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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
This book provides a pretty good overview of each of the eight men who became president as the result of president dying in office while they were VP. Main takeaways are that presidents dying in office has happened a lot (about once every 15 years from 1841-1963, or almost 40% of elected presidents in that period) and that the US political system has never taken VP selection sufficiently seriously given this likelihood. The entire book feels like it's missing a more central argument to coordinate the different stories about vice presidents who by happenstance found themselves in the whitehouse. As it is, these different sections of the book largely stand on their own as small biographies of these men ended up in the vice presidency through the various political considerations of their day, with relatively short sections on their actual time in office (except for LBJ for whom this distribution is reversed)
This books has some highlights. If you would like a very condensed history of the presidents he covers, this is a good choice. He highlights the cultural and philosophical differences of each president vs. their successor, explaining how those factors shifted policy.
However, I was left wanting. The amount of time devoted to each presidential pair was highly variable. FDR and Truman got a chapter each, while Kennedy got less than half of the chapter he shared with LBJ. Theodore Roosevelt had many pages allotted to his life before the Presidency, far more than Harding. I suspect this was a reflection of the author's interest in his subjects.
I am also unconvinced by his argument in the final chapter that the vice presidential selection process must be revisited. While historically it is true that VPs were often an attempt to balance the ticket geographically, in the modern era our Presidents choose running mates with whom they share ideology or policy goals. See Kate Anderson Brower's First In Line for more. For example, Bill Clinton chose Al Gore even though they were both Southerners. Barack Obama chose Joe Biden for his policy experience and because of their personal rapport. If we were to revert to a system where the vice president is elected separate from the President, how would that inhibit the policy goals of the new administration?
However, I was left wanting. The amount of time devoted to each presidential pair was highly variable. FDR and Truman got a chapter each, while Kennedy got less than half of the chapter he shared with LBJ. Theodore Roosevelt had many pages allotted to his life before the Presidency, far more than Harding. I suspect this was a reflection of the author's interest in his subjects.
I am also unconvinced by his argument in the final chapter that the vice presidential selection process must be revisited. While historically it is true that VPs were often an attempt to balance the ticket geographically, in the modern era our Presidents choose running mates with whom they share ideology or policy goals. See Kate Anderson Brower's First In Line for more. For example, Bill Clinton chose Al Gore even though they were both Southerners. Barack Obama chose Joe Biden for his policy experience and because of their personal rapport. If we were to revert to a system where the vice president is elected separate from the President, how would that inhibit the policy goals of the new administration?
One of my favorite books this year. Well-paced and full of “wow, I can’t believe I didn’t know that” moments. Just great.
One of the most fascinating books on American history that I have ever read. There are moments when I had to put the book down and do some research on a fact I had just learned. Jared Cohen is a true factual storyteller. This needs to be in rotation for school readings. This book is just fantastic.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
This is a great book - very detailed and thorough and I can see how for those not fully interested in the topic it would be a bit of a slog but I found it fascinating.
informative
slow-paced
Great look at American history and an interesting outlook at how things could've been very different.
There was no real thesis to the book (beyond the author's self described obsession with unexpected presidential transitions), information was poorly organized, and the author reeled from chapter to chapter, spouting random facts and regurgitating information from other, more well researched secondary source books. I blame the editor as well, because someone should have taken one look at this book and suggested some serious edits to tighten it up and organize it in some sort of sensible way.
Honestly, the author would have been better off making a "fun facts about unexpected presidential transitions!" book, rather than making a poor attempt at what wants to be a more serious work (but isn't).
The only reason I rated this 2 stars instead of 1 was because of some of random facts that were entertaining- such as Calvin Coolidge's habit of playing ding dong dash when he was VP.
Honestly, the author would have been better off making a "fun facts about unexpected presidential transitions!" book, rather than making a poor attempt at what wants to be a more serious work (but isn't).
The only reason I rated this 2 stars instead of 1 was because of some of random facts that were entertaining- such as Calvin Coolidge's habit of playing ding dong dash when he was VP.
My rating is mostly based on the audiobook version. I think I would have liked this much more if I had read the physical book. There are a lot of names and dates and it was hard to keep track of. I’m a visual learner. I’m finding that I’m just not a fan of audiobooks.
But this was so fascinating and there was so much historical information that I had no idea about.
But this was so fascinating and there was so much historical information that I had no idea about.