Pictorial History of American Presidents

by John Durant, Alice Durant

Hardcover and dust jacket, as pictured; dust jacket has edge wear; text is mildly aged (am)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography

327 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well thumbed book belonged to my mom and was recently given to me---it's well loved and inspired an early interest in history that has continued to this day:)

[Louis Picone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is from 1958 & It;s great for 2 reasons, one I expected, one I did not

1) It gives great insight for what some people (represented by the author of course) thought of the presidents in 1958. For example, FDR is not on a pedestal as he is now & given a love.hate treatment citing - for instance his smile was seen by some to show his irresistible charm, to others it showed his "insincerity & deviousness." In this book, the red scare of the 1950s is real and credible and largely ignored by Truman. And the Andrew Jackson chapter has no mention of Indian Removal. Also the blatant right-leaning bias of the author is almost comical. Grover Cleveland is described as "physically unattractive, weighed 260, bull-necked, no gift for oratory" while McKinley was "A gentle dignified man of kindness and sincerity" (no physical description given)

2) The unexpected great thing was the terrific photos & lithographs. You think with the internet & easy access to Library of Congress & the likes, many would have been seen before, but instead it was a treasure trove of unseen (at least for me) presidential images

A great find at a local library $5-a-bag book sale!

[Bradley America · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mid-50's. A whole mess of old political cartoons and photos and yeah it is a cutely nostalgic (insert title here).

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy to read collection of interesting facts and photos concerning our Presidents from Washington to Lyndon Johnson. I read it when I was a kid and I've recently been reading it to my children.

[w gall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written the year, I was born, 67 years ago! A timepiece. Not a whole lot of detail, but there is a lot of interesting tidbits of what was happening in the USA during the various administrations. I appreciated the descriptions of the presidents' personalities and characters. Generally, though, it's a picture of our country through rose colored glasses.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book for reference for my college classes (History major) I borrowed this book from my local library which never gets rid of any books . The library had a copy right of 1958 I believe, there are 3 verisons that came out sense ,with added presidents. I was able to find a 1964 copy and love it.

[Robert Collette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated and biased but factually accurate and with all the pictures included it's a very easy read.

[Elaine Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book with little known facts about some of our presidents. Informative and interesting.

[Cws]

J-Ref1

[Marian]

*Note: I have the 1955 First Edition. John and Alice Durant are both credited as authors.