Showing results by narrator "Sean Runnette" in All Categories

No other president in American history faced so many decisions about the scope of his constitutional powers as did George Washington. Keenly aware that his interpretations of the fundamental charter would set precedent for future generations, and reluctant to appear that he was gathering power like a king, Washington was extremely cautious as chief executive.

Chester A. Arthur, who had profited from a plum patronage position dur­ing the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, found himself thrust into a dif­ficult role when his predecessor, James Garfield, died of a gunshot wound. With Garfield’s death, the controversy over political patronage bubbled to a head.

Hamilton Stark is a New Hampshire pipe fitter and the sole inhabitant of the house from which he evicted his own mother. He is the villain of five marriages and the father of a daughter so obsessed that she has been writing a book about him for years. Hamilton Stark is a boor, a misanthrope, a handsome man: funny, passionately honest, and a good dancer. The narrator, a middle-aged writer, decides to write about Stark as a hero whose anger and solitude represent passion and wisdom

Personal relationships are key to success: In a time when workplaces are becoming more digital and more automated every day, our mindsets and our personal relationships will determine whether we succeed in tomorrow’s markets. In the coming years, the human success factor will determine who is among the winners and who is among the losers. All business adventures start with a focus on the self. When you know who you are and develop a deep sense of confidence in yourself, you’ll have the flexibility to roll with the punches.

Warren Buffett compares stock trading to great athletes: They excel, not because of fast neurological responses, but because of their ability to delay as long as possible before reacting. Successful CEOs, fire fighters, and military officers all know how to manage delay to gather as much information as possible to get the results they need. In Wait, Frank Partnoy argues that decisions of all kinds, whether 'snap' or long-term, benefit from being made at the last possible moment. The art of knowing how long you can afford to delay before committing is at the heart of many a great decision, whether in a corporate takeover or a marriage proposal.

President William Henry Harrison died after only thirty-one days in office, the shortest term served by any American president. A celebrated military hero who had defeated Native American tribes at the Battle of Tippecanoe, Harrison delivered an inaugural address that lasted nearly two hours.

James Garfield, a powerful figure in the Reconstruction-era Congress, took office in 1881 with a goal of uniting the Republican Party, which was split between the Stalwarts (who strongly favored political patronage) and the so-called Half-Breeds (who believed patronage bred corruption).

President Reagan was a popular and transformative chief executive who chipped away at what he considered a runaway federal bureaucracy to bring a more conservative vision to all three branches of American gov­ernment. While the Iran-Contra affair during Reagan’s second term gal­vanized critics, he still managed to win major victories to curb what he perceived to be overreaching by Congress.

The "universe" refers to all "observable things", ranging in size from the entire cosmos to elementary particles. A guide for an enjoyable visit to the universe, this small tome on fundamental physics, cosmology, Higgs bosons, time travel, and all that is unlike any other analogous book. Its scientific statements are correct or, at least, they coincide with the opinions held by the vast majority of experts. It establishes clear distinctions between things we know for sure and things that we know that we do not know, or we do not understand.

President Richard M. Nixon, the first president to resign from office in disgrace, sought to exert so much power in office that he eventually became tangled up in the Watergate scandal and its cover-up. These incidents ultimately led to the appointment of a special prosecutor and a burgeoning criminal investigation of his own conduct. Nixon’s secret White House taping system provided the smoking gun that would lead to the unraveling of his administration.

On May 17th, 1968, a group of Catholic antiwar activists burst into a draft board in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective Service records (which they called "death certificates"), and burned the documents in a fire fueled by homemade napalm. The bold actions of the ''Catonsville Nine'' quickly became international news and captured headlines throughout the summer and fall of 1968 when the activists, defended by radical attorney William Kunstler, were tried in federal court.

Lewis' day begins with a bitter quarrel with his wife and ends on a crumbling, overgrown jungle airstrip somewhere deep in war-torn Congo. With the cockpit on fire, the pilots of his plane make an emergency landing and within hours the plane is seized by rebel troops. When his wife makes a daring decision to search for him in Africa, The Curve of the World becomes a gripping, heartrending tale about regaining love and conviction.

President Woodrow Wilson ushered in a new brand of domestic and inter­national politics for the United States. A champion of Progressive policies, including the right of women to vote, Wilson believed in a muscular chief executive, especially in times of war and crisis. He led the United States into World War I, at times bypassing Congress.

A joyful collection of the most popular, provocative and unforgettable essays from the New York Times 'Modern Love' column. A young woman goes through the five stages of ghosting grief. A man's promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorcée in her 70s looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships.

The atom. The big bang. DNA. Natural selection. All ideas that have revolutionised science - and that were dismissed out of hand when they first appeared. The surprises haven't stopped: here, Michael Brooks, best-selling author of 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, investigates the new wave of unexpected insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery. Through 11 radical new insights, Brooks takes us to the extreme frontiers of what we understand about the world.

Danny Shapiro is an isolated teenager living with a dying mother, a hostile father, and no friends. To cope with these circumstances, Danny forges a reality of his own, which includes the sinister “Three Men in Black,” mysterious lake creatures with insect-like carapaces, a beautiful young seductress and thief, with whom Danny falls in love, and an alien-human love child who—if only Danny can keep her alive—will redeem the planet.

John Tyler, despite his adroitness in establishing that he had inherited com­plete presidential power when his predecessor died in office, became a weak and maladroit chief executive during his own time in the White House. Yet, Tyler was not afraid to exercise his authority.

Andrew Jackson ushered in a new age, in which populist democracy (at least for white males) was favored over the more deferential politics of an earlier era. During Jackson’s presidency, the country stopped doing busi­ness with the Bank of the United States and left the business of inter­nal improvements largely to the states.

Each of these delightful interconnected tales is devoted to a family living in a fertile valley on the outskirts of Monterey, California, and the effects that one particular family has on them all. Steinbeck tackles two important literary traditions here: American naturalism, with its focus on the conflict between natural instincts and the demand to conform to society's norms, and the short story cycle. Set in the heart of 'Steinbeck land', the lush Californian valleys.

Dwight D. Eisenhower earned public acclaim during World War II as supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe. The first Republican since Herbert Hoover to occupy the White House, “Ike” planned to hold the line against further expansion of federal powers.