James McMurtry Longo

This is a biography of Isabel Orleans-Braganca, daughter of the last emperor of Brazil. At a time when the voices of women went mostly unheard, Orleans-Braganca was a skilled and vocal politician. She was also a determined abolitionist, committed to peacefully ending slavery in the country that first introduced slavery to America. Thrust into the political spotlight after the death of her two brothers and illness of her father, Orleans-Braganca became acting head of state just as revolution was sweeping the country. She soon found herself in a race to save the constitutional government and free the nation's slaves before a coup d'etat ended her time in power.

President Eisenhower, who was not always the best student, once wrote, "One cannot always read a man's future in the record of his younger days." Indeed, this review of the classroom experiences of presidents and first ladies from George and Martha Washington to Barack and Michelle Obama reveals that few made model students. Teachers reported that John F. Kennedy could "seldom locate his possessions," found George H.W. Bush "somewhat eccentric," and dubbed a sixth-grade Bill Clinton "a motormouth." In addition to chronicling the school days of these historic figures, this volume also relates their teaching experiences, the educational issues they addressed during their White House years, and intricacies of education at their time in history, providing an informative overview of American schooling over time.