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Hoover
- An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 27 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
The definitive biography of Herbert Hoover, one of the most remarkable Americans of the 20th century - a revisionist account that will forever change the way Americans understand the man, his presidency, and his battle against the Great Depression.
A poor orphan who built a fortune, a great humanitarian, a president elected in a landslide and then routed in the next election, arguably the father of both New Deal liberalism and modern conservatism - Herbert Hoover is also one of our least understood presidents, conventionally seen only as a heartless failure for his handling of the Great Depression.
Kenneth Whyte fully captures this rich, dramatic life: from Hoover's difficult childhood to his meteoric business career, his work saving hundreds of thousands of lives during World War I and after the 1927 Mississippi floods, his presidency, his painful defeat by Roosevelt, and his return to grace as Truman's emissary to help European refugees after World War II. Whyte brings to life Hoover's complexity and contradictions - his modesty and ambition, ruthlessness and extreme generosity - as well as his political legacy. Here is the epic, poignant story of the poor boy who became the most accomplished figure of his time, who worked ceaselessly to fight the Depression yet became the public face of America's greatest economic crisis. Here, for the first time, is the definitive biography that captures the full scale of this extraordinary life.
Critic reviews
"An exemplary biography - exhaustively researched, fair-minded and easy to read. It can nestle on the same shelf as David McCullough's Truman, a high compliment indeed." (Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal)
"Outstanding.... This well organized, thoroughly researched, and smoothly written biography persuasively demonstrates that its subject's place in history should be elevated far beyond its current status." (Talmage Boston, Washington Independent Review of Books)
"While no apologist for the man who became synonymous with the Great Depression, Whyte details how Hoover was up against worldwide economic forces that he had no way of controlling and points out that the hard times continued long into Roosevelt’s presidency. Just as interesting, however, are Whyte’s accounts of Hoover’s early life, from his rise from orphanhood to world-traveling problem solver, and his post-presidency attempt to restore his image and regain his place among the 20th century’s most admired people." (Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor)
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- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Beau Bridges, David Morse, Jay O. Sanders, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the man make the times or do the times make the man? In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon four of the presidents she has studied most closely - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) - to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized by others as leaders.
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What makes a president great?
- By tru britty on 09-25-18
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Coolidge: An American Enigma
- By: Robert Sobel
- Narrated by: Charles Bice
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all twentieth-century presidents still reverberates today. Sobel delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth.
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A Book Exciting As It's Subject!!!
- By Ted on 08-28-12
By: Robert Sobel
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The Woman Behind the New Deal
- The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience
- By: Kirstin Downey
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Frances Perkins is no longer a household name, yet she was one of the most influential women of the 20th century. Based on extensive archival materials, new documents, and exclusive access to Perkins' family members and friends, this biography is the first complete portrait of a devoted public servant with a passionate personal life, a mother who changed the landscape of American business and society.
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An Absorbing Biography
- By Jean on 08-16-17
By: Kirstin Downey
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America's Bank
- The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve
- By: Roger Lowenstein
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established. For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system.
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Important and Intriguing
- By Jean on 11-02-15
By: Roger Lowenstein
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The Triumph of William McKinley
- Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters
- By: Karl Rove
- Narrated by: Karl Rove
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From New York Times best-selling author and political mastermind Karl Rove comes a fresh look at President William McKinley, who found a message that healed his nation, pried his party away from its bosses, and extended its reach to forge a governing majority that lasted 30 years.
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Understand Modern Presidential Campaigns
- By Anon on 02-27-16
By: Karl Rove
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The Moralist
- By: Patricia O'Toole
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 23 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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By the author of acclaimed biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Adams, a penetrating biography of one of the most high-minded, consequential, and controversial US presidents, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). The Moralist is a cautionary tale about the perils of moral vanity and American overreach in foreign affairs.
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Reflections on a Changing Presidency
- By Keith on 05-02-18
By: Patricia O'Toole
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Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher
- A Political Marriage
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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It is well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years in office, the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister worked together to promote lower taxes, deregulation, free trade, and an aggressive stance against the Soviet Union. But according to Nicholas Wapshott, the Reagan/Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests.
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A Better Half
- By peter on 06-01-11
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Eleanor Roosevelt
- Volume I, 1884-1933
- By: Blanche Wiesen Cook
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Eleanor Roosevelt was born into the privileges and prejudices of American aristocracy and into a family ravaged by alcoholism. She overcame debilitating roots: in her public life, fighting against racism and injustice and advancing the rights of women; and in her private life, forming lasting intimate friendships with some of the great men and women of her time.
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One of the Great Americans I knew too little about
- By Ray M on 07-19-20
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Perspective that matters - financing the Civil War
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Founding Martyr
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A rich and illuminating biography of America’s forgotten Founding Father, the patriot physician and major general who fomented rebellion and died heroically at the battle of Bunker Hill on the brink of revolution. Little has been known of one of the most important figures in early American history, Dr. Joseph Warren, an architect of the colonial rebellion, and a man who might have led the country as Washington or Jefferson did had he not been martyred at Bunker Hill in 1775. Warren was involved in almost every major insurrectionary act in the Boston area for a decade.
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really mixed
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Excellent. Good companion to other Tecumseh bios
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Interesting topic (Dostoevsky, that is)
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In American Rule, Jared Yates Sexton upends those convenient fictions by laying bare the foundational myths at the heart of our collective American imagination. From the very origins of this nation, Americans in power have abused and subjugated others; enabling that corruption are the many myths of American exceptionalism and steadfast values, which are fed to the public and repeated across generations.
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On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
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American Dialogue
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The story of history is a ceaseless conversation between past and present, and in American Dialogue, Joseph J. Ellis focuses the conversation on the often-asked question "What would the Founding Fathers think?" He examines four of our most seminal historical figures through the prism of particular topics, using the perspective of the present to shed light on their views and, in turn, to make clear how their now centuries-old ideas illuminate the disturbing impasse of today's political conflicts.
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A fine work, even with the editorializing
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What listeners say about Hoover
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SBL01742
- 06-21-20
A new appreciation.
From a rather uninformed but negative opinion of Hoover this book has completely changed my appreciation for this complex and highly accomplished man.
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1 person found this helpful
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- robert j
- 03-23-19
Extraordinary accounting of the President’s life
Respectful. Encompassing birth to his passing. Not with out criticism but seemed unbiased reporting. A very under recognized president in my opinion gets a fair hearing.
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- Dan Ryan
- 11-18-17
What a fascinating story!
I only knew about Herbert Hoover as president and this book, in the almost 28 hours of narration, tells the complete story about how Mr. Hoover grew up in meager circumstances, losing both parents at an early age, and then transformed himself into a business power after gaining a degree in Geology at Stanford University.
The book also takes a fair position on how Mr. Hoover was castigated by the press and the Roosevelt administration and shows the great value he placed in public service, especially when it comes to caring for the "collateral damage" in war time, namely the starving women and children in Europe.
A great book that I will probably listen to again.
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7 people found this helpful
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- William C Cady
- 09-14-20
Hoover
A man of times, He wasn't all bad for he was he was a good person. But the democrats kept trying to destroy all he had done by making him look bad and going after everyone in his cabinets as corrupt.
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- Nice guy
- 05-16-20
An extraordinary biography.
This book is a sound tribute to one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century. His life exemplifies what a working President should do. His dedication to improving himself and his country are cornerstones of how wealth can be used in America. So glad the docent at his Presidential Library recommended this book to me. Makes me proud to be an American.
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- Jeff Gallagher
- 03-26-19
Excellent book!
The title of the book says it all. Truly a story that is not taught anymore. In my opinion the events described are an important part of the history of our nation, from events transpiring in World War I, to laying the foundation of the modern lifestyle and finally revealing the construction of the the pillars of political conservatism.
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- Jeffrey
- 01-28-23
An insightful biography
This biography illuminates the many contributions of Hoover to the whole world from his extraordinary humanitarian efforts in famine and disaster relief through his laying of the groundwork for the recovery from the Great Depression. His massive contributions have been obscured by that economic downturn and the ascendency of FDR. A book well worth reading and a life that should be celebrated much more than it has been. Exceptionally researched and beautifully written.
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- Wendy Wood
- 03-07-20
Much misunderstood and he certainly had his demons but I can’t help but like him.
Hoover’s early life was interesting and one can see why his personality developed the way it did. The mining days dragged on for me. I felt the writer was as unbiased as could be. I’ve never been a fan of Roosevelt and can certainly understand Hoovers dislike and distrust of him . It would be nice if Hoover would get more credit for his work in trying to stem the tide of the depression. He really gave a heroic effort and seemed to have a good handle of what needed to be done. I would recommend this book to anyone liking history
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- Joyce
- 05-31-21
Remarkable
Herbert Hoover lived a complex and misunderstood life. His role in the great depression has been overstated and his contributions to world food supply understated. Great insights.
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- Lisa Balestrini
- 09-03-19
Comprehensive narrative
Fantastic storytelling. Very detailed, well researched book of Hoover's life, youth to death. Highly recommend!
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