Presidential Courage, by Michael Beschloss

Book 37


With an hour and twenty to go before my book club meets, I finished the book.  It was actually my pick, one that has been sitting on my shelf for awhile.  Beschloss takes a handful of presidents and recounts the stories of times when they had to make decisions that could cost them..well, elections mostly.

I was disappointed in that perhaps half were stories that I had already heard or read before.  Washington and Jay's treaty.  Lincoln the summer of 1864.  Roosevelt and Churchill in 1940.  But all of the profiles were worthy and well-written, and some interesting details were included.  Also, Beschloss tells it like it is, with little glorification of the players.