Leaders & Notable People
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First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
A USA TODAY "BEST BOOKS OF 2021" PICK!
In the bestselling tradition of The Presidents Club and Presidential Courage, White House history as told through the stories of the best friends and closest confidants of American presidents.
Here are the riveting histories of myriad presidential friendships, among them:Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed: They shared a bed for four years during which Speed saved his friend from a crippling depression. Two decades later the friends worked together to save the Union. Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson: When Truman wavered on whether to recognize the state of Israel in 1948, his lifelong friend and former business partner intervened at just the right moment with just the right words to steer the president's decision. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Daisy Suckley: Unassuming and overlooked during her lifetime, Daisy Suckley was in reality FDR's most trusted, constant confidant, the respite for a lonely and overworked President navigating the Great Depression and World War IIJohn Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore: They met as young men in pre-war London and began a conversation over the meaning of leadership. A generation later the Cuban Missile Crisis would put their ideas to test as Ormsby-Gore became the president's unofficial, but most valued foreign policy advisor.These and other friendships-including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Franklin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan-populate this fresh and provocative exploration of a series of seminal presidential friendships.
Publishing history teems with books by and about Presidents, First Ladies, First Pets, and even First Chefs. Now former Clinton aide Gary Ginsberg breaks new literary ground on Pennsylvania Avenue and provides fresh insights into the lives of the men who held the most powerful political office in the world by looking at the friends on whom they relied.
First Friends is an engaging, serendipitous look into the lives of Commanders-in-Chief and how their presidencies were shaped by those they held most dear.
A USA TODAY "BEST BOOKS OF 2021" PICK!
In the bestselling tradition of The Presidents Club and Presidential Courage, White House history as told through the stories of the best friends and closest confidants of American presidents.
Here are the riveting histories of myriad presidential friendships, among them:Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed: They shared a bed for four years during which Speed saved his friend from a crippling depression. Two decades later the friends worked together to save the Union. Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson: When Truman wavered on whether to recognize the state of Israel in 1948, his lifelong friend and former business partner intervened at just the right moment with just the right words to steer the president's decision. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Daisy Suckley: Unassuming and overlooked during her lifetime, Daisy Suckley was in reality FDR's most trusted, constant confidant, the respite for a lonely and overworked President navigating the Great Depression and World War IIJohn Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore: They met as young men in pre-war London and began a conversation over the meaning of leadership. A generation later the Cuban Missile Crisis would put their ideas to test as Ormsby-Gore became the president's unofficial, but most valued foreign policy advisor.These and other friendships-including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Franklin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan-populate this fresh and provocative exploration of a series of seminal presidential friendships.
Publishing history teems with books by and about Presidents, First Ladies, First Pets, and even First Chefs. Now former Clinton aide Gary Ginsberg breaks new literary ground on Pennsylvania Avenue and provides fresh insights into the lives of the men who held the most powerful political office in the world by looking at the friends on whom they relied.
First Friends is an engaging, serendipitous look into the lives of Commanders-in-Chief and how their presidencies were shaped by those they held most dear.
Editorial Reviews
"Readers will delight in this intriguing look at the human side of the presidency."―Publishers Weekly
"A fresh, well-written take on the lives of our presidents." ―Kirkus
"Ginsberg has crafted an insightful series of biographies, showing just how these friendships thrived and survived and were consequential for the nation's history." ?―Booklist (starred review)
"Gary Ginsberg has brought us a fresh, fascinating and irresistible account of nine presidential relationships that helped to change history. FIRST FRIENDS demonstrates that one of the best ways of understanding the presidents of our past is to discover their relationships with intimate friends, and the author tells us many important things we did not know before."―Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of PRESIDENTS OF WAR
"One of the most important roles in any administration is that of First Friend, the person a president can trust completely and be relaxed around. It's a wonderful idea for a book, and with his great research and personal feel for true friendship, Gary Ginsberg has woven together fascinating stories and memorable insights. His lessons are important not just for studying the presidency, but for understanding leadership and life."―Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of LEONARDO DA VINCI
"Gary Ginsberg takes a fascinating and utterly original look at the most crucial of questions: How do we best understand those who occupy our highest office, and the first friends who supported them?"―Malcolm Gladwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of TALKING TO STRANGERS
"Even if you're an avid reader of presidential biographies, you'll find yourself saying, 'Who knew?' all the way through FIRST FRIENDS. Gary Ginsberg combed through diaries, letters and interviews with an investigator's eye, teasing out personal details about the intimacies of nine presidents and their best friends. It is one of the best reads of the genre, rich with well-told anecdotes, new angles on critical historical events and evidence of the vital importance of friendship for presidents-and all of us. This book is a joy to read."―Lesley Stahl
"FIRST FRIENDS is an overdue reminder that deep friendship has always played a priceless role in shaping the contours of history. It gives us a fresh reminder of the power of relationships."
―Tom Brokaw
"Delicious, charming and original, this examination of largely unexplored terrain-presidents and their best friends-packs a historical punch."―Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and bestselling author of THE TIME OF OUR LIVES
"This book was a wonderful surp...
"A fresh, well-written take on the lives of our presidents." ―Kirkus
"Ginsberg has crafted an insightful series of biographies, showing just how these friendships thrived and survived and were consequential for the nation's history." ?―Booklist (starred review)
"Gary Ginsberg has brought us a fresh, fascinating and irresistible account of nine presidential relationships that helped to change history. FIRST FRIENDS demonstrates that one of the best ways of understanding the presidents of our past is to discover their relationships with intimate friends, and the author tells us many important things we did not know before."―Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of PRESIDENTS OF WAR
"One of the most important roles in any administration is that of First Friend, the person a president can trust completely and be relaxed around. It's a wonderful idea for a book, and with his great research and personal feel for true friendship, Gary Ginsberg has woven together fascinating stories and memorable insights. His lessons are important not just for studying the presidency, but for understanding leadership and life."―Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of LEONARDO DA VINCI
"Gary Ginsberg takes a fascinating and utterly original look at the most crucial of questions: How do we best understand those who occupy our highest office, and the first friends who supported them?"―Malcolm Gladwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of TALKING TO STRANGERS
"Even if you're an avid reader of presidential biographies, you'll find yourself saying, 'Who knew?' all the way through FIRST FRIENDS. Gary Ginsberg combed through diaries, letters and interviews with an investigator's eye, teasing out personal details about the intimacies of nine presidents and their best friends. It is one of the best reads of the genre, rich with well-told anecdotes, new angles on critical historical events and evidence of the vital importance of friendship for presidents-and all of us. This book is a joy to read."―Lesley Stahl
"FIRST FRIENDS is an overdue reminder that deep friendship has always played a priceless role in shaping the contours of history. It gives us a fresh reminder of the power of relationships."
―Tom Brokaw
"Delicious, charming and original, this examination of largely unexplored terrain-presidents and their best friends-packs a historical punch."―Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and bestselling author of THE TIME OF OUR LIVES
"This book was a wonderful surp...
Readers Top Reviews
C
This book discusses the relationships between various US presidents and some of their best friends. There are nine main chapters, each covering one president and his close confidant: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Franklin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne, Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed, Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House, FDR and Daisy Suckley, Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson, Jack Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore, Richard Nixon and Bebe Rebozo, and Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan. Each chapter starts with a picture of each of the two friends, and explains the nature of their relationship over the years. There is a great deal of information in this book, most of which I was completely unfamiliar with. There are great quotes and excerpts from letters, and I found some of the parts of letters from Lincoln to Speed to be particularly interesting. Overall, this was a thorough and well written account of these friendships that really seemed to influence the presidents, and in many cases therefore helped determine the course of history. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
RETIRW
This book offers a new lens for understanding nine of our presidents, from monumental ones like Lincoln to lesser known ones like Pierce. It begins with Jefferson and Madison (I found this the most cohesive chapter) and it ends with Clinton and Jordan (unique given the author’s insider role as a lawyer during that administration). All the chapters offer many fascinating details, a lot of which I’ve read elsewhere but presented here in a different way. The first three chapters seem to work together better in terms of historical themes like slavery. After Lincoln, there’s a huge jump in time period to Wilson and less attempt to draw parallels. While these other chapters aren’t as interconnected, they’re still compelling on their own and none of them are repetitive. Ginsberg shifts his focus for what makes each friendship rewarding, yet there are some interesting (mostly unstated) commonalities to ponder. There’s a wide range of source material, but my biggest pet peeve is that there aren’t actual footnotes. Still, the writing is clear and careful (though some chapters meander more than others). Even for a history buff, this book will still be an enjoyable read. And for those who don't read much history, First Friends is fun, approachable, and informative. It seems like the author tapped into an unknown market and could write a few volumes on this topic. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fresh take on presidential history.
