Mark K. Updegrove | Baptism by Fire

September 13, 2009

Interview with Mark K. Updegrove [15:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

From Publisher’s Weekly:

The newest presidential history from former Newsweek editor Updegrove (Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House) looks at eight presidents who took office at critical moments in U.S. history and shaped American notions of presidential authority and purview: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Tyler, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford. Updegrove drafts short accounts of each administration, succinctly examining how each helped define and refine the office. By calling upon little known trivia and providing useful context, he weaves an engaging narrative; however, it isn’t without its flaws. Updegrove can’t seem to resist contrasting the decisions of these time-honored presidents with current President George W. Bush, and his liberal eye glosses over some of the uglier aspects of these Commanders-in-Chiefs-ironically deifying men who, by Updegrove’s own account, wanted desperately to be viewed as men, not legends. Ultimately, this is a satisfying read for armchair historians with sympathetic politics, particularly in the attention it calls to aspects of the office (the assumption of power by the vice-president, term limits, etc.) now largely taken for granted.

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