Presidential Ambition

In this timely, provocative, illuminating, and often shocking book. New Yor k Times bestselling author Richard Shenkman provides a vital context for un derstanding the American presidents, today and throughout history. Combining a potent narrative with persuasive and compelling insights, Shenk man reveals that it is not just recent presidents who have been ambitious-- and at times frighteningly overambitious, willing to sacrifice their health , family, loyalty, and values as they sought to overcome the obstacles to p ower--but they all have. This volcanic ambition, Shenkman shows, has been e ssential not only in obtaining power but in facing--and attempting to maste r--the great historical forces that have continually reshaped the United St ates, from Manifest Destiny and Emancipation to immigration, the Great Depr ession, and nuclear weapons. As Shenkman describes the lives and careers of the most representative and colorful presidents from Washington to Nixon, he shows that those who succe eded in reaching the White House, whatever their flaws, were complicated hu man beings, idealistic as well as ambitious. Over time, however, they began to make increasingly troubling compromises, leading to a decline in t he m ortal tone of American politics. What drove politics downward In a stunning conclusion, Shenkman demonstrates that it wasn't a decline in presidential character that was responsible, but change--the dramatic transformation of the United States from a country of four million in Washington's day to more than a quarter billion today--that made running the country more complicated and difficult. Instead of things getting b.

Product Info

ISBN: 006018373X

ISBN-13: 9780060183738

Publisher: Harper

Year: 1999

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

Seller Info

InfinityBooksJapan

Address: 1F Komagata Heights Bldg Tokyo,

Website: https://www.infinitybooksjapan.com

Country: Japan