Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders & How They Changed America 1789-1989

by Michael R. Beschloss

Presidential Courage is a brilliantly readable and inspiring saga about crucial times in American history when a courageous President dramatically changed our future. Like Beschloss's previous book, The Conquerors , it was a New York Times bestseller for months.

With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Beschloss brings to life those flawed, complex men -- and their wives, families, friends and foes. Never have we had a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of Presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives. For Americans who must choose Presidents and assess them once they are elected, Presidential Courage sets a lasting standard by showing us the best in Presidential leadership.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Presidents, American History, Biography, Audiobook

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Michael Beschloss is the author of nine books on presidential history, including, most recently, the New York Times bestsellers Presidential Courage and The Conquerors, as well as two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s White House tapes. He was also editor of the number-one global bestseller Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy. He is the NBC News Presidential Historian and a PBS NewsHour contributor and has received an Emmy and six honorary degrees.

Reviews

[Lauren Hiebner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presidential Courage is about the difficult decisions made by eight presidents in the face of public opinion based on the principle of what is best for the nation and not political expediency. In Profiles of Courage JFK wrote about leaders that “sailed with the wind until the decisive moment when their conscience, and events, propelled them into the center of the storm. There comes a time when a man has to take a stand.” That is the essence of what this book covers for the following presidents: Washington and the Jay Treaty; J. Adams and halting pending war with France; Jackson facing plutocratic enemies; Lincoln and emancipation proclamation; T. Roosevelt and the coal miners strike; Truman and a Jewish home state; Kennedy and civil rights; and finally Reagan dealing with Gorbachev and nuclear weapons. Some leaders were slow to react even resisted at times but in the end did the right thing. A must read in light of the current president and his lack of moral leadership.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading "Presidential Courage" by Michael Beschloss.

Beschloss looks at a series of unpopular presidential decisions that made the U.S. stronger despite their controversy. To the average reader, some examples will be well known, such as emancipation under Lincoln, or obscure, like Jackson's opposition to the Bank of the United States.

This readable book can be a very nice follow-up to your average high school American history course, going deeper into controversial issues that are either glossed over or ignored in the textbook. Beschloss puts story back into history.

But the book is robbed of some of its coherence by its chapter layout. Each president should have had his own section, with some follow-up showing how the precedent in one administration can empower a president in the next. Here Beschloss leaves the reader to connect those dots on his own. Shorting the book of some analysis removes the risk of boring the average reader. Beschloss is a proven able writer who has more than met the challenge of maintaining an interesting narrative, so the lack of a few "nut 'graphs" is short-sighted. I sometimes wonder if this book was rushed to press.

Beschloss' treatment of presidential courage contains one undying constant--that no matter how well a president tries to balance popularity with the demands of practical policy, there are times when policy must come first, even at the risk of unpopularity. A courageous president will recognize this moment and seize it. And so we have chapters on Washington, John Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan. We don't see chapters on Madison, van Buren, Buchanan, McKinley, Hoover or Carter.

Choosing a harder right over an easier wrong is not often seen in politics. We pine for it, but punish presidents by "voting for the other guy" whenever we feel inconvenienced by a policy. Beschloss tries to remind the reader why the harder right matters. Sometimes it is validated by re-election, but never truly appreciated until a president has been out of office for a while. The critics are then forgotten while the president is remembered.

Beschloss earns three stars for his "gentleman's effort." But he could have earned his fourth easily.

[Robert A. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me. Maybe it was the cover, maybe it was the blurbs. But for some reason I feared it would be a shallow, light-weight read. Well I was wrong. Michael Beschloss has written an incredibly entertaining, richly-detailed history of six key presidents who served the nation in its first 200 years(1789-1989). Its the story of the slanders, insults and outright hatred they suffered while sticking to their guns and prevailing (often against popular opinion)while making risky decisions -- decisions we judge as wise today. Beschloss makes it clear that in all cases, things could have gone the other way, and it was these men who made the difference. You'll learn things here that you never heard in high school history.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book accounts the changes made by presidents in peace time and war from Washington to Reagan. It is very thought provoking and makes you see each president a little differently than you may have before.

[Claudia Silk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for a book discussion, I am leading with a colleague, and I have to say I was so glad I read it. It highlights 9 presidents and the times in their tenure when they had to make unpopular decisions. It highlighted that our union has withstood times as bad as these and has survived. Gave me a little bit of hope.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, this book did introduce me to certain aspects of American history that I was unaware of. For example, the section on John Adams and the treaty with France, and all of the politics that went around it, was previously unknown to me. It was nice to learn about such things. In addition, the author doesn't put an unearned shine on any of the Presidents featured here. As much as sources allow, the author shows that the Presidents didn't usually have iron-clad convictions on the key issues presented in the book as requiring courage. For example, the section on Harry Truman deals with whether the U.S.A. would recognize the new nation of Israel or not. This shows that Truman went back on forth on the idea, leaning towards it and then away from it, on almost a day-to-day basis. So, the book gave me new information and didn't show the Presidents in a universally good light.

On the negative side, the writing style turned me off. The author uses short sentences and short paragraphs, exclusively. The whole book is written towards, at most, an eighth grade level, and some of it reads like sixth grade level. I felt multiple times that my intelligence was being insulted by the limited paragraph and sentence structures. This is not the way that I am used to adults writing, and it made it hard to really get into the book. Also, each President gets four chapters each. This uniform structure doesn't fit all of the stories. Some of the sections feel unnecessarily expanded, while others feel too short, and a longer treatment would have given more space to better explain the political situations being dealt with.

Ultimately, I found that this book was a suitable introduction to the included political events, but the book does not satisfactorily explain all of the nuances of them. It has introduced me to some new stories I hadn't known before, and has encouraged me to look for books that go into greater depth on those topics. So that is a virtue of the book, but for me it is the only one. This book is better suited for a middle or high-school student than for an adult.

[Shawn Thrasher]

I became so annoyed with this book that I finally had to put it down. The short paragraphs were just too much. Maybe Mr. Beschloss thought he was on television, and needed to write the book as such, with neat little breathless soundbites. Maybe he thinks readers are stupid and have gnat-like attention spans,so our paragraphs need to be short. Maybe he likes one sentence paragraphs. Maybe his editor hates him, or us.

The chapters about George Washington are great. The one little tidbit about Martha Washington and her cat make her sound delightfully snarky. But it's all downhill from there. The subtitle: Brave leaders and how they changed America. Well, we all know how WE THINK George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and company changed America. We picked up this book to read how and why Michael Beschloss thinks they changed America and how they were brave. Maybe he was so afraid of offending some right or left wingnut that he totally took any of what he believes out of the narrative - he was strangely absent from any of the book. It's like a robot or a computer wrote the book, without any feelings one way or the other. I would think someone as famous as Michael Beschloss has opinions about these presidents, and with a title and subtitle like that, you'd think he's be anxious to share them. Apparently not.

Apparently, I'm mostly alone is disliking this book. But I most definitely did.

[Neil Funsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Puzzling book. The author is a vaunted Presidential historian with several Presidential biographies to his credit, there are 21 pages of source material alone and 55 pages of notes, why then this flimsy although entertaining meander through presidential history? This is gossip as history and misrepresented gossip at that (an example later). It’s a book told mostly through quotations from letters, memoirs and interviews which can be entertaining but little context is given. It’s like getting character references from a bitter ex spouse…colorful but biased. I was swept along with the flow, shrugging my shoulders at the lack of actual courage being presented because there were so many quotes from participants that were new to me. Often they felt like non sequiturs but I was willing to go along with them as long as I was learning something new. Towards the end though, the author described that a “furious” Ronald Reagan “shouted, Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall!” Who does this author think he is fooling? Anyone who has heard this famous clip knows it was not a shout. You can view it on you tube and I just did again to make sure I was remembering correctly. It’s misleading and worse to no apparent purpose and it undermines the author’s credibility. Enough of this. As I said it’s Gossip but it’s not history.

[Peter Wolfley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most enjoyable thing about this book is it went into the deep cuts of presidential history and didn’t give you the obvious tales of courage. It was really good at capturing the stakes as well as the back and forth as each spotlighted president wrestled with a challenge.

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beschloss crams this work with personal intrigue, recorded conversations, and political plotting a-plenty, but these tantalizing elements often overwhelm the meta-themes Presidential Courage seemed ready to elucidate. It was a bit like reading a well-written, long form article in Sunday’s edition of the New Yorker—if that writer were a historian. It’s not unsatisfying—much of it’s quite fun. But I had hoped for so much more.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presidential Courage takes a look at 9 U.S. Presidents (Washington, J. Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, JFK, and Reagan) and the difficult decisions that they made in the face of great opposition.

Beschloss certainly provides a lot of information and insight into these men's presidencies that most Americans wouldn't learn in their high school history classes. It was gratifying to read about their struggles, and I often found myself thinking, "The more things change, the more they really do stay the same." Additionally, in a time when we have come to view our politicians with such skepticism, it was nice to read about these presidents, who persisted in doing the right thing despite what it could have meant to their political careers. In particular, I found renewed admiration for Washington - who fought hard to pass a peace treaty with Britain when a second war with them would have destroyed our new nation - and Jackson - who brought down the national U.S. Bank, which at the time "owned" many politicians.

However, I felt the book was very inconsistent, and it definitely lost steam the farther it went along. Some of the chapters were excruciating to get through. And some were very disappointing. I was particularly puzzled by the section on T. Roosevelt, which seemed less about his battle to bring down the big trusts and more about his personality and family life.

Finally, I thought some of Beschloss's choices were very strange. In a book about men who fought for what they thought was right despite all odds, some of these men didn't seem to fit. In particular, I felt Truman and Kennedy came out looking very bad. Sure, Truman eventually chose to recognize Israel when they declared themselves a nation, but it wasn't because he had any personal convictions about it, and the way that Beschloss described him, he actually seemed like a bit of an anti-Semite. And Kennedy may have proposed the first Civil Rights bill, but again, it didn't really seem like that came out of any personal conviction. He just seemed to realize that this was the way the winds were blowing, and he stalled for as long as he could. How are either of these instances examples of courage?

By and large, though, I did like this book, and think that most U.S. history buffs would find it interesting.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters Washington through Jackson were good examples of Presidents making unpopular decisions. Washington signing a trade tready with England was a wise move but unpopular with many Americans. Although the war of 1812 broke out somewhat over trade, I'm not sure if America could trade with any European nation at all if remained combatants with England. Jackson's epic struggle against a federalized banking system is told well, though not much I didn't already know it was a good synopsis of Jackson's fight against what would become the Federal Reserve.

The Chapter's on Teddy Roosevelt are mostly trivial about his lifestyle and family feud of Oyster Bay Rossevelts vs Hyde Park Roosevelts.
From there we move right into FDR and his difficult situation of American involvement in WWII before Pearl Harbor. Beschloss does well here explaining how Churchill begged the US for war help while Joe Kennedy, US ambassador to England, put all his strength into keeping the US out.

Truman's work in creating Israel again contains a little too much trivia as opposed to how it contributes to history and present day. Still topic I didn't know much about so was informative for me.

Kennedy's work on the civil rights movement. Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missles barely mentioned.

Reagan is made out to be some kind of baffoon. Beschloss tells us of Reagan believing in astrology and signs of armageddon. As well as many trivial observations that have nothing to do with anything but to make Reagan look stupid. For example "Reagan poses for a photo in front of a roaring fire despite the warm Indian Summer," --- waste of page space. Yes Star Wars program was silly, and Reagan didn't pay attention close enough during the Iran Contra. However, pointing out all these mistakes has nothing to do with "Brave Leaders and how they changed America". In the end Reagan gets some credit for the end of Soviet Communism.

[Richard Magahiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is for the abridged audiobook version read by the author. The author presents engaging profiles of nine American Presidents who persevered despite stiff opposition from either domestic or foreign adversaries (or both). He makes a special effort to show how the later executives were inspired or influenced by the example of earlier ones, giving the book a sense of unity despite the broad range of historical periods covered. I find his accounts to be mostly even-handed on the political spectrum, though "objective" isn't quite the word I would use to characterize them.

Such strong characters are easy to tell apart, and thinking about what might have happened if Adams served during the time of Lincoln or if one swapped Theodore and Franklin Roosevelts would make interesting speculations by enthusiasts of political history such as the ones who would most enjoy this book. Such readers would naturally be inclined to make comparisons between this book and other works covering the lives of those individuals who shaped history, not least of which the one John F. Kennedy wrote, Profiles in Courage. You can tell that Beschloss is aware of that famous work because he mentions it explicitly in the Kennedy section.

Drawing from the original documents and the accounts of eyewitnesses, he further fleshes out the inner workings of the Presidency by describing the influences of Cabinet members, financiers, First Ladies, and even celebrities. I would like to leaf through the hardcopy version of this book because of the way I suspect much of that might have had to be cut for this abridgment, though the one cameo appearance by Richard Nixon as ex-president does not go missing, fortunately. And as for the concluding section on how Ronald Reagan brought about an end to the Cold War, it is clear to me how much of a debt that man owes to his collaborator/adversary Mikhail Gorbachev for cementing his place in history.

[Cary Giese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows that the Presidents that lead a breakthrough faced much resistance by members of Congress political opponents and in many cases the press. The difference today it the ever ubiquitous social and professional media fighting over the facts and motives. More voters hear the arguments today than ever before. Polling is also ever present. The examples in the book are times when the President, often unsure, did what carried political risk. In these examples the decision turned out to advance the country. The example are 1) Washington supporting the Jay treaty with Britain though he was accused of being a traitor. 2) Adams fending off war with France/Britain showing strength by building an army. 3) Jackson closing the Biddle bank who he believed was trying to buy the government. 4) Lincoln deciding that Signing the Proclamation was a military necessity as it supplied Black soldiers to the north! 5)Teddy Roosevelt fighting to end the ruinous coal strike, “saving capitalism by amending it”! 6) Franklin Roosevelt finally convincing the nation to enter WWII. 7) Truman recognizing Israel. 8) Kennedy facing segregation, and 8) Reagan staring down the Soviet Union. All relied on strong Presidential leadership facing strong opposition and risk!
It is a good read! It reminds us that outrageous conflict and rage that has always, not just now, accompanied our politics.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Presidential Courage', by Michael Beschloss, is written as a series of vignettes, in chronological order, about critical events or even crises for different presidents. The author describes the event, its implications, the presidents deliberations and actions, and the results. Its almost written as a series of short stories, a reader could pick and chose sections to read without affecting the understanding of the book. Although somewhat interesting, this book seems more geared to young teens (say 6th through 9th grade ), than adults. The stories are good, but there is no depth or penetrating debate. If it had not been chosen for my book club, I would have cut my reading short, as it was not terribly interesting.

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent summary of various unpopular actions undertaken by presidents in the face of popular opinion. Some of these examples are ones we've all heard about before such as Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation or FDR and supporting England during the start of WW2, while others are less well known, such as Jackson's struggle to end the Bank of the United States and its undue influence in politics.
Not particularly well written, but each segment is short, can be read quickly, and very informative so its not a struggle to read. The older stories were more interesting and provided more new information than the newer stories which one is more likely to remember.

[Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative but the author's writing style is not that good. Random and unrelated (but informative) information(or trivia) suddenly appearing out of nowhere can be distracting to the reader. Informative book, but not that well-written. I still recommend it though to anyone interested in presidential history

[Steve Lutz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all the stories truly demonstrate courage, and their inclusion seems arbitrary.

The writing style is annoying and a huge detriment to the material. He almost writes as if he's tweeting.

Every sentence seems to be a new paragraph.

And they're not always connected in a logical way.

For better presidential writing, turn to Gibbs and Duffy in The Presidents Club.

[Polly Callahan · Rating 1 out of 5]

recommended on APUS history listserv


doesn't look like it will be a good selection for AP US or LSN or AP Gov

disappointing
writing style is choppy,
tidbits of historical information scattered about that don't seem to support his argument that a particular president was courageous

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I prefer historcial writings of David McCullough to Michael Beschloss. Sometimes I felt as if the writing was more gossip than historical.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly illuminating, with well-chosen areas of discussion. However, all the anecdotes felt a tad shallow.

[Schriftman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morality over politics

Examples of courage by presidents to do the right thing in spite of career harm. Decisions made by men of unique character, still with serious flaws.

[Farrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why you gotta hate full paragraphs, Beschloss? Who hurt you in the past that made you the way you are?

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Mr Beschloss's book was well researched, engaging and easy to read. I think he selected the right Presidents and the right issues for this study. I do think he came out too positive on President John F. Kennedy re his stance on civil rights and on President Andrew Jackson re his fight against the US Bank (and really, against anyone who disagreed with him.) (Having said this, I'd still have kept Jackson in the book - while his stance against the US Bank probably caused the multi-year Panic of 1837, and his opposition to some good infrastructure bills demonstrated his narrow view of what the Federal Government should do to help the states, his staunch unionism and standing up to South Carolina and the nullification movement helped - along with the Tariff Compromise worked out by Henry Clay - to preserve the Union at a precarious time.) Also interesting - President Truman could have been cited for his standing up to General MacArthur, but this theme would have conflicted with heroizing Andrew Jackson...)
I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. There were a couple of events that I didn't know about which helped to hold my interest. I was impressed that Beschloss didn't try and sugarcoat the original opinions and actions of the various Presidents. Often it took quite a bit of pushing from staff or friends to get them to make the changes that were needed. In particular I'm thinking of Harry Truman and his eventual support of Israel and JFK and his support for civil rights.

Overall most of the Presidents didn't come across as being particularly noble. They all whined and complained about what they were going through but eventually they got the job done. I have never been a fan of Andrew Jackson and this cemented my bad opinion of him but all of the other Presidents discussed in the book (George Washington, John Adams, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Ronald Reagan) definitely showed their human side too. Perhaps that's a good thing.

[Nameitsomething · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. The author wears his preference for certain presidents on his sleeve and it's hilarious how quickly hero worship turns to portraits of flawed men once recorded conversations enter the fray, but I still enjoyed this book as a treatment of history as story.

He seems to be aiming for another entry in a genre he sees as central to American history: biographies of great men intended for the practical and moral guidance of future greatness. Weems' biography of Washington that Lincoln read as a boy, Nicolay and Hay's Lincoln read by FDR, and JFK's blunt question to a historian, "How do I go down in history as a great president?"

Highly readable hagiography. I just had to keep in mind that you don't become NBC's resident presidential historian by talking about the Trail of Tears or Washington's Philadelphia slave grift. Also it made me even sadder about Nazis being back.

[Clair Keizer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Presidential Courage by Michael Beschloss may restore one's hope that our Presidents can make heard decisions and do great things. On the flip side, if one plays the odds, it could be said that the number of Presidents who have risen to the occasion, based on Beschloss's work, reflecting presidents in office through Reagan is so small (barely one-in-four) makes for a sorry history. You choose. Presidential Courage is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Beschloss brings to light these difficult but important decisions made by the likes of Washington, Adams, Theodore Roosevelt among others, who cast popularity and personal success aside for what was best for the country. Beschloss does not sugarcoat these men. He makes great effort to show each man's warts, selfishness and even paranoia, but rose above their individual pettiness to do the right thing. In the end, these acts do offer hope for us as a country. If only the voters to their job and elect the right person for the office.

[Carol Mullikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randy and I attended a reading & talk by this author several years ago at the National Archives. I am happy to report that his book is as interesting as his public presentation. Several take-aways from this reading: 1. There is the good, the bad and the ugly in every President; Beschloss divulges it all and there are a plethora of notes, public record and recordings as evidence. 2. Moral/Ethical behavior is a work in progress. From Washington to Reagan, we see our President's waffle around on human rights, compassion and just plain human decency. 3. President's are not to be idealized or lionized but are public servants who must be held to the highest standard because only then are we guaranteed a republic that respects (and enforces) human rights, freedom and compassion for all of its citizens.

[Terry Slaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem is one of selection: of both the Presidents chosen for inclusion and the issues for which they were deemed courageous. Apart from that the history is well-researched. However, there is a certain lack of depth: what evidence was there, exactly, that the Bank Jackson sought to destroy (with tragic economic consequences) was bad for the country? Why was the desire of FDR to prepare for war in Europe cast as a personal conflict between him and Joseph Kennedy? Was the lynchpin of Truman’s administration really the creation of the State of Israel? One is left feeling that these challenges are not epochal, but the ones routinely encountered and resolved for better or worse in each administration.

[Michael O'Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of our American History, highlighting several Presidents acting as real leaders and how their actions and decisions changed America. Author Michael Beschloss examines decisions and actions of the following Presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Beschloss has a nice conversational style, the text is well researched; many interesting insights about these men from their Presidential diaries. It is well worth reading...many of the footnotes are as interesting as the text.