The Presidents Club

Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity

By: Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy

Narrated by: Bob Walter

Length: 22 hrs

Publisher's summary

The Presidents Club was born at Eisenhower’s inauguration when Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover first conceived the idea. Over the years that followed - and to this day - the presidents relied on, misunderstood, sabotaged, and formed alliances with one another that changed history. The world’s most exclusive fraternity is a complicated place: its members are bound forever because they sat in the Oval Office and know its secrets, yet they are immortal rivals for history’s favor.

Some presidents needed their predecessors to keep their secrets; others needed them to disappear. Most just needed help getting the job done. Truman enlisted Hoover to help him save Europe; Kennedy turned to Ike on Cuba; Nixon sought Johnson’s advice on getting reelected, but then tried to blackmail him; Ford and Carter couldn’t stand each other until they saw what they had in common; Reagan and Clinton relied on Nixon as an off-the-books emissary to Russia; Bush put Clinton and his father to work and they became like father and son; and Obama and Clinton became quiet rivals for the same crown.

Journalists and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy unravel the secret compacts, the shared scars, and the private cease-fires from Hoover to Obama. The Presidents Club will change the way we think about the presidency, for the club itself is an instrument of presidential power.

©2012 Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"This is essential reading for anyone interested in American politics.” (Robert Dallek, best-selling author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963)

“Forget Rome’s Curia, Yale’s Skull and Bones and the Bilderbergs - the world’s most exclusive club never numbers more than six. Its rules are inscrutable, and its members box the compass politically and stylistically.... Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs have penetrated thick walls of secrecy and decorum to give us the most intimate, revealing, and poignant account of the constitutional fifth wheel that is the ex-presidency. Readers are in for some major surprises, not to mention a history they won’t be able to put down.” (Richard Norton Smith, author of Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation)

“ The Presidents Club is magnetically readable, bursting with new information and behind-the-scenes details. It is also an important contribution to history, illuminating the event-making private relationships among our ex-Presidents and why we should do a far better job of drawing on their skills and experience.” (Michael Beschloss, best-selling author of The Conquerers)

Good read

Contains good information and great perspective. This is a book worth reading and I recommend it.

Presidential Historian Highly Recommend to Read

If you are a lover of presidential history this is a MUST READ! You will enjoy it. I would highly recommend it.

Great listen

Very good book and performance. I look forward to a second edition now that Obama will be a member in his post presidency years.

Entertaining look at the social side of politics

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

We normally only see one side of any president, presidency, or political campaign. This book brings the human side to the front. It may not have a lot of depth of information, but it gives you such a great view of how ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary cicumstances (leader of the free world) deal with their jobs and the predicessors and successors.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would have to say Harry Truman. I really saw him in a different light based on this book. This is a guy that really put country first. Second would be Richard Nixon. You really saw him in a different light. It's a shame the guy had such a poor moral compass - he was brilliant when it came to foreign politics.

What about Bob Walter’s performance did you like?

He did a good job of separating the sections/characters well.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were a lot of "ah ha" moments with this book. Having lived through many of these presidencies, I never realized what was taking place behind the scenes. I was also aware of presidents teaming up, but didn't realize what went into making that happen and what these guys thought of each other. You'll be surprise about the relationship between President Clinton and President George H.W. Bush.

Who knew?

We vote them into the highest office in the land; we make them superstars; we envy their savoir faire; and we want them to be greater than the sum of the parts they had to play to get there. And, they aren't. They may fool the rest of us, but they can't fool one another, and politics is a nasty business. Favors are won, favors paid back, sneers never quite forgotten, and that is where this book becomes fascinating. Helping or hating, criticizing or praising -- they are members of an exclusive club, and each brings something unique to the table.. In reading it, you find Eisenhower was a general all of his life and bears a good deal of responsibility for what happened in Vietnam and that Nixon was far nastier than we knew. You find that Ford really did take the fall for the good of the country, and that Kennedy was like an uncertain prep school freshman when the Bay of Pigs fiasco blew up. about some things and infinitely wise about others. Johnson's tragedy becomes your own. You discover some of Ronald Reagan's unexpected cohorts, and, if you are like me at all, you will come away with a different view of the Presidency and the men who occupy that American throne. It is a great book to listen to while working out!

Great

I enjoyed the fact this was more about modern presidents than anything else, I learned a great deal. Great story, but the guy reading has a voice that puts you to sleep.

Learned a lot

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure. I read a TIME article on the book and the photos were fascinating. The concept of a real A Team of presidents is cool and even entertaining. I am old enough to remember the Nixon years so I found it fascinating to relive the Nixon Ford pardon debate. After reading the book I realized I have changed my mind about the pardon and why Ford did what he did. I agree now that he did the right thing because it was always about the presidency, not the person. Although now the presidency and the man occupying are getting disrespected outright but I digress...Great book in giving the reader of history a real education not covered in the history books. The sections on Hoover and Truman were long but I came away learning a lot about that era and post war Europe.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nixon and his interactions with Clinton. I could sense Nixon`s neediness to connect with Clinton and while ironic they became best buds, it all kind of makes sense. I have a new respect for Bush senior too.

What didn’t you like about Bob Walter’s performance?

It was okay. Pretty monotone.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many but the section when Carter lost it with Cedras to get the heck out of Haiti because children could die was moving. Carter for all his faults - he does seem more of a loner compared to the rest of the fraternity - does march to the beat of a different drummer. The section also on Ford telling Nixon and Carter to go with Jerry, Jimmy and Dick was pretty memorable.

Any additional comments?

I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I ended up disliking Eisenhower; sympathetic to LBJ; respectful of Nixon`s complexity; and overall had a vicarious enjoyment of the presidents being above the fray. Capturing the interactions of the ones alive and representing America in retirement makes great reading! The authors will need to include Obama in the next edition.

A fascinating read

The surprise is how much of a brotherhood this group has often been. Though it shouldn’t be considering the magnitude of the job. It was a great insight into the better nature of almost every president covered (with the exception of Carter).

Outstanding

This book gave me a whole new understanding of of various aspects of the "Theater of politics". It has inspired me to read more into each president.

The club you've never heard of

I enjoyed this book, and not only because I did not know of the club's existence. Good history, interesting facts - would recommend.