Product Description: Robert Dallek, a luminary in the field of political biography--author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Nixon and Kissinger and the New York Times bestselling biography of John F. Kennedy--offers here a look at the life of William Dodd, an American diplomat stationed in Nazi Germany...read more

Product Description: Book by Dallek, Robert, Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr.

The plainspoken man from Missouri who never expected to be president yet rose to become one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth centuryIn April 1945, after the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the presidency fell to a former haberdasher and clubhouse politician from Independence, Missouri. Many believed he would be overmatched by the job, but Harry S. Truman would surprise them all.Few chief executives have had so lasting an impact. Truman ushered America into the nuclear age, established the alliances and principles that would define the cold war and the national security state, started the nation on the road to civil rights, and won the most dramatic election of the twentieth century—his 1948 “whistlestop campaign” against Thomas E. Dewey.Robert Dallek, the bestselling biographer of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, shows how this unassuming yet supremely confident man rose to the occasion. Truman clashed with Southerners over civil rights, with organized labor over the right to strike, and with General Douglas MacArthur over the conduct of the Korean War. He personified Thomas Jefferson’s observation that the presidency is a “splendid misery,” but it was during his tenure that the United States truly came of age.

A dual portrait of the late former president and the former secretary of state describes the ambitious drives that motivated their goals, offering insight into the tumultuous relationship that shaped their respective foreign policy agendas. Reprint.

A collection of thirty-four of John F. Kennedy's speeches, debates, and interviews offers insight into the ideals, politics, and life of the charismatic president.

A single-volume, abridged edition of the acclaimed two-volume portrait offers insight into the president's ambitious and demanding personality, his achievements in the White House, and his personal reflections on the challenges of the Vietnam War. Reprint.

Drawing upon first-hand sources and never-before-opened archives, historian Robert Dallek provides a revealing portrait of John F. Kennedy, which should alter the way we think about his life, his presidency and his legacy.

Chronicles John F. Kennedy's childhood, wartime actions, political campaigns, presidency, marriage and personal life, and health, revealing new insights into his life based on new documents, archives, and firsthand sources. Reprint. 100,000 first printing. (view table of contents)

Contrasts excellence and incompetence in the office of the president, covering the topics of vision, pragmatism, consensus, charisma, and trust (view table of contents)

Based on hundreds of newly released tapes and extensive interviews, the author reveals the complexities of Lyndon Johnson during his presidency

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Examines the lives and political careers of Presidents Johnson and Carter and addresses the impact of Presidential character on leadership and trust.

Discusses the domestic pressure which influenced Roosevelt's foreign policy and American foreign relations

Discusses the contradictions of Johnson's early life and career, including his years as congressman, senator, and majority leader

An exploration of American foreign policy reveals an alarming pattern of basing that policy on domestic concerns

Argues that Reagan is a master of symbolic politics and that his policies restore traditional American values and satisfy psychological needs more than material ends