Kirjahaku

You can count on Congress to provide a good laugh. Take, for instance, the Senator who talked about the war in "Indigo China," or the Representative who asked why the Israelis and Arabs couldn't settle their differences "like good Christians." But the U.S. Congress has always been much more than a good source of comedy. It has been home to brilliance as well as buffoonery, to integrity as well as corruption, to statesmanship as well as demagoguery. And in Congressional Anecdotes Paul F. Boller, Jr. captures it all with a sweeping, informative, and delightful look at the history of our national legislature. A professional historian and author of the bestselling Presidential Anecdotes, Paul Boller again shows his gift for lively--and revealing--stories. In this collection he provides a fascinating view of the history of our Congress, a history that reflects the life and character of the nation in often surprising ways. The first Congress, for example, was serious about its task of setting precedents for the new republic, earnestly debating how the President should be addressed. But some Congressmen erupted in laughter when Vice President John Adams proposed "His Mighty Benign Highness," and they suggested in turn that Adams be hailed as "Your Rotundity." At one time dueling among members of Congress was common, and in the nineteenth century they often came to the Capitol armed with swords, pistols, and Bowie knives. In one session, as animosities flared between North and South, a general free-for-all broke out on the House floor and ended only when one Congressman pulled off another Congressman's wig, reducing the whole House to laughter. In the twentieth century, Boller reminds us, racial and sexual equality lagged on Capitol Hill just as it did across the country. For a long time black Congressmen were banned from the Congressional Dining Room because of their race, and the first women members waded in male condescension. Boller's book is filled with informative essays and entertaining stories about the sharp debates and fierce battles that took place in the nation's legislature during its first two hundred years. It also provides fascinating insights into its leading figures: John Randolph, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robert LaFollette, Sam Rayburn, Gerald Ford, Tip O'Neill, Robert Dole. Organizing the anecdotes by subject, Boller has written ten chapters about Congress, each of them containing essays and stories about such topics as "Congress-Bashing" (a practice almost as old as the Constitution itself), "Manners and Morals," "On the Floor" (Congressional debates), "Oratory," "In the Chair" (about Speakers and Vice Presidents), and "Congress and the President." Amusing, dramatic, and poignant, Boller's tales about Congress reveal the rich and vital past of one of America's greatest institutions, as well as the indispensable part it has played in the nation's development.

Dramatic, poignant, hilarious, and sentimental: anecdotes about US presidents are as varied as the presidents themselves, and people have enjoyed hearing them since the early days of the American Republic. This new and revised edition of Presidential Anecdotes recounts some of the most striking stories about America's forty-two Chief Executives, from Washington to Clinton.

In sailing westward in 1492, did Columbus defy the prevailing belief that the Earth was flat? Was Thomas Paine an atheist? Was Truman plucked from obscurity to be FDR's running mate in 1944? Are presidential campaigns nowadays far dirtier than they were in the past? Is Hillary Clinton the most active or influential First Lady ever? Not so, says Paul Boller, in this delightfully informative look at some of the most common myths and misconceptions about the American past. As he did in his bestselling They Never Said It, Boller provides us with a cornucopia of historical correction, debunking myths that range from the trivial--for instance, George Washington did not have false teeth made of wood (they were made of ivory)--to the pernicious (FDR did not know in advance that the Japanese planned to bomb Pearl Harbor). We learn that most educated people in Columbus's day knew the world was round (it was Washington Irving who first portrayed Columbus as defying a coterie of flat-earthers); that Washington's famous Farewell Address was mostly written by Alexander Hamilton; that the Pledge of Allegiance was penned by Francis Bellamy, a devout socialist, in 1892 (and it was intended as a paean to big government); that Thomas Paine was not an atheist, but a deist (as were Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin), and his Age of Reason attacked both organized religion and atheism; that Truman was far from an obscure politician in 1944 (he had been on the cover of Time in 1943 for his Senate work uncovering waste and fraud in the war industries, and a Look magazine poll placed Truman among the ten figures who had contributed the most to the war effort); that presidential campaigns in the old days were more vituperative than recent ones; and that several First Ladies were more influential than Hillary Clinton, most notably Eleanor Roosevelt and Edith Wilson (the latter played a crucial role in her husband's administration from 1919 to 1921, after he suffered a massive stroke). Boller doesn't simply debunk each myth, but instead provides us with much fascinating history surrounding each case, so that the reader is treated to intriguing discussions of many singular episodes in American history, including the Kennedy assassination, the McCarthy hearings, the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and Watergate. And finally, if the book provides many eye-opening surprises and amusing passages, there is also a serious side of Boller's exploration of American myth. As he shows, much misinformation has been cooked up for political or ideological reasons. By debunking these tales, Boller warns us to question what we hear and what we think we know about America and about our leaders, past and present. The chronicles of American history are strewn with legends, fables, folklore, misconceptions, and outright lies. Patriotism has set many a tall tale in motion, but so have political partisanship and ideological zeal. For everyone who loves history--or the truth--Paul Boller has given us a candid and absorbing look at the American past that helps us get a good sense of where we have been and who we are as a people.

In Presidential Wives, Paul Boller brings his gift for telling detail to bear on the women our Presidents married, and the result is a biographical feat--at once funny and poignant, dramatic and illuminating, covering every First Lady from Martha Washington to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Boller devotes a full chapter to each of his subjects, featuring an incisive biographical essay followed by a selection of revealing anecdotes. Through his portrayal of such a diverse group of women, Boller sheds new light on how much the institution of the presidency tells us about ourselves and our life as a nation. First published in 1988, this second edition has been revised to include updated information on people such as Nancy Reagan and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a new preface, and new chapters devoted to Barbara Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Were presidential campaigns always as bitter as they have been in recent years? Or is the current style of campaigning a new political development? In this revised and updated edition of Presidential Campaigns the answers to these questions are clear: the race for the presidency, although at times mean and nasty, has always been an endlessly entertaining and highly charged spectacle. This book unveils the whole history of American presidential elections, from the seamless ascent of General George Washington to the bitterly contested election of George W. Bush, bringing these boisterous contests to life in all their richness and complexity. Back in the nineteenth century, the invective at election time was exuberant and the mudslinging unrestrained; a candidate might be called everything from a carbuncle-faced old drunkard to a howling atheist. But there was plenty of fun and games, too, with songs and slogans, speeches and parades, all livening up the scene in order to get people to the polls. Presidential Campaigns takes note of the serious side of elections even as it documents the frenzy, frolic and the sleaze. Each chapter contains a brief essay describing an election and presenting "campaign highlights" that bring to life the quadrennial confrontation in all its Shame and glory. With a postscript analysing the major changes in the ways Americans have chosen their Presidents from Washington's time to the present, Presidential Campaigns gives the reader a full picture of this somewhat flawed procedure.

Originally published by Rand McNally & Company in 1969, this volume provides a discussion of the Gilded Age, the decades between the end of the Civil War and the closing of the Spanish-American War. Many aspects of this period are examined, including the transition from a rural-agrarian federation to an industrial, urban nation-state. An intensive study of ideas, this volume fulfills the need for an informative and highly readable work of the intellectual and cultural developments in an important era of American History.

Since he first began writing in the 1950s, Dr. Paul F. Boller Jr. has had a passion for sharing the humorous, intriguing, and little-known or widely misunderstood aspects of the American presidency. Boller has authored many beloved books on American presidents, the first ladies, presidential anecdotes, quotes, campaign strategies, and common myths.This wide variety of topics has been collected for the first time in Essays on the Presidents, along with new essays and forewords. Boller's prose, distinct and inviting, causes the reader to see what is often overlooked in the history of American presidents: their humanity. Boller has searched for those patriotic narratives we have all heard at some point in our lives—whether from our schoolteachers, coworkers, or various trivia books—and corrects the misconceptions many Americans deem as truth in a lighthearted and truly characteristic voice. From Washington's relationship with the Jews to the electioneering and stump-speaking associated with American presidential campaigns, readers will not only see the significant changes in the presidential office since its conception, but also Boller’s lifetime of research and his expertise in the field of American history. Personality—of the most interesting presidents and of Boller himself—is an important theme throughout this collection.The in-depth retelling of treasured American stories will captivate readers and keep them exploring for more nuggets of truth. Boller tracks the relationship between Americans and the presidents, uncovering the intricate nature of presidential responsibilities and the remarkable men whose leadership shaped the office into what it is today. Celebrating the commanders-in-chief and the career of the nationally-recognized American historian and TCU Emeritus Professor of political science, Essays on the Presidents serves as a unique perspective on American history that fans of both Boller and the presidents will enjoy.

Discusses hundreds of famous quotes, revealing who really said them, to whom they were falsely attributed, and how these attributions came about