Rating: 
Summary: A useful overview, but hardly authoritative
Review: As a collection of photographs and art, this book is superb. The series of photos of Warren Harding posing dramatically tell you a great deal about the man, while the engraving of Washington playing the flute is properly mind-bending. And yes, the organizational device does, in and of itself, spark the mind to some interesting considerations of the ties that bind these men.The text itself, however, is a disappointment, which is perhaps no surprise: this is after all the companion volume to a TV show, so I suppose I can't complain too much that the visuals are terrific but the content is on the thin side. (And that the emphasis is overwhelmingly on personalities rather than policies.) What else would it be? As an overview, then, for someone just beginning to look into the American presidency, this volume has a lot to recommend it. But if you already have some familiarity with most of these men (as I do, after a rather odd 5th-grade obsession) then there really isn't anything new to be found in the chapters. If you want a stellar collection of photographs then, without reservation, the book is terrific. If you want something more substantial about the men who have been president, you might want to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece of layout and illustration.
Review: As for the writing and scholarship of this book, I think the reviews that follow say it better than I can. (I do have some reservations about categorizing presidents outside of their chronological order. Perhaps the writers should have just stuck to a simple time-line.) Here are some of the impressive photos you will find in this volume. Some of them I have not seen in other books on the subject of the presidency. "The many moods of Ike." The floor being buffed in the Eisenhower White House. A Napoleonic pose struck by Franklin Pierce. A young Garfield with disheveled hair. (Lincoln also with messy mane.) A full page shot of Harding with leaping Airedale Laddy Boy. Harding in various speech poses. Ford deep in thought with pipe (!) - a full page. LBJ gazing at sculpted Lincoln head. A sullen Zachary Taylor showing how the presidency has aged him. One of the last daguerreotypes of John Quincy Adams. JFK kissing his dad's head in the fateful year of 1963. Stunning daguerreotypes of John Tyler & Millard Fillmore. Andrew Johnson on a picnic (seated next to Grant)! McKinley poses. Cleveland at his desk (one of "numerous" photos in existence). The book is worth owning just for the pictures. It is really a splendid achievement.
Rating:
Summary: Reader Was Disappointing
Review: I found the reader in the CD/cassette versions difficult to listen to. His diction was mushy, almost slurred. Although I have some reservations about the book (such as its unconventional organization, which may be more confusing in the audio format), overall it was interesting and informative. But the reader really detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Reader Was Disappointing
Review: I found the reader in the CD/cassette versions difficult to listen to. His diction was mushy, almost slurred. Although I have some reservations about the book (such as its unconventional organization, which may be more confusing in the audio format), overall it was interesting and informative. But the reader really detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I was looking for
Review: I got the CD version of TAP so I could learn something during my commute to work. This CD is exactly what I wanted. I learned a lot and enjoyed it. I think that anyone but a history major will find a lot of new material in this CD. After trying Dan Rather's "The 20th Century", I was afraid that this would be another superficial and expensive waste of time. Nope. This is more than worthwhile. Now I'm back at Amazon to see what other CDs the authors have done.
Rating:
Summary: Impartial examination of American Presidents
Review: I selected to read "The American President" as an introduction into the political and apolitical lives of our countries revered leaders. I have been impressed with not only the superb thematic organization of the presidents, but the congeries of information that the authors of this volume successfully disseminate. In reading about the lives of our countries leaders, you discover that a handful of our Presidents were reared without a formal education, affluence, or even a proper introduction into politics. Some either made a conscience decision to enter politics or were drafted into the political lyceum by default. You learn that William Henry Harrison (1841) was in office for merely a month before dying of pneumonia, or that James Garfield (1881)was in office less than four months before he was gunned down at a Washington railroad station. If you are looking for an anthology of American Presidents with just the right amount of historical information to get you started, this book is an excellent choice.
Rating:
Summary: A Terific Book
Review: I was encouraged to purchase this book because of the way in which the content was organized. I returned the book for a refund after reading the chapter on Clinton. If one does a page count devoted to each of the presidents, one must assume that the authors feel, as Al Gore does, that Clinton will be considered one of our greatest presidents. It is mysterious to me how anyone, looking back on the Clinton years, could contrive an opinion, as the authors do, that Clinton's problems were concocted by a hostile congress. This is political hype not history.
Rating:
Summary: Audio CD- Great Book and Good Reader make a Great Listen
Review: It seems increasingly rare that you get all three desirable elements within an unabridged audio CD; a good story, a good reader and a presentation that is easy to understand. This Audio CD succeeds on all three accounts. The author's material lends itself to a book that is easily listened to. The three Mr. Kunhardts have analyzed all of the country's presidents by grouping them into ten categories, Heroic Posture, Compromise Choices, Professional Politicians, Independent Casts of Mind, Family Ties, Happenstance, The American Way, the World Stage, Expanding Power and Balance of Power. You'll be surprised to see where the authors have placed various presidents. I especially enjoyed the pieces about Hoover, McKinley, Polk and Taft. This quick and easy breakdown allows the authors to spend about 8 - 12 minutes of reading time per president, making it easy to digest as you listen to. They focus on the major highlights of their presidencies, and by comparing them to others within their respective category, make some enlightening points about American history. This is one of the first audio CDs I've listened where purchasing the text is an appealing proposition. The reader does a very good job of seriously reading the parts without overdoing it. They use a second reader for various direct quotes of the presidents. This is a very good Audio CD. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Audio CD- Great Book and Good Reader make a Great Listen
Review: It seems increasingly rare that you get all three desirable elements within an unabridged audio CD; a good story, a good reader and a presentation that is easy to understand. This Audio CD succeeds on all three accounts. The author's material lends itself to a book that is easily listened to. The three Mr. Kunhardts have analyzed all of the country's presidents by grouping them into ten categories, Heroic Posture, Compromise Choices, Professional Politicians, Independent Casts of Mind, Family Ties, Happenstance, The American Way, the World Stage, Expanding Power and Balance of Power. You'll be surprised to see where the authors have placed various presidents. I especially enjoyed the pieces about Hoover, McKinley, Polk and Taft. This quick and easy breakdown allows the authors to spend about 8 - 12 minutes of reading time per president, making it easy to digest as you listen to. They focus on the major highlights of their presidencies, and by comparing them to others within their respective category, make some enlightening points about American history. This is one of the first audio CDs I've listened where purchasing the text is an appealing proposition. The reader does a very good job of seriously reading the parts without overdoing it. They use a second reader for various direct quotes of the presidents. This is a very good Audio CD. I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice history filled with great art and photos
Review: This book is a very nice historical piece for the curious and beginning researcher. It provides enough detail to get one started in a more thorough search of one or more of the men who became president. However, it is not a definitive history text. The art and photos in this volume are its redeeming quality. One could look through this book for hours and never get bored with the pictures. The only negative thing that stood out in my mind about this book was the fact that it was not organized in chronological order. In other words, the book does not begin with George Washington and move to each subsequent President. Instead, the book categorizes the presidents into 'types' (for lack of a better word). For example, the sections are titled "The Candidate," or "Executive Vision," or "Happenstance," etc. and a President is categorized into a section. Some of the Presidents often times don't seem to fit the category or type and it makes you wonder what the authors were thinking. Nonetheless, the only time the reader gets a chronological listing of the Presidents is in the back of the book. This, in my estimation was a big mistake. Otherwise, the book, as a whole, is pretty good and enjoyable to read and merely browse through.
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