Akron Public Library

Chronicles the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower and examines his presidency, describing it as one of "missed opportunities" and discussing such topics as school desegregation, McCarthyism, and work on a nuclear test-ban treaty with the Soviet Union.

In this examination of the life of a founding father, renowned historian Wills takes a fresh look at the life of James Madison, from his rise to prominence in the colonies through his role in the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the first Constitutional Congress. Historian and social commentator Garry Wills takes a fresh look at the life of James Madison, from his rise to prominence in the colonies through his role in the creation of...

An American icon and hero faces a nation--and a world--in transition, as seen in this retrospective of the popular president's career.

"Perhaps no U.S. president was less suited for the practice of politics than John Adams. A gifted philosopher who helped lead the movement for American independence from its inception, Adams was unprepared for the realities of party politics that had already begun to dominate the new country before Washington left office. Indeed, Adams and the Federalists were so effectively outmaneuvered by the Republicans that history has tended to overlook the...

"Woodrow Wilson was a man of words. Overcoming dyslexia, he finally learned to read at the age of ten, and then went on to spend much of his early life writing about politics and practicing oratory on the empty benches of his father's Presbyterian churches. Academic studies of the American Constitution and Congress (which he considered the most important branch of the federal government) established his reputation for original and insightful political...

Chronicles the life of George Washington, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of his presidential leadership, from his lasting foreign and economic policies to his polarizing denunciation of political parties and his public silence about slavery.

"In the summer of 1844, James K. Polk's political career was in ruins. As the Democratic National Convention approached, Polk had thought himself assured of the vice presidential nomination, but the presidential front-runner, former president Martin Van Buren, had made it clear that he had little interest in him. Van Buren was on a mission to regain the White House, which he had lost in 1840, and he needed a strong running mate. Polk had three strikes...

During his presidency, Warren G. Harding was beloved. His presidential campaign slogan, "Not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy," gave voice to a public exhausted by World War I. Harding inherited a White House in disarray after President Woodrow Wilson's debilitating stroke. He promised the American people that, under his watch, life and governance would once again be manageable. His first priority was to bolster the economy, which had...

A portrait of the presidency of Benjamin Harrison describes his rise to political power, his controversial victory over Grover Cleveland in the 1888 election, the successes and failures of his administration, his loss to Cleveland in the 1893 election, and his historical legacy.

Examines the life and presidency of Martin Van Buren, describing his failed efforts to control such issues as slavery and the great banking panic of 1837.