Audiobooks narrated by Michael Beschloss

The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency

"A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the New York Times bestselling author of The American Story and How to Lead and host of PBS's History with David Rubenstein—David Rubenstein interviews living American presidents and top historians and journalists who reflect on the US presidency, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Maggie Haberman, Ron Chernow, and more. For years, bestselling author David M. Rubenstein has distilled the contours of American democracy through conversations with noted leaders and historians. In The Highest Calling, he offers an enlightening overview of arguably the single most important position in the world: the American presidency. Blending history and anecdote, Rubenstein chronicles the journeys of the presidents who have defined America as it exists now, what they envision for its future, and their legacy on the world stage. Drawing from his own experience in the Carter administration, he engages in dialogues with our nation's presidents and the historians who study them. Get exclusive access to fresh perspectives, including: -Original interviews with most of the living US presidents -Interviews with noted presidential historians like Annette Gordon-Reed, Ron Chernow, Candice Millard, and more Through "chatty, insightful, and enlightening" (The Wall Street Journal) analysis, Rubenstein captures our country's most prominent leaders, the political genius and frays of the presidential role, and the wisdom that emerges from it."

David M. Rubenstein (Author), Amity Shlaes, Annette Gordon-Reed, Bill Clinton, Candice Millard, David M. Rubenstein, David Marchick, Douglas Bradburn, Douglas Brinkley, Franklin Foer, Fredrik Logevall, Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Baker III, Jeffrey Frank, Jonathan Darman, Kai Bird, Lindsey Chervinsky, Maggie Haberman, Michael Beschloss, Peter Baker, Richard Norton Smith, Ron Chernow, Stewart McLaurin, Susan Eisenhower, Ted Widmer, Timothy J. Naftali (Narrator)

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Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy

"Celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, with this expansive illustrated book which includes interviews, recordings and other exclusive materials. To mark John F. Kennedy's centennial, celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President of the United States. In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, for the first time, they can be read in this deluxe, illustrated eBook. Shortly after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, with a nation deep in mourning and the world looking on in stunned disbelief, Jacqueline Kennedy found the strength to set aside her own personal grief for the sake of posterity and begin the task of documenting and preserving her husband's legacy. In January of 1964, she and Robert F. Kennedy approved a planned oral-history project that would capture their first-hand accounts of the late President as well as the recollections of those closest to him throughout his extraordinary political career. For the rest of her life, the famously private Jacqueline Kennedy steadfastly refused to discuss her memories of those years, but beginning that March, she fulfilled her obligation to future generations of Americans by sitting down with historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and recording an astonishingly detailed and unvarnished account of her experiences and impressions as the wife and confidante of John F. Kennedy. The tapes of those sessions were then sealed and later deposited in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum upon its completion, in accordance with Mrs. Kennedy's wishes. The resulting eight and a half hours of material comprises a unique and compelling record of a tumultuous era, providing fresh insights on the many significant people and events that shaped JFK's presidency but also shedding new light on the man behind the momentous decisions. Here are JFK's unscripted opinions on a host of revealing subjects, including his thoughts and feelings about his brothers Robert and Ted, and his take on world leaders past and present, giving us perhaps the most informed, genuine, and immediate portrait of John Fitzgerald Kennedy we shall ever have. Mrs. Kennedy's urbane perspective, her candor, and her flashes of wit also give us our clearest glimpse into the active mind of a remarkable First Lady. In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's Inauguration, Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family are now releasing these beautifully restored recordings on CDs with accompanying transcripts. Introduced and annotated by renowned presidential historian Michael Beschloss, these interviews will add an exciting new dimension to our understanding and appreciation of President Kennedy and his time and make the past come alive through the words and voice of an eloquent eyewitness to history."

Caroline Kennedy (Author), Arthur M. Schlesinger, Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

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Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989

"From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Conquerors comes a brilliantly readable and inspiring saga about crucial times in America's history when a courageous president dramatically changed the future of the United States. With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Michael Beschloss brings to life the flawed, complex men who changed America's history. From George Washington, braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England, to John Adams, incurring his party's unrelenting hatred by refusing to fight France, and from Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States, to Abraham Lincoln, risking his Presidency to insist that slaves be freed, Beschloss provides an intimate, behind-the-scenes view of presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives. Gripping and important, Presidential Courage reveals that none of these presidents were eager to incur ridicule, vilification, or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, bolstered by friends and family, hidden private beliefs, and faith, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, 'born for the storm.'"

Michael Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

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The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945

"A New York Times bestseller, The Conquerors reveals how Franklin Roosevelt's and Harry Truman's private struggles with their aides and Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin affected the unfolding of the Holocaust and the fate of vanquished Nazi Germany. With monumental fairness and balance, The Conquerors shows how Roosevelt privately refused desperate pleas to speak out directly against the Holocaust, to save Jewish refugees, and to explore the possible bombing of Auschwitz to stop the killing. The book also shows FDR's fierce will to ensure that Germany would never threaten the world again. Near the end of World War II, he abruptly endorsed the secret plan of his friend, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, to reduce the Germans to a primitive existence—despite Churchill's fear that crushing postwar Germany would let the Soviets conquer the continent. The book finally shows how, after FDR's death, President Truman rebelled against Roosevelt's tough approach and adopted the Marshall Plan and other more conciliatory policies that culminated in today's democratic, united Europe. As Presidents Roosevelt and Truman led the United States in World War II in Europe, they dealt with the question of what kind of government should be imposed on Nazi Germany to ensure that Germany could never again drag the world into war. The Conquerors tells the story with much intimate detail and color of how FDR and Truman privately struggled in their own minds and with titanic allies like Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin, through summits and secret messages, to answer that question."

Michael Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

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Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965

"Reaching for Glory lets us eavesdrop on LBJ's private, often tortured thoughts during the most crucial year of his presidency -- when his dreams of being hailed as the equal of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt were destroyed by the war in Vietnam. As Reaching for Glory opens, LBJ is campaigning for the greatest presidential landslide in history. To win, he hands embarrassing secrets about Barry Goldwater to friendly reporters. When Johnson's closest aide is arrested in a sex scandal, he tries to keep it from exploding before the election. This audiobook reveals the secret history of how Lyndon Johnson took us step by step, often by stealth, into Vietnam. While publicly boasting that there will be victory in Vietnam, he privately worries that the war can never be won and that it will crush his presidency. He foresees the backlash against the war, civil rights, and the Great Society that will bring Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to power. Reaching for Glory lets us hear LBJ's private telephone conversations with Jacqueline Kennedy just after her husband's assassination. It allows us to live at Lyndon Johnson's side, day by day, through the dramatic, triumphant, catastrophic, and pivotal year of a turbulent presidency that continues to affect all of our lives."

Michael Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

Audiobook

Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes 1963 1964

"Taking Charge brings you into the room with an American political legend, still hated and revered a quarter century after his death. We hear Lyndon Johnson as he schemes and blusters, rewards and punishes, and reveals a bedrock core of unshakable political beliefs. The only President to record his private conversations from his first day in office, LBJ ordered these tapes locked in a vault until at least the year 2023. But now they have been unsealed, providing a close-up look at a President taking power such as we have never had before -- from John F. Kennedy's murder in November 1963 to Johnson's campaign for a landslide victory. Taking Charge is filled with revelations about the full-blooded Texan behind the public image. You will hear LBJ: * Revealing his self-doubts and personal anguish over the responsibilities of the presidency * Receiving the frank criticism of his wife, Lady Bird Johnson * Staking his presidency on a revolutionaly civil rights bill * Scuttling Robert Kennedy's drive to be his Vice President * Using the Tonkin Gulf attack to expand the American beachhead in Southeast Asia * Unveiling his private, tortured early doubts that we could ever win a war in Vietnam Taking Charge gives us an unprecedented look into a crucial presidency that continues to shape our lives today. In LBJ's own words, it is history 'with the bark off.'"

Michael Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Michael Beschloss