Scholastic Book of Presidents 2020

by George Sullivan

Meet America's presidents in this trivia-packed compendium, including 2020's chosen commander-in-chief! Refresh your knowledge of the leaders who took our nation's highest office with this easy-to-read, fact-filled book of mini biographies on everyone from George Washington to Donald Trump, and catch up on all the biggest news from the 2020 election season. The Scholastic Book of Presidents will tell Which president spoke the most languages?- Who was the last president to keep a full beard?- Which president has served in office the longest?Alongside photographs and lists of key events, this book covers everything you need to know about each president's major accomplishments in and out of the Oval Office. A must-read for history buffs, educators, and anyone with a budding interest in politics, past or present.

Genres: History

208 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2020

About the author

George Sullivan is a best-selling nonfiction author with more than 100 books to his credit. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe this book was approved by Scholastic! I'm a librarian and a parent and I would be SO ANGRY if my kids brought this home to use as a primary source for a report. It's not objective whatsoever. There's an absolutely glowing review of Reagan, and where other scandals and crises are covered for other presidents, there's no mention of the AIDS crisis and the deaths Reagan's silence and inaction presided over. This book says JFK was shot by "an assassin concealed in a nearby building" and nothing more! Even Nixon isn't implicated for his crimes and instead seems just as exonerated in his chapter as Ford's pardon which is basically praised in the next chapter. Bush's chapter talks about his proposed "reform" for "illegal aliens" and praises him for his Iraq bombings. Obama's chapter has EIGHT paragraphs about his parents and childhood didn't take place in the US and says one of his most controversial consecutive orders was raising the minimum wage and his reform on "illegal immigration". At least the Trump chapter isn't wholly positive as one might expect from reading the rest of this book. I think it was just absolutely irresponsible of Scholastic to publish such a biased book, knowing because if its name, will be automatically trusted and pushed by teachers, librarians, and parents. They'll have no idea what's actually in this book unless they read it themselves or read in alarm some report on JFK that doesn't even name his assassin!

[Adam Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally released as "Mr. President" and is a book I credit with launching my love of history. My dad bought it for me when I asked him about whose pictures were on the coins. I read it over and over again. Of course that edition ended with the first President Bush having been recently elected. This book brings it up to the present.

I applaud Mr. Sullivan for updating some of his information, for example the post-presidential careers of more recent presidents and an additional discussion of the dark side of Woodrow Wilson's presidency. I wish he would have added some information about Grant's role in Reconstruction instead of maintaining simply the old sad story of how he trusted bad people. The more recent ones, especially Bush II, Obama, Trump and now Biden have longer chapters than the ones originally assigned to the greats of the past, perhaps reflecting the increased importance of the office, or Sullivan's desire to remain somewhat objective. The chapters seem less cohesive as well than the earlier editions. Still, all in all, a good source of information and a nice stroll down memory lane.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is inaccurate information throughout this book, beginning with the picture on the cover! Joe Biden was not president at any time in 2020, as is represented by his pic on the cover underneath 2020. Further, this book was printed in December 2020, before Biden took the oath of office. Also, the author states "the biggest landslide in ... history took place in 1964...". This is not true, and in fact the biggest landslide was in 1984 when Reagan won 49 states. The authors' opinions appear throughout the book, such as the comment "In establishing the electoral system the founders sought to give greater importance to the nation's least populous states". Some of our most important presidents are given a couple of pages with limited information of their contribution to our country (Washington and JFK each have 4 including pics, Lincoln has 5), while others have 10+ pages and "fun facts. 2 of Clinton's 5 pages are about Hillary while his accomplishments (and scandals) are all but ignored. Any Trump accomplishments are credited to congress. Joe (the only president addressed by his first name) has 7 pages written Before he ever took office. I could go on and on. Bottom line, this is a terrible book, don't buy it, and try to get it removed from your library and school shelves. Shame on Scholastic.

[kath j · Rating 1 out of 5]

full of good old American Nationalism and glorification of war! oh, and a splash of general white-washing and anti-immigrant sentiment.

i did get a chuckle out of the line “[Lincoln] hated slavery from that day,” referring to Abraham Lincoln after witnessing “chained blacks being whipped and beaten.” the notion of Lincoln being adamantly opposed to slavery is ridiculous at this point and just straight up incorrect. the only reason he advocated against slavery was to gain political and military support from black people, not because he believed that black people deserved to be free in the first place.

also, there’s absolutely no mention of the egregious mishandling of the AIDS crisis in Reagan’s chapter which… stands out, to say the least. all in all, the author went very, VERY easy on the USA’s long line of leaders.

[Briony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a “fun” read. I learned a few new things about our presidents. The layout is very accessible to young readers without being too dense. As an adult, I was aware of the shortcomings of the book. Sullivan does leave out significant contributions/failures/events of presidents. I got the vibe that he was trying to highlight events that might be on a school child's radar in less than 210 pages. I would recommend this book more as an introductory/fun read.