The Splendid Misery; The story of the Presidency and power politics at close range
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1960. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. 474, [2] pages. Index. Ink notation on fep. DJ is price clipped DJ is taped to boards DJ has some wear, tears, soiling, and faded lettering. Rear board has some weakness, restrengthened with glue. This work contain substantial information on Theodore Roosevelt (but less than is on Franklin). The index shows multiple references for Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant and William McKinley. There is significant discussion of other leading politicians (often candidates) and members of the Cabinet. There are several discussions of possible third term campaigns. Jack Bell was a noted political journalist who was with the Associated Press from 1937 to 1969. He covered the Senate for many years. He was one of the reporters in Dallas who provided timely reporting on the Kennedy assassination. Derived from a Kirkus review: Thomas Jefferson in a letter once called the Presidency a ""splendid misery"", and author Jack Bell has written a book describing just about how splendid that misery can be. Mr. Bell's thesis is that the Presidency is the nation's, if not the world's, most important executive position, and that it is almost humanly impossible for the President to do an optimum job under the conditions that exist for him. He points out, for example, how much of the Chief Executive's time is devoured by purely ceremonial chores. Mr. Bell goes on to describe how various men have fared as Presidents, where they have succeeded and where they have failed, where they have made nothing of the opportunities the job offered and where they may have made too much. Mr. Bell seems to imply that if the public knew exactly what the job of the Presidency called for, it would know better how to fill it with the best of candidates. However, since Presidents are chosen through methods which would drive a personnel manager to a sanatorium, Mr. Bell's thesis loses much of its practical value. What the author has succeeded in doing, however, is to show how much of history is in the hands of one decision-maker. Condition: Good / Fair.
Keywords: Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Chief Executives, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt, Politics, Washington, DC, Richard Nixon, Adlai Stevenson, Lyndon Johnson
[Book #16210]
Price: $35.00