Donald Trump: 45th US President

by Dominick Reston

A look at the candicacy and presidential administration of Donald Trump.

80 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2017

Reviews

[Amanda Charles]

Better than expected... Who knew that young Donald J. Trump once punched a second-grade teacher or collected knives from Times Square knife shops as a teen? At my desk, I have a little library of YA nonfiction books I've pulled from my collection for being terrible. All of them are published by Reference Point Press. When I noticed this Reference Point Press book on the shelf in my biography section, I did not have high hopes. However, this book is a smoothly written account of DJT's family history, early life, and rise to the presidency. While it doesn't cover everything (no mention of the Access Hollywood bus quotes), it does a good job of showing, without judgment, both why Trump appealed to his voters, and why he was hated by so many. This book covers the election but stops shortly thereafter. There will be other books about Trump's presidency, but, for now, this title is an adequate source of information for students writing papers on Trump's biography and the election of 2016. Quoted sources are a good mix of published books and news articles (the most egregious Reference Point Press books reference only news articles). It's a solid resource that fills a gap in our collection. It stays on the shelf.

[Ivy Weston]

Although written primarily as a source for teen research papers, this is a good read straight through. It's fascinating to read about Trump as a kid and a young adult, and to see that he's always liked to stir the pot and draw media attention. This is a good research book, doesn't take sides and uses primary sources. It has a good bibliography for further reading. Yet one gets a realistic overall picture of Trump as a person. The book also covers the scandals and dubious dealings of his past and the election. The only fault is that it was published shortly after the inauguration, so while it does have coverage of the Women's March and other protests, it ends after that. Still, it's a good source, in terms of books, that teens can use for school reports. It's hard to find current political biographies for teens, so I'm happy to have this in my library's collection. This is probably not something you'll find in a bookstore, although I'm sure it's available via Amazon.

[Kevin Keating]

I was really looking for a balanced informative book on President Trump, but this grew less balanced the further it got. Seemed somewhat fair until I guess it got to the announcement of his candidacy and then became another litany from the left. How he ignited the "anger" of the heartland to vote for him. etc. All sources are mainstream or leftist media. Some qualifications for expert testimony are "journalists" (in one case, from Cracked Magazine) and media professors. Same old same old. It's just unfortunate that some middle school kid will be using this for his book report some day and be told that the Russian hoax was real according to the USIC (US Intelligence Committee). Whatever.

[☆Amanda Cresse]

This book addresses the question, "How did Trump win?"
The author explains Trump's strategy and why it worked. This is a very interesting book that starts with the Trump family legacy Donald was born into and ends with his presidential promises. It gives great insight into his campaign and mindset while being neither Democratic nor Republican.
Highly recommend for school libraries.