The award-wining author of Second Acts and The Last Republicans draws on interviews and conversations with seven presidents to identify the essence of character, leadership and legacy that has defined each of them and the modern American presidency.
Throughout his career as an author, journalist, television commentator, and head of a presidential library and foundation, Mark Updegrove has had the privilege of getting to know seven U.S. Presidents, from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. In Make Your Mark, he offers incisive, compelling sketches of these modern presidents and the character trait that made each suited to his moment in the Oval Office and underlies his most significant accomplishments.
Gerald Ford’s instinct to do the right thing in the wake of Watergate;
Jimmy Carter’s mission to do good in the areas of peace and human rights during his presidency and throughout his post-presidency;
Ronald Reagan’s optimism, restoring the nation’s confidence and pride after a sustained period of demoralizing national setbacks;
George H.W. Bush’s humility, helping to ensure a peaceful end to the Cold War that had seethed between the superpowers for over forty years;
Bill Clinton’s resilience and determination to keep working for the good of the American people in the face of political and personal obstacles;
George W. Bush’s charge to give back as the deadly AIDS epidemic spread unchecked throughout much of the developing world;
and Barack Obama’s grace as the first African American to hold the country’s highest office.
Make Your Mark reveals that there is no one-size-fits-all model for leadership. We all have our own set of strengths and weaknesses. But drawing on these presidential examples, we can ask ourselves how our character reflects our leadership, and be inspired to find the very best in who we are to make own unique marks as leaders.
Acclaimed author and historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation and presidential historian for ABC News, offers an illuminating account of John F. Kennedy's brief but transformative tenure in the White House.
"Tremendously absorbing and inviting… An important book."-Doris Kearns Goodwin • "Elegant, concise, [and] knowing."-Michael Beschloss • "Rescues JFK from Camelot mythology."-Richard Norton Smith
Nearly sixty years after his death, JFK still holds an outsize place in the American imagination. While Baby Boomers remember his dazzling presence as president, millennials more likely know him from advertisements for Omega watches or Ray Ban sunglasses. Yet his years in office were marked by more than his style and elegance. His presidency is a story of a fledgling leader forced to meet unprecedented challenges, and to rise above missteps to lead his nation into a new and hopeful era.
Kennedy entered office inexperienced but alluring, his reputation more given by an enamored public than earned through achievement. In this gripping new assessment of his time in the Oval Office, Updegrove reveals how JFK's first months were marred by setbacks: the botched Bay of Pigs invasions, a disastrous summit with the Soviet premier, and a mismanaged approach to the Civil Rights movement. But the young president soon proved that behind the glamour was a leader of uncommon fortitude and vision.
A humbled Kennedy conceded his mistakes, and, importantly for our times, drew important lessons from his failures that he used to right wrongs and move forward undaunted. Indeed, Kennedy grew as president, radiating greater possibility as he coolly faced a steady stream of crises before his tragic end.
Incomparable Grace compellingly reexamines the dramatic, consequential White House years of a flawed but gifted leader too often defined by the Camelot myth that came after his untimely death.
An historian's revealing and intimate portrait of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush that explores their relationship as presidents and as father and son-the first major biographical treatment of these two consequential presidents and figures in American history.
In 2016 the Republican base revolted against the GOP establishment that has become synonymous with the Bush name, choosing instead a political neophyte and anti-establishment outsider as the standard bearer of their party. Donald Trump's election marked the end not only of a presidential dynasty, but a rejection of the Republican principles and traditions the Bushes have long championed. Despite the Republicans' surprise victory in 2016, behind closed doors the party remains divided between traditional conservatives, populists, and radical ideologues, and faces an uncertain future. As presidential historian Mark K. Updegrove argues, Bush 41 and 43 are in effect, the "last Republicans."
In this balanced, illuminating book, Updegrove tells the story of the Bushes' relationship from the birth of George W. through their post-presidential years and Jeb Bush's failed candidacy. Drawing on exclusive access and interviews with both presidents and the key people in their lives, Updegrove reveals the Bushes' views on the current state of the nation and the GOP, and how the party they both led and helped build is undergoing a radical transformation. At last, the famously circumspect Bushes offer unvarnished observations and revelations on everything from George W. Bush's youthful indiscretions to the influence and perspectives they had on each other's administration to their views on Donald Trump-and how they each voted in the 2016 election.
A candid and often surprising portrait of two men, The Last Republicans is also an elegy for the party of Reagan and Bush-and for the many thoughtful and prudent individuals who made up the "establishment," and are conspicuously lacking in today's GOP.
