About this item
Which president broke the law to prevent enslaved people from being freed? Who said, "When the president does it,that means it's not illegal"? Why does America have a president? From the heated debates among the framers of the Constitution in 1787 over an "elected king," to the creation of the presidency, and on through rich profiles of each man who has held the office, New York Times bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis takes readers on a guided tour of American history. Examining each chief executive, from the low lights to the bright lights, the memorable to the forgettable and the forgotten, Davis tells all the stories, offering rich anecdotes about real people. He also charts the history of the presidency itself, debunking myths and grading the presidents from A+ to F. For history buffs and history-phobes alike, this entertaining book may change your understanding of the highest office in the land throughout more than two hundred years of history.
About the Author
Kenneth C. Davis is the author of Don't Know Much About® History, which spent 35 consecutive weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, and gave rise to the Don't Know Much About® series of books and audios.Davis's success aptly makes the case that Americans don't hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. But many of them want to know now because their kids are asking them questions they can't answer. Davis's approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths and setting the record straight. Kenneth C. Davis is a frequent media guest and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio shows, including NPR, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and CNN. He has been a commentator for All Things Considered, and has written for the New York Times Op-Ed page, Smithsonian, Washington Post, CNN.com and other national publications. His latest books are In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives (2016) and MORE DEADLY THAN WAR: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War (2018) . His forthcoming book, STRONGMAN: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy will be published in October 2020. Davis lives in New York City with his wife. They have two grown children.
