The Presidents

Noted Historians Rank America's Best--and Worst--Chief Executives

By: Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, Douglas Brinkley - introduction, Richard Norton Smith - introduction

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann, Grace Angela Henry

The complete rankings of our best -- and worst -- presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership.
Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with everyone in between.
Based on interviews conducted over the years with a variety of presidential biographers, this book provides not just a complete ranking of our presidents, but stories and analyses that capture the character of the men who held the office. From Abraham Lincoln's political savvy and rhetorical gifts to James Buchanan's indecisiveness, this book teaches much about what makes a great leader -- and what does not.
As America looks ahead to our next election, this book offers perspective and criteria to help us choose our next leader wisely.

Best Presidential audiobook.

Enjoyed the diverse and very knowledgeable contributors. I like how they reviewed all the Presidents in non-chronological order. I definitely learned a lot

Get to know the Presidents

Good book that walks you through a little bit of each presidents life. Definitely makes me want to read more memoirs and biographies about the presidents.

Too Much Praise

While the presidents are ranked, there is no real critique of them. Each president is given a very short biography which in most cases ignores each president's faults, regardless of their ranking. With the exception of contributions by Robert Strauss and a few others, the information isn't much more insightful than one could find in a middle-school textbook. Don't bother, if you want to know why the presidents were ranked as they were.