The Raising of a President The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation&39s Leaders [Paperback]

Our greatest presidents have entered the Oval Office armed with overwhelming ambition, intellect, and ideals. But were these characteristics evident in youth? What are the family circumstances that have created our presidents? How did their upbringing shape their future -- and ours?

InThe Raising of a President, bestselling author Doug Wead goes where no presidential biographer has gone before: straight to the childhood homes of America's greatest leaders. Wead analyzes the types of families in which they were reared, and offers fascinating psychological profiles based on his findings. Using presidential letters and personal correspondence -- as well as notes from his own private conversations with six presidential families -- Wead brilliantly portrays the early lives, loves, and political awakenings of George Washington; John Adams and the rest of America's first dynasty; Lincoln, who never betrayed his humble roots; Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, each raised in prominent political households; and the once and future commanders in chief Bush.

More than just political biography,The Raising of a Presidentsheds new light on America¹s presidents, who were not only born but made. Epic! A remarkable perspective....One sees the American presidents through a more intimate lens.

-- Peter Schweizer, coauthor ofThe Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty Superb.... A long-awaited study of a difficult subject often hidden by presidents and their families. It is a piece of American history that solves many mysteries.

-- Steven Lee Carson, chairman, White House Conference on Presidential Children