Last week I finished:
Two of my recent favorite books about presidents and American history are Kate Andersen Brower's The Residence and First Women, the first about the staff of the White House residence, the second about recent first ladies. Brower's third book, released in June, is First in Line, about recent vice presidents. While this subject might not appeal to as many people as the first and second book, I loved it. Brower examines VPs from Richard Nixon to Mike Pence. She talks about the differences in relationships between vice presidents and the presidents they served, the varying levels of power bestowed on them by their presidents, and the ins and outs of the job, how it's viewed by other politicians and the public, and how it affects their wives and families. One thing I really like about Brower's books is that they give a pretty balanced view of the people in question, giving the good and the bad, humanizing those who are hard to see as anything other than difficult villains. I did feel, though, that Brower shows a bias against President Trump as so much of what she included was exclusively negative. She was fair to Pence, however, and didn't make him seem ridiculous because of his deeply-held religious views. Both Nixon and LBJ were humanized in ways they often aren't. She examines the oddity of Ford becoming the only president who was never elected to the vice presidency or presidency--who went on to become a contender for Reagan's VP, until Ford's notion of a co-presidency cooled Reagan to the idea. She talks about the brotherly relationship between President Clinton and Al Gore until Clinton's sex scandal soured Gore to him. She talks about the vice presidencies that held no power, such as Truman (FDR's VP) and LBJ (JFK's VP), and those with great power such as Cheney (George W. Bush's VP). Biden (Obama's VP) and Mondale (Carter's VP) both had written contracts with their presidents as to the sharing of documents, access to meetings and staff, weekly meetings, and initiatives to work on. It was a well-done book, and though I already had a good idea of the dynamics between the modern presidents and vice presidents from my other reading, there was some new-to-me information. If you like this sort of history, well-researched, modern, with just a tiny whiff of gossip, you'll enjoy this one. My rating: 4.5 stars.
I sort of feel like I'm writing a book report on a book I didn't read, but I really did listen to every word of Peter Stark's Astoria. I just wasn't able to listen closely enough to give it an intelligent review. It would have been better for me to read this rather than listen to it, but I knew that could be years off considering the state of my TBR, so audio it was. Often this kind of historical adventure book about an old expedition can be dry, but I was so happy to find Astoria didn't suffer from any of the pitfalls of boring adventure books. It was a lively retelling full of high drama and true-to-life characters. This is the story of wealthy businessman John Jacob Astor's attempt to set up a trading empire on the Pacific Coast in the early 1800s. His vision was to be able to trade furs and pelts more easily with China, and then import Chinese goods to America, making a fortune in both countries. Things didn't necessarily work out the way he'd hoped, however. Two expeditions were formed, one overland from the East Coast to the West, the other a sailing expedition around Cape Horn. Both expeditions encountered great hardship and failure. I think stories like this are so important. Just think of the selflessness (well, greed was often a good motivator) involved in leaving your family, very possibly to never return, in order to travel to the remotest areas of no man's land and claim land for some New York millionaire. And then to make your way back. The obstacles (shrewd Indians) and threats (dire ocean travel and starvation) were real, but, as Stark points out, even a failed expedition had enormous value to the nation. At one time we were a country of people who were willing to take big risks to accomplish things no one, in any well-established country, had. I love stories like this, I really do. My rating: 4 stars.
I continue with:
Let's hope I get these finished before the end of the month. I've been slowly getting through both of them.
My audiobook:
I'm thoroughly enjoying this book about our relationships with stuff.
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