A few millennia ago, Greek storyteller and fabulist Aesop wryly opined on the subject of politics: “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” Echoing that point centuries later, Italian political philosopher and writer Niccolò Machiavelli said, “Politics have no relation to morals.”
The helpful moral for voters today would seem to be that attaining elective office is no guarantee of noble character or pristine persona. Authors Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard maintain that point in U.S. politics in their latest bestseller, “Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden.”
From Washington to Obama
The authors make no attempt to rank the presidents. Instead, they objectively list their achievements and failures during their terms. The book is apolitical—each president’s profile receives roughly the same number of pages regardless of how long they were in office. For instance, Zachary Taylor served just 17 months, and Franklin Roosevelt served 12 years and 39 days, but their profiles are roughly the same length.Each chapter reveals a significant behind-the-scenes moment or event about the portrayed president; included are biographical data, information on the president’s eating habits and personal life, and a concise summation of their accomplishments or lack thereof during their time in office. (We’re looking at you, Millard Fillmore and Benjamin Harrison.)
Presidential Trivia
Here’s a sample of trivia that would interest readers. America’s sixth president, John Quincy Adams, liked to skinny dip in the Potomac River nearly every day. “Adams has no problem whatsoever standing nude along the riverbank in full view of strangers,” the authors write. His predecessor, James Monroe, ran for his second term unopposed in 1820. He’s the only U.S. president in history to do so.Zachary Taylor, the United States’ 12th president, died of cholera in 1850, but suspicions persisted for decades that he was poisoned by political enemies. In 1991, Taylor’s body was exhumed in Louisville, Kentucky, and testing confirmed he died of bad food and water and a combination of the “medical treatments” he received.
America’s 20th president, James Garfield, survived 80 days after being shot twice at point-blank range. The first bullet hit his arm, and the second his back where it lodged in his torso. When a team of nine doctors was unable to remove the bullet lodged in his torso, he died of blood poisoning and infection.
Warren Harding was the United States’ 29th president. While president, he engaged in numerous extramarital affairs, fathered a daughter out of wedlock, and smuggled in whiskey for late-night poker games during Prohibition.
Before his presidency, Calvin Coolidge was Harding’s vice president, and succeeded Harding as the nation’s 30th chief executive; he won every election he competed in except one. Before serving as a town mayor, state representative, lieutenant governor, and governor of Massachusetts, vice president, and president, he lost the race for his local school board.
A Balanced Perspective
The authors state the purpose of their book is to show readers who the presidents were as human beings, not just powerful men who reached the pinnacle of politics. O’Reilly says he discovered something about each president in every chapter, and he thinks that is the most entertaining part of the book. It’s also interesting to contemplate how presidential decisions made decades, or even centuries, ago affect us today by the way each president conducted himself in office.There are no profiles on Presidents Biden and Trump because their history is still unfolding. The authors do include essays on both at the end of the book. They outline their personal perspectives on the 45th and 46th presidents.
“Confronting the Presidents” strikes a fine balance between being informative, compelling, and entertaining. Academics, history enthusiasts, and high school students are certain to learn details about the presidential patriots and scoundrels they didn’t know.