About the Author

David Hudson Jr., JD, is the author or coauthor of more than 20 books, including The American Bar Association Guide to Credit and Bankruptcy, The Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, and The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book. He works as a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center and teaches at Vanderbilt Law School, the Nashville School of Law, and Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Reviews

"Informative resource"— American Reference Books

"Single volume standout ... excels at presenting a great deal of information in a succinct, manageable question and answer format."— Asheville Citzen-Times

"In question-and-answer format, Hudson (first amendment scholar, Vanderbilt U.) concisely explains key facts about US presidential campaigns, cabinets, and policies as well as trivia about the First Family."— Book News

"[C]hapters feature not only historical data but a personal look at the man who was president in a manner that will keep the interest of young readers. Students will be particularly interested in the personal aspects of the men who seem so removed from our lives in most history books. Many first ladies are mentioned, which is refreshing. Placing the president within the happenings of the period supports understanding, as well. A comprehensive index is included."— Children's Literature

"A beefy contribution to presidential studies, the kind of resource from which one could easily build an interesting term report for school. A serious piece of presidential scrutiny."— Kirkus Reviews

"...a storehouse of information about all aspects of the presidents' lives."— Oklahoma City Oklahoman

"If there’s something you need to know, if you’re selected for a presidential trivia game show, if you want to impress people with White House facts, you want to own this book."— The Children's Book Review

"Hudson has done an excellent job."— VOYA

Gr 7-10-Using the same question-and-answer format found in the 2004 edition, this book's opening three chapters, which provide background about the origins and duties of the American presidency, White House history and the evolution of political parties, and campaigns and elections, are similar to their earlier counterparts. However, the rest of the book has been completely reorganized, offering thematic chapters that trace the evolution of presidential duties and powers and separate chapters about each president. Coverage is to the midpoint of the Obama administration, and questions are arranged so that the three- to five-sentence answers provide roughly chronological information about each president's childhood and family life, education, career and political paths, term(s), and post-presidential life. They also discuss policy positions and initiatives, cabinet and Supreme Court appointments, and successes and failures. Each chapter includes a black-and-white presidential portrait as well as a few dark, minimally captioned illustrations or photographs about text topics. Although the material, which offers some interesting tidbits, will have some appeal to trivia buffs, content is superficial and this edition does not improve upon its predecessor, which included a bibliography and list of additional resources that are missing here. Ann Bausum's more readable and comprehensive Our Country's Presidents (National Geographic, 2009) is a better choice.-Mary Mueller, formerly at Rolla Junior High School, MO (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.