First dads - Joshua C Kendall

From award-winning journalist Joshua Kendall comes an eye-opening examination of America's founding fathers as fathers: "a valuable reminder that while an American president may have the clout to launch spaceships and end world wars, that doesn't mean he can get his children to behave." (New York Times Book Review)

Every president has had some experience as a parent. Of the forty-three men who have served in the nation's highest office, thirty-eight fathered biological children; the other five adopted. Each president's parenting style reveals much about his beliefs, as well as his psychological make-up. James Garfield enjoyed jumping on the bed with his kids. FDR's children, by contrast, had to make appointments to speak with him.

Based on interviews, letters, and diaries found in archives across the country, Kendall's lively narrative shows presidential character in action. Readers will learn which type of parent is best-suited to leading the American people -- and how the fathering experiences of our Presidents have forever changed the course of American history.