The Presidents

250 Years of American Political Leadership

By: Iain Dale

Narrated by: Iain Dale

Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Essays on all 46 American presidents who have held the office over the last 230 years - from George Washington to Joe Biden.

There was a huge upsurge of global interest in US politics during the Trump presidency, culminating in the November 2020 election, the victory of the Democrat candidate Joe Biden and the subsequent, horrifying response in the storming of the US capitol. American politics is likely to remain deeply divided during the coming years and also the focus of global attention - with Trump mobilising his base for 2024. But the transatlantic fascination with the role and office of the US president isn't new at all and in fact reaches all the way back to the birth of the United States itself.

The Presidents features essays, written by a range of academics, historians, political journalists and serving politicians, on all 46 American presidents who have held the office over the last 230 years - from George Washington to Joe Biden. Each contributor has been carefully chosen based on expert knowledge of their subjects and personal connections, providing analysis of their subject's successes, failures and influence. Any hagiographical writing is shunned in favour of a 'warts and all' perspective on each president and the impact they've had on US politics - past, present and future.

©2021 Iain Dale (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Biased opinion

Thoroughly enjoyed UNTIL narrator’s opinion of Trump changed my mind. This has been the best book so far on the presidents BUT b/c narrator is not a fan, he made me wish I hadn’t purchased. Why RUIN the book? Keep opinions out.

Way too Biased to be Useful or Interesting

I got through Grant before I just gave up.
I wanted something that was a good summary of each of the Presidents so I could put some American history in better perspective, but the book is far too political, scattershot and preachy to get through unless you're a die-hard liberal.
First, most of the chosen authors are British, so almost all the referential things are from OUTSIDE American politics.
Second, the authors spent A LOT of time referencing political events around the Donald Trump presidency, which even just two years out makes it seem pretty dated and agenda-driven. The female authors especially spend a lot of time self-righteously condemning everyone in the 1800s as horrible people because they either had slaves or supported policies that supported slavery, which is reflected in their need to paint people as "bad" and "worst" for even moderate positions on slavery. I wish they were more even-handed considering the times.
How about instead of telling me for the 15th time how bad slavery was you utilize the time to educate your readers with more context? Some people want to learn history just for the facts and people, not to be preached to about how older values are backwards. By the time you get to Grant you're hearing a woman talk about "my ancestors this" and "my ancestors that." Nothing is added and it just becomes repetitive.
In fact, many of the authors really have no business talking about history at all. I got frustrated hearing about Liberal MPs from the UK or women who's sole qualification is running a Democrat or Labour podcast in 2020 giving lectures on mean Presidents. Many basic biographical details that could have been included just don't make it in. For example, Taft was 300 pounds yet I only found this out on the President AFTER Taft because Taft's author didn't include it. I got much more interesting information about several presidents from the OTHER president's descriptions because there was so much race talk that basic things were just never included.
Half of Washington's bio was talking about Trump, and Trump is mentioned at least a half dozen times in the early Presidents. Lincoln's chapter includes George Floyd and the Minneapolis race riots, which is probably going to age badly.
I'm going to look for something else because the political agendas, scattershot treatment of even basic facts of the mens' lives vs political lectures and agenda driven narrative from authors almost entirely from another country really make this a waste of time. I appreciate what I did learn, but it just made me want to go find other sources for better information. I'm an adult I think I can learn about the past without the constant posturing and moral lectures, thanks!
Also, I don't have the physical copy, but there appear to be mistakes in the reading. Many times there are references to dates that appear to be misread since they start with 19XX or reference time periods far removed from the one being discussed with no context as to why. I'm not sure anyone double-checked this recording vs the book. Maybe it was meant to be gotten out quickly since so many of the references are 2020 centric.