Synopsis
In this study of 12 presidential marriages of the 20th century, Kati Marton examines how the unique synergy brought about by these marriages substantially influenced presidential power. She also looks at the individual ways each presidential wife expanded her constitutionally undefined role, and how each one shaped the public's expectations.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2001-09-01 |
| Size | | Height: | 6.8 in | | Width: | 9.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 27.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
An extraordinary work of history and original reporting that reveals the ways in which presidential marriages have affected the tone, character, and policies of twelve administrations, from Woodrow and Edith Wilson to George W. and Laura Bush.
Each of the marriages that Kati Marton examines in this hugely appealing book offers up its own unexpected lessons about power and marriage, about the influence of presidential wives, and about the evolution of women’s roles in the twentieth century. Based on private White House documents and on interviews with the participants and with eyewitnesses to presidential events, Hidden Power explores how both the personal dynamics and public faces of White House marriages have shaped our history.
We see Edith Wilson literally running the government when her deeply beloved husband becomes ill; how the combination of Franklin Roosevelt’s reassuring spirit and his wife’s humility guided the country through Depression and war; how Bess Truman’s loyalty, bluntness, and unpretentiousness were some of her
husband’s greatest resources; the superb and necessary diplomacy of Jacqueline Kennedy.
We observe Lady Bird Johnson retaining her own compass in the face of massive criticism of her husband; how Patricia Nixon’s estrangement from her husband fed his paranoia; how the Fords reassured us after the debacles of Vietnam and Watergate; Rosalynn Carter’s struggle to carve out new territory as first lady; the generally constructive role Nancy Reagan played, despite her frivolous reputation; the razor-sharp political instincts behind Barbara Bush’s grandmotherly image; how Hillary Clinton saved her husband’s presidency; and how Laura Bush provides emotional ballast for her husband.
Here are the stories of the ultimate power couples—each one very different, but all of them informative, lively, and absolutely fascinating.
Industry Reviews
"Kati Marton's HIDDEN POWER gets and keeps the reader's attention not because her subject is new but because her focus on it is interesting."
Los Angeles Times - Anthony Day (09/20/2001)
"Scores of interviews and extensive research have turned up some revealing anecdotes and shrewd insights into the 11 presidential couples she chose to profile. And the subject, with its blend of power and passion, backchannels and backstabbing, secrets and sex, is irresistible."
New York Times - Patricia Cohen (10/05/2001)
"Marton's tone is balanced, and she is fair to Republicans and Democrats alike....She treats the first ladies with a sympathetic respect. At the same time, she is not afraid to describe faults. HIDDEN POWER is not hagiography. [It] is, however, thinly sourced....It is sad to see [Marton] her writing a compilation of truisms about presidential personalities, a skim history that is unworthy of her gifts and conscience."
Washington Post Book World - Lorraine Adams (10/07/2001)
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