Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer. The author of the New York Times bestsellers Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Franklin and Winston, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, and The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, he is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, a contributing writer for The New York Times Book Review, and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham lives in Nashville and in Sewanee with his wife and children.
“What passes for political drama today pales in the reading of Jon
Meacham’s vividly-told story of our seventh president. The
rip-roaring two-fisted man of the people, duelist, passionate
lover, gambler and war hero, was also a prime creator of the
presidency as the fulcrum of executive power to defend
democracy…Meacham argues that Jackson should be in the pantheon
with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln for this and for his role in
preserving the Union and rescuing democracy from elitism. He makes
the historian’s case with wit and scholarship but Meacham also has
the novelist’s art of enthralling the general reader much as
David McCullough did for the lesser figure of John Adams. Reading
American Lion one is no longer able to look on the gaunt, craggy
face on the $20 bill without hearing the tumult of America in the
making.”—Tina Brown
“Jon Meacham's splendid book on Andrew Jackson shrewdly places
presidential politics in the context of Jackson's family life—and
vice versa. With an abundance of gripping stories, and with
admirable fairness, Meacham offers a fresh portrait of one of the
most controversial and consequential men ever to occupy the White
House.”—Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Rise of
American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln
“Every so often a terrific biography comes along that shines a new
light on a familiar figure in American history. So it was with
David McCullough and John Adams, so it was with Walter Isaacson and
Benjamin Franklin, so it is with Jon Meacham and Andrew
Jackson. A master storyteller, Meacham interweaves the lives of
Jackson and the members of his inner circle to create a highly
original book.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The
Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
“In magnificent prose, Jon Meacham has written an engrossing and
original study of the life of Andrew Jackson. He provides new
insights into Jackson’s emotional and intellectual character and
personality, and describes life in the White House in a unique and
compelling way. Scrupulously researched and vividly written, this
book is certain to attract a large and diverse reading
public.”—Robert V. Remini, National Book Award-winning historian
and biographer of Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Daniel
Webster
“Finally, a book that explains our nation’s most enigmatic hero, a
man who was revered and reviled and little understood. Jon Meacham
brilliantly takes us inside the family circle that sustained Andrew
Jackson’s presidency and provided his steadiness of faith. It's a
vivid, fascinating human drama, and Meacham shows how the personal
was interwoven with the political. Jackson presided over the birth
of modern politics, and this book’s brew of patriotism and religion
and populism tastes very familiar. In helping us understand
Jackson, Meacham helps us understand America.”—Walter Isaacson,
author of Elon Musk
“American Lion is a spellbinding, brilliant and irresistible
journey into the heart of Andrew Jackson and his unforgettable
circle of friends and enemies. With narrative energy, flash
and devotion to larger issues that are truly Jacksonian, Jon
Meacham reveals Old Hickory's complicated inner life and recreates
the excitement of living in Jackson's Washington. Most of
all, Meacham's important book shows us how the old hero transformed
both the American Presidency and the nation he led.”—Michael
Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How
They Changed America 1789-1989
“An admiring, vividly composed portrait, full of colorful anecdotes
and sentimental personal detail. Andrew Jackson's presidency
remains controversial; but even those who, like myself, prefer John
Quincy Adams's statesmanship to that of Old Hickory will find
themselves engaged by Jon Meacham's skillful narrative.”—Daniel
Walker Howe, author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of
America, 1815-1848, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History
"What passes for political drama today pales in the reading of Jon
Meacham's vividly-told story of our seventh president. The
rip-roaring two-fisted man of the people, duelist, passionate
lover, gambler and war hero, was also a prime creator of the
presidency as the fulcrum of executive power to defend
democracy...Meacham argues that Jackson should be in the pantheon
with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln for this and for his role in
preserving the Union and rescuing democracy from elitism. He makes
the historian's case with wit and scholarship but Meacham also has
the novelist's art of enthralling the general reader much as David
McCullough did for the lesser figure of John Adams. Reading
"American Lion" one is no longer able to look on the gaunt, craggy
face on the $20 bill without hearing the tumult of America in the
making."
--Tina Brown
"Jon Meacham's splendid new book on Andrew Jackson shrewdly places
presidential politics in the context of Jackson's family life --
and vice versa. With an abundance of gripping stories, and with
admirable fairness, Meacham offers a fresh portrait of one of the
most controversial and consequential men ever to occupy the White
House."
--Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Rise of
American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln
"Every so often a terrific biography comes along that
shines a new light on a familiar figure in American history. So it
was with David McCullough and John Adams, so it was with Walter
Isaacson and Benjamin Franklin, so it is with Jon Meacham and
Andrew Jackson. A master storyteller, Meacham interweaves the lives
of Jackson and the members of his inner circle to create a highly
original book."
--Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The
Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
"In magnificent prose, enriched by the author's discovery of new
research materials, Jon Meacham has written an engrossing and
original study of the life of Andrew Jackson. He provides new
insights into Jackson's emotional and intellectual character and
personality, and describes life in the White House in a unique and
compelling way. Scrupulously researched and vividly written, this
book is certain to attract a large and diverse reading public."
--Robert V. Remini, National Book Award-winning historian and
biographer of Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Daniel
Webster
"Finally, a book that explains our nation's most enigmatic hero, a
man who was revered and reviled and little understood. Jon Meacham
brilliantly takes us inside the family circle that sustained Andrew
Jackson's presidency and provided his steadiness of faith. It's a
vivid, fascinating human drama, and Meacham shows how the personal
was interwoven with the political. Jackson presided over the birth
of modern politics, and this book's brew of patriotism and religion
and populism tastes very familiar. In helping us understand
Jackson, Meacham helps us understand America."
--Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and
Universe and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
"American Lion is a spellbinding, brilliant and
irresistible journey into the heart of Andrew Jackson and his
unforgettable circle of friends and enemies. With narrative energy,
flash and devotion to larger issues that are truly Jacksonian, Jon
Meacham reveals Old Hickory's complicated inner life and recreates
the excitement of living in Jackson's Washington. Most of all,
Meacham's important book shows us how the old hero transformed both
the American Presidency and the nation he led."
-Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage: Brave
Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989
"An admiring, vividly composed portrait, full of colorful anecdotes
and sentimental personal detail. Andrew Jackson's presidency
remains controversial; but even those who, like myself, prefer John
Quincy Adams's statesmanship to that of Old Hickory will find
themselves engaged by Jon Meacham's skillful narrative."
--Daniel Walker Howe, author of What Hath God Wrought: The
Transformation of America, 1815-1848, winner of the Pulitzer
Prize for History 2008
Newsweek editor and bestselling author Meacham (Franklin and Winston) offers a lively take on the seventh president's White House years. We get the Indian fighter and hero of New Orleans facing down South Carolina radicals' efforts to nullify federal laws they found unacceptable, speaking the words of democracy even if his banking and other policies strengthened local oligarchies, and doing nothing to protect southern Indians from their land-hungry white neighbors. For the first time, with Jackson, demagoguery became presidential, and his Democratic Party deepened its identification with Southern slavery. Relying on the huge mound of previous Jackson studies, Meacham can add little to this well-known story, save for the few tidbits he's unearthed in private collections rarely consulted before. What he does bring is a writer's flair and the ability to relate his story without the incrustations of ideology and position taking that often disfigure more scholarly studies of Jackson. Nevertheless, a gifted writer like Meacham might better turn his attention to tales less often told and subjects a bit tougher to enliven. 32 pages of b&w photos. (Nov. 11) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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