The Presidents Decoded: A Guide to the Leaders Who Shaped Our Nation

Ever wonder what the President does? Meet the 45* people who have held the job in this important book that showcases how they each led the country in their time—and features their own thoughts and words through their documents, letters, diaries, speeches and so much more.

Some call it the most important job in the world. It's certainly the most powerful. And it's one that every citizen needs to know about because we're the ones who vote to put a president in office. Lively, informative, filled with firsts and facts, big ideas and compelling anecdotes, The Presidents Decoded, is a richly layered guide to the leaders who have shaped our nation.

Featuring over 125 primary sources--including documents, speeches, letters, executive orders and diaries--each leader's time in office is broken down and explained to show the what, how and why of our leaders' thoughts, decisions and policies. Familiar documents like the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The Fugitive Slave Act — the part of the Compromise of 1850 that set the country on a path to Civil War — are included. But there's also George Washington’s letter to Martha as he learns that he’s been chosen to be the General of the Continental Army, a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt from a desperate family during the Great Depression, a letter from baseball legend Jackie Robinson urging John F. Kennedy to do more for civil rights, and the Executive Order limiting the hours of the federal work day, and so many more. Full-color illustrations bring each president and their time in office to life on the page in their career-defining moments as history marches forward and changes the job — and our way of life — through inventions like the camera, the telephone, the first metal detector, services like the Navy and the Red Cross, and the rise of social media platforms like Twitter.

As she did in The Constitution Decoded, Katie Kennedy shines a light on American History, this time through the lens of the leaders who shaped our nation.

(*Very clever of you to catch this! the number is off by 1 because Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and the 24th president!)

 

Katie Kennedy has taught college history and the American government for thirty years. She currently teaches in Iowa, where she lives with her husband and son. She once caught her then-nine-year-old daughter sneak-reading the Constitution under the covers with a flashlight. She’s never been prouder. She is the author of The Constitution Decoded: A Guide to the Document That Shapes Our Nation, as well as, two young adult novels, Learning to Swear in America and What Goes Up.