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)

worth the time

Would you listen to The Presidents Club again? Why?

yes...found the info interesting and insightful

What did you like best about this story?

basc stories

What about Bob Walter’s performance did you like?

a little deep and dark and little adaption to characters

Perfect Election Time Read

Would you consider the audio edition of The Presidents Club to be better than the print version?

I have NOT read the book, but I enjoyed the audio edition. It was an easy to follow listen. The narrator even attempts a little oral interpretation and voice impressions of the presidents.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Presidents Club?

The honest interactions between presidents.

Have you listened to any of Bob Walter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not heard him before, but he is great.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

All the presidents, like you have never seen them before.

Is it Bias?. Well written!

I very much enjoyed the well written and detailed book. Giving the fact, that you could only go off of interviews and provided information that was allowed to be published in this book. The Presidents Club is a book I would recommend. However, I didn't like that there was very little on Obama. Especially since President Obama, being the newest member of the club. I would have expected more information; given that fact that you were writing this book during his presidential era. However, thank you for the aligning the history of our presidents from President Truman ending with President Obama. I feel that I've gain a lot of presidential insight that our educational system never provided. I grew up 45 miles from were President Clinton lived in Hot Springs, AR. Living in Fordyce, Ar I was never provided with this much information about our local President. So thank you. I can't provide a proper rating today because like all books, people tends to be bias. For the ones reading this review... it is important that we remind ourselves what the former presidents rights and wrongs. What the Presidents did to change the country and the world for mankind. Ask yourself after reading this book how will we decide our presidents moving forward. The Presidents live to serve our country, not the other way around. Hold everyone accountable when campaign & assume the office. Bob I had you on 2x at sometimes, for millennials we like faster readers and not the epic build up to the point. Nancy and Michael thank you for this book.

History revisited as an intimate insider

What did you love best about The Presidents Club?

I felt like I was allowed inside an amazing secret society.

What did you like best about this story?

Whether I loved these individuals or not, I had a new appreciation for the sheer terror the office of President must often present.

What does Bob Walter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His reading brings a lyrical timing to the prose much like Sinatra did for a song.

Fascinating lessons of history

The insights into decisions that were made before and during my lifetime were extremely interesting and thought provoking. I find myself thinking much more kindly on all the presidents.

The narrator took a little getting used to but quickly became the right approach for these stories.

A bit boring

An interesting approach through history. I definitely was unaware of the fellowship between Presidents going back to Truman so I appreciated learning something new. However, there was a lot information that just didn’t seem very relevant and I would be interested in the sources he used to support his claims. Decent book.

who knew

What did you love best about The Presidents Club?

The Presidents appear to be men working hard to do their jobs. They are portrayed in human terms with all their strengths and weaknesses.

What did you like best about this story?

The amount of cooperation between the Presidents.

Have you listened to any of Bob Walter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

NA

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It's too long.

Any additional comments?

no

Great book for any student of government!

Any student of presidential history or of US government will find this book a very informative and enthralling read.

Reader ruins a good book

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

I liked the subject matter. I learned a lot about Hoover that I did not know. Still trying to finish but the breathless reading is very distracting.

How could the performance have been better?

Another reader.

Fantastic Insight and Perspective

This book helps to put the political process into a meaningful perspective. It provides a prism to divide reality from politics.