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)

Very interesting

This was a really interesting story, with particular reference to the relationship between the different presidents up to and including Bill Clinton.

the relationship between the different men was both very enjoyable and also enlightening. this is also the case when comparing the public face of the different presidents and the person who they really are.

The story made me also think about the different relationships that have existed between presidents and their vice presidents - that was not covered, unless the vice president went on to become president - and only then it was superficial.

It is obviously very difficult to write about the Obama administration and it's relationship with the past presidents, including the potential role they have played in getting votes in the senate and house for raising the debt ceiling etc. When that is able to be written I will certainly spend a credit on that too.

Insight into the men in the Top Job

Loved it. You already know the cast but you don't know the relationships. Each chapter surprised me with a relationship, a feud, a slight or an praise for men I never thought about connecting with one another. Fun book. Great stories.

Turn the speed up!

Where does The Presidents Club rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

There is almost nothing I would rather read about than American presidential histories. However - this narrator was so slow it was distracting. Likewise, his inflections seemed off, at times changing the meaning of the quotes or the sense of humor of the individuals quoted. I certainly wanted the information and since I frequently both read the book and listen to make the best use of time - I found I was reading far more than listening. However if you only have time to listen - go ahead and get this wonderful book filled with enlightening new information - just turn up the speed to 1.25 or 1.5 and move through it. Best advice - read the book on a digital device or in real living color! The photos are good anyway.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I learned more about many of the presidents I thought I knew plenty about already. I was mostly enlightened by the new perspectives on LBJ.

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

Slow with oddly stated inflections. Sometimes when he was reading quotes it was very clear that it wasn't intended to be read the way he was reading it.

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

The behind the scenes stories that betray the public behavior.

Captivating look at political history

Great read if you are a political history junkie. The gamesmanship between current and former presidents, going back to Hoover, makes for a book that offers something for everyone, regardless of political stripe.

Excellent glimpse into the exclusive Presidents’ club

For anybody who is interested in reading about the tie that binds Truman and Hoover, Kennedy and Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan, G HW Bush and Clinton and GW Bush, and all of the other men who sat in the Oval Office; this is the perfect book!

Slow Start

The Clinton / Bush years really ramped up the whole thesis of this book! The earlier years were interesting but not as engaging.

After 2008?

I enjoyed the book but I would have appreciated more detail after the 2008 election.

Engaging subject, but fact-checking needed

I found both the subject and the narrative--discussing the relationship of two presidents at a time--engaging. But two things about the book left me unsettled. The first is a tiny factual error about the origin of the name for the Roosevelt Room; if a foreigner who has watched one season of The West Wing can spot an error, odds are that there might be more lurking. The second unpleasant surprise was the almost complete reversal of my feelings towards many of the presidents discussed in this book; I could not shake the uneasiness that the authors seemed overly critical of or a little too eager to pounce on the merest character flaws of Carter, Clinton and even Obama (or at least his staff), while the two Bushes and Ford came out as hopelessly misunderstood men who really were decent men with the best of intentions. The only unsurprising point was how big a crook Nixon really was. I hope more discerning reviewers will shed light on whether the narrative was at all biased. It would be a terrible shame if the authors let their opinions taint the little-known stories about this exclusive club.

Interesting and educational

What did you love best about The Presidents Club?

I enjoyed this book, however, there were times when I wondered why the authors chose to believe one unsubstantiated rumor but not another. In particular, why the authors refused to believe the story of Johnson bugging Nixon's campaign plane (when the former President told Nixon he did it and any potential proof was stolen by Johnson personel) yet totally accepted as fact the notion that Reagan offered a power-sharing deal with former President Ford.

Both stories based on oral testimony and both lacking any paper trail. I would choose to treat both as interesting but unproven. Aside from this, the book seems lacking an obvious partisan bias.

The stories of Jimmy Carter's treason should have caused more notice in the press and public. This book was the first I heard of it and I consider myself fairly well educated in politics and history.

As a nation of law and order even Presidents sitting and former should be held accountable. Carter should be sitting in prison today but we turn a blind-eye when everything works out ok. Doesn't hurt that Carter has built a sympathetic public through his charity work.

The history we were never told!

Great book! This is a must read for those who want to know more about the person in the executive position who led the executive branch.