A fresh appreciation of an underrated, underappreciated president who arrived in the nick of time.
A comprehensive, evenhanded biography of a president who “guided the nation through its worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War.”
Handed the helm of the floundering national ship at the climax of the Watergate crisis, Gerald Ford (1913-2006) managed to quiet the storm due to his congressional navigation skills and personal rectitude. Known as a loyal Nixon supporter and chosen as the replacement vice president when Spiro Agnew was forced to resign, Ford gradually restored public trust in the presidency despite the shocking and, for many citizens, unforgivable pardon he issued to his predecessor just a month into his term. Smith, who has served as the director of five presidential libraries and has authored bios of Thomas Dewey, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller, provides a useful new appraisal of Ford’s life, underscoring how his complicated early family history (largely unknown during his political career) helped shape him into the guileless character he became. Early on, his mother divorced his abusive biological father, and she was enmeshed in legal battles during Ford’s adolescence. When she married Gerald Ford Sr., the young man took his name. Ford Jr. eventually married strong-minded divorcée Betty, who became a force in her own right on such issues as women’s rights, addiction, and breast cancer. In 1948, Ford ran for Congress largely because he was unable to become a probate judge, “his original ambition.” A member of the Warren Commission and House minority leader, he was ready to retire when he was chosen to be vice president. Concluding this massive, somewhat overlong portrait, Smith touts Ford’s signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, taming of double-digit inflation, policy of economic deregulation, support of Black majority rule in Rhodesia, and “tough love” rescue of an ailing New York City.
A fresh appreciation of an underrated, underappreciated president who arrived in the nick of time.Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780062684165
Page Count: 832
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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