Dallek offers an engaging and instructive analysis of the presidency, the personalities, and the strategies that led to their triumphs and defeats.

Newly updated to include every president from George Washington to Barack Obama, this book explores the office of the presidency and its power. Although we know the president of the United States as the person who runs the government of our nation, do we know what the responsibilities of the president actually are? And, do we understand what effect his actions have? HAIL TO THE CHIEF: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY details how this job was inaugurated, how it has changed over time, and why the person in this position is considered one of the most important and powerful leaders in the world. Alan Witschonke's bold portraits and sweeping depictions of the circumstances that have made the American presidency a notable and compelling subject for the entire world will capture the interest of young readers. HAIL TO THE CHIEF brings vividly into focus all the exciting details of the office of the President of the United States.

Ellis the Elephant is back, and he’s headed to the White House! In Hail to the Chief, the sixth in Callista Gingrich’s New York Times bestselling series, Ellis meets some of America’s greatest presidents and discovers how they have led our country throughout American history. In preceding books, including Sweet Land of Liberty, Land of the Pilgrims’ Pride, Yankee Doodle Dandy, From Sea to Shining Sea, and Christmas in America, Ellis learns about the pivotal moments that have shaped our nation. Now, in Hail to the Chief, this adorable pachyderm explores the fascinating lives of those who have held the nation’s highest office. Authored by Callista Gingrich and illustrated by Susan Arciero, Hail to the Chief will delight young and old alike with a glimpse of the leaders who helped make America an exceptional nation.

By revisiting Thomas Jefferson's understanding of executive power this book offers a new understanding of the origins of presidential power. Before Jefferson was elected president, he arrived at a way to resolve the tension between constitutionalism and executive power. Because his solution would preserve a strict interpretation of the Constitution as well as transform the precedents left by his Federalist predecessors, it provided an alternative to Alexander Hamilton's understanding of executive power. In fact, a more thorough account of Jefferson's political career suggests that Jefferson envisioned an executive that was powerful, or 'energetic', because it would be more explicitly attached to the majority will. Jefferson's Revolution of 1800, often portrayed as a reversal of the strong presidency, was itself premised on energy in the executive and was part of Jefferson's project to enable the Constitution to survive and even flourish in a world governed by necessity.

"The first in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions--and inactions--have defined the course of our country. Since George Washington, presidents have depended on the advice of key confidants. But it wasn't until the twentieth century that the White House chief of staff became the second most powerful job in government. Unelected and unconfirmed, the chief serves at the whim of the president, hired and fired by him alone. He is the president's closest adviser and the person he depends on to execute his agenda. He decides who gets to see the president, negotiates with Congress, and--most crucially--enjoys unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. When the president makes a life-and-death decision, often the chief of staff is the only other person in the room. Each chief can make or break an administration, and each president reveals himself by the chief he picks. Through extensive, intimate interviews with all seventeen living chiefs and two former presidents, award-winning journalist and producer Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity, whose members have included Rahm Emanuel, Dick Cheney, Leon Panetta, and Donald Rumsfeld. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history, showing us how James Baker and Panetta skillfully managed the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, ensuring their reelections--and, conversely, how Jimmy Carter never understood the importance of a chief, crippling his ability to govern. From Watergate to Iran-Contra to the Monica Lewinsky scandal to the Iraq War, Whipple shows us how the chief of staff can make the difference between success and disaster. As an outsider president tries to govern after a bitterly divisive election, The Gatekeepers could not be more timely. Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported details, it is a compelling history that changes our perspective on the presidency."--Jacket flap.

An affectionate look at some of the worst recordings ever made, The World’s Worst Records tells the extraordinary but true stories behind some of the most appalling audio crimes ever committed. Extensively researched, and featuring music by major stars, ‘outsider’ artists and almost forgotten singers and songwriters, read about how Elvis Presley came to record a rock ‘n’ roll version of the nursery rhyme Old Macdonald; discover the truth behind actor Peter Wyngarde’s one attempt at pop immortality; meet the beautifully bonkers Florence Foster Jenkins – possibly the most deluded singer in history; fi nd out which Paul McCartney record is most hated world over. Puzzle over why 60’s flower-power icon Donovan would record a song about the toilet habits of astronauts.

Told with wit and accuracy, this compendium of highlights and lowlights from the careers of the 43 commander-in-chiefs clearly demonstrates that presidents are people, too.

Detectives Steve Carella and Burt Kling of the 87th Precinct set out to end the racial warfare that has resulted in the deaths of six people, one a baby, and find themselves taking on a mysterious criminal mastermind. Reprint. NYT.

Gordon Randall Phillip David Garrett(December 16, 1927 – December 31, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about men from Earth disrupting a peaceful agrarian civilization on an alien planet.