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purplepierogi's review against another edition
4.0
bc it was an old man narrating the audiobook and American history / presidents as subjects are inherently old-man-ish, I was shocked to discover the author is a young CEO..? and he used to work w Condaleeza Rice which explains her frequent quotations towards the end. idk more power to him, passion projects can be cool! I want to write a random micro history book.
as for the book itself, super informative though, of course, niche, and we do a bit of jumping to see the different transitions. I was a fan.
as for the book itself, super informative though, of course, niche, and we do a bit of jumping to see the different transitions. I was a fan.
papidoc's review against another edition
5.0
Accidental Presidents was a well researched, engaging exploration of the transitions between elected presidents and those while followed them into that office upon their deaths in office. Cohen also describes the evolution in the policies and procedures and even laws around those transitions. It may be difficult for us in these days to imagine it, but how and whether and by whom the presidential seat would be filled was, for many years, much less clear than it is now. Even as recently as 1981, when Ronald Reagan was shot, we saw Al Haig, then Secretary of State, rush to the podium and, in an unfortunate choice of phrasing for which he would ever after be remembered, declare “I, Al Haig, am in control here at the White House.” He certainly knew that he would not be the next President, but what a PR nightmare!
Cohen does a nice job of illuminating interesting details around the assassinations and other deaths in office of eight presidents, and the resulting changes in the country's direction from the influence of their successors...some good, and some not so good. I found myself speculating about what might have happened had the original president continued in office for his full term. Again, I suspect some good and some not so good would have come about. It's hard to imagine a world in which Teddy Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson wasn't president at the precise time in which they ascended to the presidency.
All in all, a fascinating book, highly readable, and filling an interesting gap in my under standing of American history. Worth a read.
Cohen does a nice job of illuminating interesting details around the assassinations and other deaths in office of eight presidents, and the resulting changes in the country's direction from the influence of their successors...some good, and some not so good. I found myself speculating about what might have happened had the original president continued in office for his full term. Again, I suspect some good and some not so good would have come about. It's hard to imagine a world in which Teddy Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson wasn't president at the precise time in which they ascended to the presidency.
All in all, a fascinating book, highly readable, and filling an interesting gap in my under standing of American history. Worth a read.
joshisreading's review against another edition
2.0
It’s an interesting hook, and it reads well enough. But this is not quality historical writing. I was disappointed by a number of factual errors (Thaddeus Stevens was not a senator) and some of the questionable defense and apologism for slave owning presidents. All in all, not my favorite.
bclark8781's review against another edition
3.0
A workmanlike review of the eight men who went from vice-president to president upon the death in office of their predecessors. Plenty of historic tidbits; Mr.Cohen has certainly done his research.
gswain's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent read! It overlapped nicely with other history books I’ve read recently. It was interesting and covered a lot.
yoteach87's review
5.0
A fantastic, well-written narrative that opens insight into the process of a vice president assuming the presidency. I consider myself an amateur-y expert on the presidents, yet I didn't know nearly 75% of the information found within these pages. The writing is top notch, in a way most non fiction lacks. There are a few factual errors that irked me (inconsequential to the narrative, but still), but author Cohen found his love for the presidents in his youth, like I did, and I can empathize with his sense of excitement for writing a truly interesting book.