White House Confidential: The Little Book of Weird Presidential History
White House Confidential: The Little Book of Weird Presidential History book cover

White House Confidential: The Little Book of Weird Presidential History

Paperback – July 19, 2016

Price
$10.48
Format
Paperback
Pages
368
Publisher
Skyhorse
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1510714199
Dimensions
6 x 1 x 9 inches
Weight
15.9 ounces

Description

Review “Entertaining gossip, facts, anecdotes, and revelations about the men Americans have chosen to occupy the highest office in the land.”—Senator John McCain“Strange, salacious, and sometimes shocking factoids about our nation’s past presidents.”—Joseph Crowley, Member of Congress, D-New York“This book is funny and it is irreverent and it is cheeky and it made me laugh out loud, so I think people should buy it.”—Peggy Noonan, author of What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era “Shocking! Amazing! Instructive! Titillating! Scathing! Torrid! Revealing! Funny! Sexy!Other than that, it was easy to read and I loved it.”—Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the “Guerrilla Marketing” series of books About the Author Gregg Stebben is the author of seventeen books, including The Little Red Book of New York Wisdom with New York Mayor Ed Koch and Internet Privacy for Dummies , and an editor at Men’s Health magazine. He can be heard regularly on radio stations nationwide. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Jody. Austin Hill was the author of The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets and a noted radio personality who appeared on some of America’s finest talk radio outlets including KFI in Los Angeles; WMAL in Washington DC and KFYI in Phoenix. He lived in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, Nell, and his son, Graham. Will Durst is an Emmy-nominated political comedian who would call himself a satirist if it didn’t make people think he had goat legs. He is also a nationally syndicated columnist, author, actor, one-man show writer/performer, former margarine smuggler, and sworn enemy to all tyrants foreign and domestic. He lives in San Francisco, California.

Features & Highlights

  • An irreverent look at Presidential foibles, follies, fibs, and moral failures
  • Were past presidents smarter, more honest, and better behaved that those we elect today? Don’t bet on it!
  • White House Confidential
  • shows that commanders-in-chief have been lying, cheating, stealing, and womanizing from the days of the Founding Fathers. Focusing on the qualities that never made it into White House press releases, the authors look at their sexual misdeeds and strange family relationships, scandals that engulfed administrations, fights with enemies, and questionable money matters. Dip into these pages to find out: Which president was famous for being the richest man alive because of all his brilliant real estate deals? Which president was born in Canada, and was ineligible to hold the office of president? Which president caused some problems by trying to grow “strange herbs” in the White House garden? Which president often ordered White House staff to rub Vaseline into his scalp while he ate breakfast in bed? Which president often called his deputy chief of staff “Turd Blossom”?Updated with new material about many presidents including George W. Bush and Barack Obama,
  • White House Confidential
  • will have you laughing (and sometimes cursing!) as you take a second look at the next occupant of the Oval Office.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(191)
★★★★
25%
(160)
★★★
15%
(96)
★★
7%
(45)
23%
(146)

Most Helpful Reviews

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INFORMATION IS WRONG

I'm only on page 4 and already I've spotted a mistake. Theodore Roosevelt's wife and mother DID NOT die on January 14 as stated in the book...they died on February 14. The difference is HUGE in that they died on Valentine's Day. This is a HUGE mistake that should have been caught by the author and/or the editor. A mistake like this is sloppy writing. Because I just started the book, I'll continue reading it, but seriously doubt I'll ever purchase anything from this author ever again.
15 people found this helpful
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What fools these presidents be!

As a history buff, and a friend of author Gregg Stebben, I picked up White House Confidential with the assumption that I'd know almost everything in it. I'm both happy and humbled to say I couldn't have been more wrong. For example, I knew that James Buchanan was probably our only gay president, but I didn't know he'd been a prizefighter in his youth. Or that Grover Cleveland, as a county sheriff, had twice pulled the lever to execute prisoners. Or that Andrew Johnson -- a serious contender with Buchanan for worst president in U.S. history -- tailored his own suits.

Gregg, though, is convinced that Warren Harding was our worst, and makes a convincing argument based on Harding's daily White House schedule: ping-pong every morning, a break at noon to greet visitors, tennis every afternoon, and golf and poker twice a week. Knowing how much value he placed on his own recreation makes it easier to understand why his appointees thought they could get away with schemes like the Teapot Dome scandal. If you know the boss isn't paying attention, why not?

I highly recommend White House Confidential to anyone with an interest in politics and the presidency, in particular the gossip, trivia, and other tidbits that tend to fall between the couch cushions of mainstream presidential history.
10 people found this helpful
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Weirdness at the top

Considering all the 'weird' things that have gone on in that building over the last 200-odd years, it's surprising that this is a 'little' book of 'weird presidential history.' I loved this -- a great read for the commute home from work with your 'weird' boss. It's reassuring to know that the country also has a lot of weirdness at the top. The selection of anecdotes is very cool and often surprising. A lot of tun, and a cool gift for anybody who has a taste for the odd and eccentric stuff of history.
4 people found this helpful
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Captivating, Enlightening & Funny!

While I pride myself in my knowledge of American History and presidential politics, there was so much new and fascinating information that nearly every page was both captivating and enlightening. The authors' wit and humor make this such a fun and easy read. Although it is highly irreverent, it is factual and non-partisan. And, as a business consultant and public speaker, I now have an abundance of great new factoids to spice up my conversations and presentations. I have bought several copies as gifts, and have enthusiastically recommended it to friends, family and clients.
2 people found this helpful
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Great Read

Really interesting!!
1 people found this helpful
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Four Stars

Great to peek behind the headlines and view the humanity of those we hold in such high esteem!
1 people found this helpful
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good read

book was interesting in that it was loaded with many facts one never hears anything about in history books. it was divided into several categories with tidbits about presidents that were amazing. big print and easy to read. fun book to read
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Stupid

Not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t it.
Really a stupid book.
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Wow!

Definitely the best book on all our presidents I’ve ever read. Incredibly interesting!!
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As expected

Book was a gift for my husband. He enjoyed reading the short stories.