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Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon

Overview: In the spring of 1789, within weeks of the establishment of the new federal government based on the U.S. Constitution, the Senate and House of Representatives fell into dispute regarding how to address the president. Congress, the press, and individuals debated more than thirty titles, many of which had royal associations and some of which were clearly monarchical. For Fear of an Elective King is Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon's rich account of the title controversy and its meanings. The short, intense legislative phase and the prolonged, equally intense public phase animated and shaped the new nation's broadening political community. Rather than simply reflecting an obsession with etiquette, the question challenged Americans to find an acceptable balance between power and the people's sovereignty while assuring the country's place in the Atlantic world. Bartoloni-Tuazon argues that the resolution of the controversy in favor of the modest title of "President" established the importance of recognition of the people's views by the president and evidence of modesty in the presidency, an approach to leadership that fledged the presidency's power by not flaunting it. How the country titled the president reflected the views of everyday people, as well as the recognition by social and political elites of the irony that authority rested with acquiescence to egalitarian principles. The controversy's outcome affirmed the republican character of the country's new president and government, even as the conflict was the opening volley in increasingly partisan struggles over executive power. As such, the dispute is as relevant today as in 1789.

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Richard Bradley

"Examining American politics, society, and culture from Kennedy to Nixon, this book ties all of these elements together and explains the political mythology that has made this period one of the most fascinating and important epochs in American history. One of the strengths of the book is that it not only demonstrates, but also explains, the deeper mechanisms behind our continual fascination with these three particular presidents. From the Kennedy assassination through Vietnam and Watergate, a complex web of historical events is untangled and lucidly explained. There have been few efforts to examine the nature of Kennedy's continual appeal, but no work thus far has attempted to place Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in one coherent framework that not only explains our fascination - indeed, obsession - with these individuals, but also illuminates the period in history they so dominated."--BOOK JACKET.

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Victoria Prego

Presidentes, ganadora del III Premio Así Fue 2000, La Historia Rescatada, es un compendio de lo vivido por cuatro de los más importantes protagonistas de los últimos veinticinco años de la historia española, los jefes del Ejecutivo, Adolfo Suárez, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Felipe González y José María Aznar. Con una pluma ágil y una gran capacidad de síntesis, Victoria Prego plasma con maestría la historia de la joven democracia española en boca de sus cuatro presidentes de Gobierno, cada uno de los cuales afrontó el ejercicio del poder con la profunda voluntad de restablecer y mantener la concordia, la democracia y las libertades fundamentales entre sus compatriotas. Se trata de una narración fluida donde la voz de los protagonistas se intercala con la brillante explicación que la autora da a los hechos y que resume con gran acierto los principales problemas y las más significativas dificultades con que los cuatro dirigentes se enfrentaron a lo largo de su mandato: los dramáticos enfrentamientos de Adolfo Suárez con determinados miembros de la cúpula militar, el acoso al que le sometieron los varones de su propio partido, el proceso de legalización del Partido Comunista o el rechazo que su presidencia despertó entre ciertos estadistas extranjeros; la presión a la que fue sometido Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo para impedir la aprobación de la ley del Divorcio, la reactivación de la política exterior para la incorporación de España a la OTAN y a la Comunidad Europea; los iniciales enfrentamientos de Felipe González con diversos elementos militares, la importante decisión de ocultar más de un complot golpista para no alarmar a la ciudadanía, y los hitos que marcaron la política de su gobierno; y, finalmente, la llegada al poder de un gran partido nacional de centro-derecha, cuyo presidente, José Mª Aznar, plantea su gestión política en clave de pacto con los nacionalismos periféricos, tradicionalmente asociados a la izquierda, así como su expreso deseo de pactar con los sindicatos, la guerra digital desatada entre los medios de comunicación y uno de los mayores retos a los que debe enfrentarse el país: la lacra del terrorismo, que sigue golpeando las vidas y la conciencia de los españoles.

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Gil Troy

"The 1990s was a decade of extreme change. Seismic shifts in culture, politics, and technology radically altered the way Americans did business, expressed themselves, and thought about their role in the world. At the center of it all was Bill Clinton, the talented, charismatic, and flawed Baby Boomer president and his controversial, polarizing, but increasingly popular wife Hillary. Although it was in many ways a Democratic Gilded Age, the final decade of the twentieth century was also a time of great anxiety. The Cold War was over, America was safe, stable, free, and prosperous, and yet Americans felt more unmoored, anxious, and isolated than ever. Having lost the script telling us our place in the world, we were forced to seek new anchors. This was the era of glitz and grunge, when we simultaneously relished living in the Republic of Everything even as we feared it might degenerate into the Republic of Nothing. Bill Clinton dominated this era, a man of passion and of contradictions both revered and reviled, whose complex legacy has yet to be clearly defined.In this unique analysis, historian Gil Troy examines Clinton's presidency alongside the cultural changes that dominated the decade. By taking the '90s year-by-year, Troy shows how the culture of the day shaped the Clintons even as the Clintons shaped it. In so doing, he offers answers to two of the enduring questions about Clinton's legacy: how did such a talented politician leave Americans thinking he accomplished so little when he actually accomplished so much? And, to what extent was Clinton responsible for the catastrophes of the decade that followed his departure from office, specifically 9/11 and the collapse of the housing market? Even more relevant as we head toward the 2016 election, The Age of Clinton will appeal to readers on both sides of the aisle"--