White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters

White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters
by Robert Schlesinger

White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters
List Price: $18.00
Our Price: $4.39
You Save: $13.61 (76%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Robert Schlesinger
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN: 0743291700
Number of pages: 592
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Book Reviews of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters

Book Review: The Presidents and their Speechwriters
Summary: 5 Stars

Book arrived in excellent condition...content follows a course I am taking at the university. Excellent andfast delivery.

Summary of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters

In White House Ghosts, veteran Washington reporter Robert Schlesinger opens a fresh and revealing window on the modern presidency from FDR to George W. Bush. This is the first book to examine a crucial and often hidden role played by the men and women who help presidents find the words they hope will define their places in history.

Drawing on scores of interviews with White House scribes and on extensive archival research, Schlesinger weaves intimate, amusing, compelling stories that provide surprising insights into the personalities, quirks, egos, ambitions, and humor of these presidents as well as how well or not they understood the bully pulpit.

White House Ghosts traces the evolution of the presidential speechwriter's job from Raymond Moley under FDR through such luminaries as Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., under JFK, Jack Valenti and Richard Goodwin under LBJ, William Safire and Pat Buchanan under Nixon, Hendrik Hertzberg and James Fallows under Carter, and Peggy Noonan under Reagan, to the "Troika" of Michael Gerson, John McConnell, and Matthew Scully under George W. Bush.

White House Ghosts tells the fascinating inside stories behind some of the most iconic presidential phrases: the first inaugural of FDR ("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself ") and JFK ("ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country"), Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" and Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speeches, Bill Clinton's ending "the era of big government" State of the Union, and George W. Bush's post-9/11 declaration that "whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done" -- and dozens of other noteworthy speeches. The book also addresses crucial questions surrounding the complex relationship between speechwriter and speechgiver, such as who actually crafted the most memorable phrases, who deserves credit for them, and who has claimed it.

Schlesinger tells the story of the modern American presidency through this unique prism -- how our chief executives developed their very different rhetorical styles and how well they grasped the rewards of reaching out to the country. White House Ghosts is dramatic, funny, gripping, surprising, serious -- and always entertaining.

Political Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Political Books
Peter the Great ImagePeter the Great
by Robert K. Massie
Ballantine Books; Published: 1986-01-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.31
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance ImageDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
Crown; Published: 2007-01-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $25.95
Mussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano ImageMussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano
by Mr. Ray Moseley
Yale University Press; Published: 2000-02-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.00
Price in other shops: $52.00
Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography ImageTheodore Roosevelt: A Biography
by Henry F. Pringle
Mariner Books; Published: 1956-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.20
Price in other shops: $17.00
Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism ImageGodfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism
by Paul Klebnikov
Mariner Books; Published: 2001-09-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: $23.95
Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World ImageChasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World
by Samantha Power
Penguin Books; Published: 2008-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops: $17.00
Autobiography (Penguin Classics) ImageAutobiography (Penguin Classics)
by John Stuart Mill
Penguin Classics; Published: 1990-04-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.84
Price in other shops: $16.00
Going Rogue ImageGoing Rogue
by Sarah Palin
HarperAudio; Published: 2009-11-24; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops: $29.99
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) ImageFirst They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.)
by Loung Ung
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $13.99
Trusted Mole ImageTrusted Mole
by Milos Stankovic
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 2001-03; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops: $35.00
Similar Books and other products
The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader ImageThe Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader
by Fred I. Greenstein
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Published: 1994-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops: $32.00
The President's Words: Speeches and Speechwriting in the Modern White House ImageThe President's Words: Speeches and Speechwriting in the Modern White House
Univ Pr of Kansas; Published: 2010-08-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.06
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It ImageThe Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It
by Richard Dowis
AMACOM; Published: 1999-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
Poison Politics: Are Negative Campaigns Destroying Democracy? ImagePoison Politics: Are Negative Campaigns Destroying Democracy?
by Victor Kamber
Basic Books; Published: 2003-02-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.85
Price in other shops: $25.00
A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent ImageA Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent
by Robert W. Merry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2009-11-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $30.00
Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History ImageCounselor: A Life at the Edge of History
by Ted Sorensen
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $17.99
The Selling of the President ImageThe Selling of the President
by Joe McGinniss
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1988-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops: $16.00
On Speaking Well: How to Give a Speech With Style, Substance, and Clarity ImageOn Speaking Well: How to Give a Speech With Style, Substance, and Clarity
by Peggy Noonan
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1999-02-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.48
Price in other shops: $13.99
Counselor LP: A Life at the Edge of History ImageCounselor LP: A Life at the Edge of History
by Ted Sorensen
HarperLuxe; Published: 2008-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops: $27.95
The Political Speechwriter's Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers ImageThe Political Speechwriter's Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers
by Robert Lehrman
CQ Press; Published: 2009-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.33
Price in other shops: $32.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories