Short Takes: Presidents and Veeps

These books are timed to appear with the culminatation of the 2008 presidential election season. Like the McCain-Palin and Obama-Biden teams, they are sometimes perplexing hybrids, mixing some serious content with some partisan opinion (the starred title below is nonpartisan) and putting considerable thought into packaging. But these publishers, like the teams behind McCain and Obama, figure their approach will snag a demographic that was previously uncommitted. Public libraries should take note.

The cover showing the Father of Our Country with egg on his face may lead readers to think they're in for a romp, but this is, in fact, a serious journey, handsomely illustrated, providing narratives on 20 episodes of presidential failure. In the introduction, the authors explain why Bill Clinton is not included, impeachment notwithstanding, while both Bushes are, and it makes sense. The writing offers accessible pathways through the thicket of American history, but signposts like "Tricky Dick" remind us that there's some attitude here. There are also details that get lost along the way. Still, the results are a good bet for school and public libraries.

After November 4th, 2008, the President-elect will have just over six weeks to set up his administration. Hess, first involved in the U.S. presidential transition process when it was between Ike and JFK, here delineates every step of "how to best organize a presidency." He addresses the reader as the President-elect and magically combines expertise, charm, and implicit wit. Numerous diagrams show, e.g., the real layout of the West Wing (with a text box on the TV version) and the seating arrangement for the cabinet at its meetings and questions to ask your potential PIP (that's primus inter pares—read the book!). Although it deserves to do well in retail as a holiday gift, this marvelous, elegantly informative read should be in all libraries.

This one's a conundrum. Kelter sure is an expert when it comes to our vice presidents—wow, will readers learn a lot here!—but he's also a smart aleck, fond of wordplay and humor that verge on the sophomoric and can be crude (including the index). Although the VPs are handled chronologically, there are no internally consistent subheadings or boxed data to make this ready reference. Nevertheless, the book is recommended with appreciation of Kelter's deep knowledge (he gives his print and online sources) and of Shellabarger's pen-and-ink portraits of each VP, marvelously evocative of 19th-century copperplates. For public libraries.

There was a time when books with U.S. presidential facts were formatted chronologically by President, which allowed readers to render their own lists of trivial and less trivial information based on their own study. Next, these books started to offer some fun lists in the back ("Presidents resident of a state other than that of their birth," etc.). This book skips the President-by-President rendition altogether (aside from a desultory table up front) and simply supplies thematically arranged annotated lists. They're fun, but some buffs may prefer their presidential diet not to be predigested. Is it more enjoyable to discover yourself that one 20th-century President had no living predecesor when he took office—or to be told? For public libraries.