to fight France and warning, "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war"; Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States; Abraham Lincoln, risking his presidency to insist that slaves be freed; and the crushing ordeals faced by Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.
As Beschloss shows, none of these presidents was eager to incur ridicule, vilification, or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, "born for the storm".
©2007 Michael Beschloss. All rights reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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In Depth and Beautifully Written
- By grace on 06-03-23
By: Thurston Clarke
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Star-Spangled Men
- America's Ten Worst Presidents
- By: Nathan Miller
- Narrated by: Andy Caploe
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Picking America's best presidents is easy. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt usually lead the list. But choosing the nation's worst presidents requires more thought. In Star-Spangled Men, respected presidential biographer Nathan Miller puts on display those leaders who were abject failures as chief executive. With pointed humor and a deft hand, he presents a rogues' gallery of the men who dropped the presidential ball, and sometimes their pants as well.
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Entertaining and factual
- By Sean on 10-25-14
By: Nathan Miller
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Troublesome Young Men
- The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain - indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.
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Spectacular Narrative History Book
- By Nostromo on 11-30-18
By: Lynne Olson
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Our One Common Country
- Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865
- By: James B. Conroy
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Our One Common Country explores the most critical meeting of the Civil War. Given short shrift or overlooked by many historians, the Hampton Roads Conference of 1865 was a crucial turning point in the War between the States. In this well written and highly documented book, James B. Conroy describes in fascinating detail what happened when leaders from both sides came together to try to end the hostilities. The meeting was meant to end the fighting on peaceful terms.
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Exhaustively researched and engagingly written.
- By Jean on 08-19-15
By: James B. Conroy
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The Greatest Comeback
- How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy, and in the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon's career was declared dead by Washington press and politicians alike. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he had said his political life was over, Nixon would stand taking the oath of office as 37th President of the United States. How did Richard Nixon resurrect a ruined career and reunite a shattered and fractured Republican Party to capture the White House?
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The comeback kid
- By Jean on 07-23-14
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Truman
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 54 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation. The life and times of the 33rd president of the United States, Truman provides a deeply moving look at an extraordinary, singular American.
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That Mousy Little Man From Missouri Revisited
- By Sara on 07-23-15
By: David McCullough
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Team of Rivals
- The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war.
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Beautiful, Heartbreaking, and Informative
- By JJ on 09-10-12
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After Lincoln
- How the North Won the Civil War and Lost the Peace
- By: A. J. Langguth
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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With Abraham Lincoln's assassination, his "team of rivals" was left adrift. President Andrew Johnson, a former slave owner from Tennessee, was challenged by Northern Congressmen, Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stephens and Charles Sumner, who wanted to punish the defeated South. When Johnson's policies placated the rebels at the expense of the freed black men, radicals in the House impeached him for trying to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
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Mediocre
- By Rodney on 10-14-14
By: A. J. Langguth
What listeners say about Presidential Courage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- DD
- 03-19-19
Thought-Provoking
A series of thought-provoking profiles that prove our presidents are fallible humans, and that courageous actions can be borne of integrity, political expediency or both.
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- Walt
- 11-27-22
Excellent
As usual, I was pleasantly pleased by another Michael Beschloss book on presidents. I especially liked the manner in which he addressed presidents, who made decisions knowing the political perils he would face. We definitely need presidents like that.
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- moe sims
- 10-17-17
excellent
I like the details and unbiased account of several issues that the authored dissected. Authentic, entertaining and historically accurate.
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- Mrs.Bushy
- 01-25-18
presidential Courago
very interesting decisions by pre hour presidents situations! Enjoyed more in depth look at those choices.
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- Martin J Dunleavy
- 03-02-21
The great book I agree office with one production flaw
This was great history. Beschloss is always wonderful as both The author in the narrator. The one annoying factor was that it was poorly edited were the audio portion of the book had slight drum rolls there should’ve been chapter breaks but there weren’t in chapter brakes seem to come in the middle of episodes discussed by the author. It was quite annoying actually and stops me from giving this book 5 stars overall. Of course this would not be true for the written version of the book.
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Overall
- LM in Alabama
- 01-05-08
Incredibly Relevant to our times!
Michael Beschloss examines key, historic moments in the lives of George Washington, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, TR Roosevelt, FD Roosevelt, H. Truman, JFK, and Ronald Reagan when these men made courageous decisions, in spite of the political or personal risks, that were in the best interest of our country and world. These historic accounts reveal the strong character, and the human side, of these men in the face of the challenges presidents face. Interestingly, the challenges that these men faced, both in the domestic and foreign arenas (including polarized congresses and electorates), seem quite relevant. This book is a must read for politicians, as well as others who are interested in learning about how presidential decisions have influenced the course of American history. My only complaint is that this recording is abridged.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Diana
- 01-30-12
Read book first then listened to book
Would you consider the audio edition of Presidential Courage to be better than the print version?
Liked both print and audio of book.
What did you like best about this story?
Learning that elected officials can make hard decisions even when it's not politically wise.
What about Michael Beschloss’s performance did you like?
His tone was easy to follow and he unfolded each story well.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Teddy Roosevelt's presidency was very interesting since he was a Republican with Democratic principles.
Any additional comments?
Since I was scheduled to lead a bookclub meeting on this book, I read the book first and then listened to the book. The actions taken by the presidents cited in the book provided great bookclub discussion. We also reviewed what other bold moves these same presidents made that were not included in the book and what other presidents during the same 200 years did that were not included. There were several general themes in the examples given in the book with the most obvious being that politics have not changed since Washington's time. Another theme that evolved was that many of the presidents did not necessarily initially support the actions they took but eventually saw that the country would benefit from the unpopular decision.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jack Firriolo
- 12-31-23
Well written and interesting
Wishing it was longer. The book was excellent and well written. A very good read.
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Overall
- Donna
- 05-13-07
Disappointing
The writing is choppy. The reading uninspired.
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17 people found this helpful