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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.099
EAN: 9780465002917
ISBN: 0465002919
Label: Basic Books
Manufacturer: Basic Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 480
Publication Date: June 09, 2008
Publisher: Basic Books
Sales Rank: 20336
Studio: Basic Books
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
It’s a perennial pastime to rate U.S. presidents on an all-time ranking: Certain presidents were “Great,” others were “Near-Great,” and so on down to “Failures” and “Unmitigated Disasters.” (OK, we made that last category up.) But as Alvin Felzenberg points out, there are many flaws with these rating systems. Despite reams of new historical information, the rankings never seem to change very much. They all favor a certain kind of president-those who tended to increase executive power. That aside, the idea of rating presidential performance on a simple linear scale is absurd. The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn’t) breaks presidential performance into easily understandable categories-character, vision, competence, foreign policy, economic policy, human rights, and legacy-and assesses, for each category, the best and worst. The result is a surprisingly fresh look at how the various presidents stack up against each other, with some of the “greats” coming off far worse than their supposedly mediocre colleagues.
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
I was inspired to read this book based on the very mixed reviews here. I agree that the glorified review of Reagan, one of the most partisan of presidents, was highly biased - indeed, most of his reviews of the presidents after Kennedy showed a definite slant. His main economic reference was Milton Friedman. And the assessment of character can be highly subjective - although he justifiably gives Jimmy Carter high points here.
But when you go back further, it gets more interesting. ... Read More
Rating:  -
In this book Dr. Felzenberg undertakes to rate US presidents by establishing standards in certain areas, such as Character, Vision, National Security and others. We are all familiar with the ratings game played by historians, most of whom are university professors and political liberals. They generally rate presidents without announcing any standards they employ. Their results leave me too often believing that the standards are determined by how liberal or conservative a president has been. By their ... Read More
Rating: -
As Obama and McCain now move to rewrite Presidential history, it is a very good time to receive Al Felzenberg's very good new book that also does. The Leaders We Deserve sets a new and better standard for Presidential ranking surveys. Move over, Arthur Schlesinger!
As a kid in 1962 I remember first seeing Schlesinger's Presidential ranking in the New York Times magazine. It surveyed 75 historians. It was and for some still is the summary snapshot judgment about Presidential governance. ... Read More
Rating: -
Reviews criticizing this book for its supposed conservative bias are off target. (For example, Lyndon Johnson, generally a conservative bete-noire, comes in for great praise for his role in civil rights.) Anyone who's read the book will know that its most original contribution is assigning credit and blame, where appropriate, to lesser-known presidents whose actions had an important impact on economic history, civil rights, etc. For example, the discussions of the civil rights accomplishments of oft ... Read More
Rating: -
Admittedly biased by a personal friendship with the author, I still found this book to be not only Dr. Felzenberg's best work to date, but for a political historian, refreshingly balanced, insightful, and a easy to read.
This is book is ideal for the political junkie and amateur history who tires easily with heavy tomes more focused on often insignificant historical facts instead of interpretation and analysis. While I'm sure I do not agree with all of Dr. Felzenberg's rating (I thought he ... Read More
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