Rating: 
Summary: Rehash
Review: "Hidden Power" enlightens almost not at all. Despite the hype that accompanied its publication it is virtually certain that this book will be out of print in five years. It is revealing that the author chose not to cover the Eisenhower years as too pedestrian to warrant an effort. Her judgments and biases are not hard to discern. I give it three stars, though, because it does condense information and sort it to provide a concise summary of Presidential marriages. The reader must provide analysis and draw his or her own conclusions.
Rating:
Summary: Rehash
Review: "Hidden Power" enlightens almost not at all. Despite the hype that accompanied its publication it is virtually certain that this book will be out of print in five years. It is revealing that the author chose not to cover the Eisenhower years as too pedestrian to warrant an effort. Her judgments and biases are not hard to discern. I give it three stars, though, because it does condense information and sort it to provide a concise summary of Presidential marriages. The reader must provide analysis and draw his or her own conclusions.
Rating: 
Summary: The Powers Behind The Thrones
Review: Americans usually subscribe to the myth that they're electing only one individual when they cast their votes for President. In the case of President Grover Cleveland, this was indeed true. Mr. Cleveland was single when he was elected, and subsequently became the only President to marry while serving in the White House.The unacknowledged truth, however, is that we elect both a President AND a First Lady, and that First Lady has ALWAYS influenced her husband's administration, to a greater or lesser degree. Kati Marton's "Hidden Power" examines the marriages of several of the last century's presidential couples, among them the Franklin Roosevelts, the Trumans, the Kennedys, the Nixons and the current Mr. and Ms. Bush, and sketches portraits of how the First Ladies influenced their husbands, how the couples influenced the country and, last but not least, how living in the White House influenced each couple. Until the last century, most Presidents have entered the Executive Mansion with wives who generally remained in the background. If these First Ladies had any influence on their husbands' administrations, it was kept very quiet. However, with the advent of the 20th century and the expansion of womens' roles in both society and the workforce, the role of First Lady has been slowly (and sometimes painfully) evolving from the merely ornamental to a vastly powerful, if unofficially elected, force in modern government. Here we see the role played by Nancy Reagan when her husband was losing his grip on day-to-day affairs. We see Lady Bird Johnson's canny manipulation of her husband's many arrogant, negative traits; we watch as Jackie Kennedy's charm and elegance disarm and fascinate citizens and leaders of many countries. Never in any of these relationships does the First Lady NOT influence the people and events which constantly feed the grist mill of history. It is to be wondered why anyone would think a spouse would NOT have some degree of influence over the occupant of the Oval Office. For many years, the role of the First Lady has been a restricted one. They have been allowed to participate in causes thought "proper" - starving babies in foreign countries, White House beautification - but forbidden from assuming too powerful a place by Americans' unspoken insistance that the First Lady retain a more traditional image. Americans cling to the argument that the First Lady is not elected; therefore she should have no role in her husband's adminstration. But "with two you get eggrole". Marriages ARE partnerships and, for better or worse, we really do elect two people when we sweep a new Administration into Washington DC. I hope that "Hidden Power" will in no small measure dispel our collective discomfort with the First Lady's influence in government, as it reveals how helpful a great many of their activities and influence have been. Lively, informative and VERY timely, "Hidden Power" is a very enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: GOSSIP--NOTHING BUT GOSSIP
Review: Hidden Power is a misnomer. I mean after all if the power, or the subject of the book, was really hidden how was the author able to write about it?? The book is a tease and much of the information has been reported before in various tabliods. For example, the closenest of the Carters and the isolation of Richard Nixon is old hat, so when I was reading it I fealt as if I were listening to a broken record. There is an old saying: "Where is the beef?", but with this book I have to ask: "Where is the new?". Answer: I can't tell you.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and enjoyable
Review: I don't think this book is as awful as previously stated. If you take it for what it is - a gossipy, fast reading analysis on presidential marriages - it is enjoyable. The author did make several mistakes on common knowledge information. She never mentioned the fact that Betty Ford was previously married (which most everyone knows) and she stated that upon entering office, Richard Nixon had dinner with his daughters and their husbands. This is incorrect, since Tricia Nixon wasn't married at the time her father became president. She was married in the White House.
Rating:
Summary: Fast Fun Reading
Review: I found the book very interesting. It was fast, easy, fun reading and I have recommended it to several of my friends. If you are looking for deep, intellectual, thought provoking insight, this is not the book for you. However, if you are just looking for an interesting and fun book, you will enjoy Hidden Power.
Rating:
Summary: Fast Fun Reading
Review: I found the book very interesting. It was fast, easy, fun reading and I have recommended it to several of my friends. If you are looking for deep, intellectual, thought provoking insight, this is not the book for you. However, if you are just looking for an interesting and fun book, you will enjoy Hidden Power.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Disappointment
Review: I was looking forward to this book when it was first ordered, but it is a real disappointment. There is no analysis or information that is new. It has all been said and said better. The book is filled with errors - historical and even typos. It seems that the author just read alot of books and then created her own opinion without doing any new research. The story of the Nixons is much more complex than is presented here. There's just gossip and some mean stuff. The author claims to be a "presidential scholar" and boy that is some jump in logic. Anyone can read a bunch of books and throw their opinion out. The Eisenhowers are totally ignored and dismissed. The carters are put down as sort of backward hicks. The author seems to just have alot of media connections to get interviews but there is nothing new here. Save you money.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm rethinking my own marriage after reading this one
Review: In contrast to the star-struck cheeriness of the well known pop-historian of first ladies, Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Kati Marton's book is excellent. Marton's reason for not writing on certain presidential couples is essentially that these relationships offer little that would interest a reader--a trick Sferrazza Anthony would have done well to consider. Although Marton offers few new facts, her book is unique because of the side-by-side analysis--often comparison--of presidential couples. Anyone who doesn't appreciate good gossip has no buisness picking up this book. Analyzed at length is the issue of presidential mistresses--continually present in the White House, it appears. Interesting is how the first ladies--Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton each handled these affairs in her own way. Seeking clues with regard to enhancing my own marriage, I found lots and lots of help--and I'm only up to the Johnsons.
Rating:
Summary: strives for balance
Review: Kati Marton knows Washington, and high powered marriage. In Hidden Power, she gives a serious, but not overly scholarly look at the ways the White House changes marriages. It seems to make decent marriages better, and fractures marginal ones.Marton strives for objectivity, and comes very close. However, I found her section on the private pain of Pat Nixon to be touching, and very real. I am not a Republican. I have more empathy now for Pat Nixon. I admired her, but had no idea.The chapter about the Kennedys is well written, and not sensationalized at all.This is a well-written piece of medium-weight journalism.
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