Revealing look into presidential marriages…, August 8, 2010

By C. Skeen (New Mexico) –
  

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Fascinating and informational, but quite biased by author, November 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History (Paperback)

The book covers several presidential marriages of the 20th century. I knew very little about the presidents of the early 1900′s, so it was fascinating reading about the marriages and issues of the times. It was clearly written by a writer who is not a historian. As evidenced by her footnotes, her research was based on other peoples books, newspapers and magazines such as Newsweek. She also interviewed a number of presidential spouses herself. The result is an intriguing blend of little-known facts and interesting quotes.However, the author clearly formed personal opinions about each and every spouse in the book. Unfortunately her bias became stronger as the book progressed. By the time I reached the most recent presidential marriages, the book had turned into personal commentary of each presidency rather than the informational book it had been at the start.

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Succinct, Entertaining, Insightful, August 22, 2003

By Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) –
  

This review is from: Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History (Paperback)

This is more than a study of the evolution of American society than a history per se of Presidential marriages. The one theme – - apart from the relationship between personal and political lives – is how First Ladies viewed and interpreted that most ambiguous of positions. For this is a story told from the point of view of the woman – not the man – and for that reason it is all the more intriguing.Each President has natural strengths but the adage “Behind every successful man is a woman” was never truer. The marriages can be divided into three categories – normal, those that recovered and those that never reconciled.In the first category are Truman, Ford, Bush I, Bush II, Reagan and Carter. Lady Bird and Jackie chose to accept infidelity as part and parcel of the marriage while Roosevelt, Nixon and Clinton committed acts that forever scarred. Indeed, sexual infidelity seems a secondary theme. Eleanor never trusted FDR after her discovery, Jackie sought refuge in other arenas, Lady Bird found a life in other activities and Hillary – the most humiliated of all – found solace in a career apart from her husband.As far as ideological sway, I found very little to challenge. True, the author seemed to praise Democratic administrations more than Republican ones but her personal stories were strictly non-partisan. She would sum up a chapter such as ,”The Clinton Administration is the story of a marriage” or “For Nancy, it was always only Ronnie.” She managed to find the essence of the relationship and her conclusions were not only surprising but surprisingly on target.

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