First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents
- ISBN13: 9780060937119
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Bonnie Angelo, a veteran reporter and writer for Time, has captured the daily lives, thoughts, and feelings of the remarkable women who played such a large role in developing the characters of the modern American presidents. From formidably aristocratic Sara Delano Roosevelt to diehard Democrat Martha Truman, champion athlete Dorothy Bush, and hard-living Virginia Clinton Kelley, Angelo blends these women’s stories with the texture of their lives and with colorful d… More >>
I love it !
As an non-amercican , it gave profound information on the presidents themselves as well as their family, childhood and of course their mothers and their influence on their sons .
I even met Bonnie Angelo in person ! And got a copy of “First Mothers …” autographed (My mom who has another copy was SOOO jealous). We only spoke for a minute or two , but she seemed like a very cheerful , lively woman to me . (She came to a autograph segment at the biggest bookstore in Korea , which where I live … Oh , not the bookstore , Korea !)
Rating: 5 / 5
A typical “project” from someone who has written for the likes of Time magazine to scintillate a plebian readership with “interesting” tidbits. Her account of Sara Delano Roosevelt is laden with errors. She was not of “old Hudson River aristocracy”. Her father Warren Delano was from Massachusetts, as was her mother Catherine Lyman. They built their estate at Algonac, near Newburgh NY, after Warren Delano made his fortune trafficking opium into China. Sara was an elitist snob who never worked a day in her life. AS Eleanor Roosevelt said of her: she was prejudiced against anyone who wasn’t of the social elite her family aspired to. Indeed, her father lost much of his fortune during the Panic of 1857 and had to return to China one more time to make a second fortune in the 19th century drug trade.
Rating: 1 / 5
Predictable. This book only made me turn the pages because I was hoping to find some golden nugget of information that would truly link the Presidents. It was not to be found.
Rating: 3 / 5
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. An easy read with tons of anecdotes and facts that made the presidents and their families come alive.
Rating: 5 / 5
I enjoyed this book very much and have passed it on to my Grand Daughter to read since we have a new Great Grandson just born. Who knows he could be our president someday.
Rating: 4 / 5