Audiobooks narrated by Michael Beschloss

The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency

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 -An original poll on the best and worst presidents Through insightful 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, TBD, Ted Widmer, Timothy J. Naftali (Narrator)

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

In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, decades later, these conversations can be heard in this digitally re-mastered eight and a half hour audio program. This audiobook includes the foreword written and read by Caroline Kennedy; introduction written and read by historian Michael Beschloss; and the photos from the hardcover book, as well as complete annotations from Michael Beschloss, both in downloadable PDF format. Shortly after President John F. Kennedys 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 husbands 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. Kennedys 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 JFKs presidency but also shedding new light on the man behind the momentous decisions. As told by Mrs. Kennedy, here are JFKs 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. Kennedys 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 Kennedys Inauguration, Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family are now releasing these beautifully restored recordings with accompanying annotations and photos from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library as well as other sources. 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, Arthur Meier Jr. Schlesinger, Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Michael Beschloss (Narrator)

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

Michael Beschloss's dramatic and inspiring saga explores crucial times when a courageous President changed the history of the United States. With surprising new sources and a dazzling command of history and human character, Beschloss brings these flawed, complex men -- and their wives, families, friends and foes -- to life as if in a gripping novel. Never have we had a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of Presidents coping with the supreme dilemmas of their lives. In Presidential Courage you will witness George Washington braving threats of impeachment and assassination to make peace with England; John Adams, incurring his party's "unrelenting hatred" by refusing to fight France and warning, "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war;" Andrew Jackson, in a death struggle against the corrupt Bank of the United States; Abraham Lincoln, risking his Presidency to insist that slaves be freed, as well as the crushing ordeals faced by Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. As Beschloss shows, none of these Presidents was eager to incur ridicule, vilification or threats of political destruction and even assassination. But in the end, each ultimately proved himself to be, in Andrew Jackson's words, "born for the storm."

Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Narrator)

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

Michael Beschloss has been called by Newsweek "the nation's leading Presidential historian." Author of six previous books on the history of American Presidents and global affairs, including Mayday (1986), The Crisis Years (1991) and the first two volumes of a trilogy on the Lyndon Johnson tapes, he is a frequent lecturer and regular commentator on ABC News and PBS's The Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Born in Chicago, he is a trustee of the White House Historical Association, the National Archives Foundation, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. He lives with his wife and their two sons in Washington, D.C..

Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Narrator)

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

Michael Beschloss has been called by Newsweek "the nation's leading presidential historian." Author of five previous books on American Presidents, he is a frequent lecturer and a regular commentator on ABC News and PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Born in Chicago, he is a trustee of the White House Historical Association, the National Archives Foundation, and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Narrator)

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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, Michael R. Beschloss (Author), Michael Beschloss, Michael R. Beschloss (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Michael Beschloss