Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden

Even Presidential Historians Can Learn from This Book!
I am a presidential historian. In fact, I am the Founder of the Society of Presidential Historians in Academia (SOPHIA). sophiascholars.com
Many historians might thumb their nose at this book, deeming it not “scholarly,” but I don’t share that view. Confronting the Presidents is historically accurate, eminently engaging, refreshingly objective, and highly entertaining. Far too many scholarly history books are written to preserve the historical record, and that’s important. But consequently, they contain painstakingly dry and often excruciatingly boring detail. But this book is chock full of information that’s easy to digest, so the reader’s eyes can easily glide from page to page.
Bill O’Reilly (assisted by Martin Dugard) devotes a chapter to each president, from Washington to Obama, understandably omitting Trump and Biden, who at the time of writing were running for president again; O’Reilly focuses only on presidents who were done. O’Reilly engages the reader in dramatic fashion with chapter-openers such as: “George Washington is mad as his mother” (p. 3, describing a longstanding feud between the two), “The Executive Mansion [now the White House] is ablaze” (p. 33, when the British invaded and set fire to Washington, DC during the War of 1812), “Franklin Pierce needs a drink” (p. 108, explaining that president’s propensity to consume large amounts of alcohol), and “The President of the United States is stuck” (p. 215, referring to William Howard Taft’s large 350-pound body being stuck in the tub during his baths).
I knew all of those things ahead of time, as well as most of the numerous other fascinating facts O’Reilly describes, because presidential history is my field. But I learned some new interesting tidbits too, such as: A few years before becoming president and leader of the Confederate Army, respectively, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee worked together to coordinate incoming President Zachary Taylor’s inauguration festivities (p. 98), that Taylor and his running mate Millard Fillmore never met face-to-face until after they won the election (p. 104), that Gerald and Betty Ford were the first president and first lady to sleep in the same bedroom in the White House (p. 333), and that Barack Obama is fluent in Indonesian (p. 383).
The book is remarkably objective until the Afterword, when O’Reilly and Dugard show their hand and tell us what they think of Trump and Biden, and we finally learn that Dugard, who’s been collaborating with O’Reilly on books for years and years but has mostly remained in the shadows, in contrast to the conservative-minded (but registered independent) O’Reilly, is a liberal! That in my mind adds gravitas to their work, as they can assess matters from varying perspectives.
The only disappointment I have with a book this rich in presidential anecdotes is that there aren’t any cited sources. Oh, it’s not that I doubt the information’s veracity (like I said, I already knew most of it and have no doubt to believe that any of it is inaccurate); it’s just that footnotes/endnotes are helpful to those interested in further reading.
What may seem like frivolous presidential trivia to some is in my view what makes this book so valuable: that George Washington didn’t attend his mother’s funeral (though, in fairness, it’s been said that the news didn’t get to him in time) and never had a headstone put on her grave (no excuses for that one). It’s important because we tend to vilify our modern-day presidents, yet we all but declare holy those on Mount Rushmore. But here we learn how the “Father of our Country” treated his mother’s memory, and hopefully it reminds us that history has a tendency to wash away or galvanize a president’s image, and that all of the presidents – every single one of them – had good points and bad points.
This is great read in language simple enough for novices but informative enough even for those of us who’ve made presidential history a life’s work.

Highy accessible assessment of all US Presidents
This is a broad overview of all the US Presidents that also serves as a parallel historiography of the United States from its inception during the early days of George Washington all the way to Obama. Bill O’Reilly does not mince his words. It is truly no spin, offering both praise and sharp critque of all the presidents, their victories and their shortcomings.
This is a highly readable history book, and this coming from a history student who had perused many many history books of the same sort. However, if one would want to delve deeper into each of the president, perhaps this book is not for you.

The writing style is far from boring, very interesting, easy to read, and even humorous at times. A great book!

I’m a Brit. I have never been so absorbed in such an epic political thriller! This book is so easy to read. It narrates beautifully in such a human way. I am happy to understand far more about the history of the USA told in such honest and uncompromising ways. Absolutely super book. There is far more depth to the history than I have ever seen before. Fantastic book! 5 stars!!!!