The Unfinished Presidency, Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House

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The Unfinished Presidency, Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House
Douglas Brinkley
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0NU26

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If I had a hammer

Incredibly biased...

Carter's post-presidency

A revealing portrait of an underrated man

Never count a good man out.

The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House
Douglas Brinkley
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Amazon.com

Jimmy Carter isn't the first American president to become more popular after leaving the Oval Office than when he served in it; even Richard Nixon managed a semi-rehabilitation in the post-Watergate years. Yet perhaps no ex-president has reversed his fortunes so completely as Carter, whose approval rating has done nothing but improve since he lost his 1980 reelection bid. Many Americans admire Carter for his work building homes in the United States with the group Habitat for Humanity, but the 39th president is known and respected throughout the world for attempting to negotiate peace in trouble spots such as Haiti, North Korea, and the Middle East. "Carter," writes Douglas Brinkley, "has become a true citizen of the world." Noteworthy sections of this unauthorized biography (which benefits from lengthy interviews with its subject) include the story of how Carter worked relentlessly to undermine President Bush in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, as well as Carter's difficult relations with President Clinton. Also, Brinkley appreciates, and treats seriously, Carter's religious faith in a way many previous analysts have not. An excellent portrait of a complicated man. --John J. Miller

Book Description

Hailed by Time magazine as "a fascinating . . . rich, energetic American story," this extraordinary biography will transform America's perception of Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter left the White House in January 1981, defeated in his bid for reelection and rejected by the American public--but hardly broken. Outside the Oval Office, with a commitment rarely seen in an ex-president, he was more determined than ever to complete his life's mission: the achievement of world peace.

With unique access to the Carter archives and to the man himself, award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley brings us this unprecedented biography of the former President. Here are penetrating observations of Carter's complex relationships with such world figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, and Yasir Arafat, as well as his associations with the presidents who have succeeded him. Brinkley also reassesses the achievements of Carter's underrated White House tenure--the Camp David accords, Panama Canal treaties, and his championing of human rights. The Unfinished Presidency is the definitive portrait of this formidable world statesman.

--Brinkley is a regular commentator on NPR and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and Foreign Policy

"A thoroughly sourced intimate portrait of one of the country's most respected ex-presidents." --USA Today

Customer Reviews:

If I had a hammer.......2007-01-04

I was reminded of Pete Seger's classic song while reading this book. Douglas Brinkley offers a fascinating examination into Jimmy Carter's post-presidential achievements, showing the many reasons why Carter should have long before been considered for a Nobel Peace Prize. The former president has been a tireless promoter of peace around the world, whether it is election-monitoring in Nicaragua, two-track diplomacy between Israel and Palestine, or fighting diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. The man had long been an international symbol of peace, extolling all the positive aspects of Christian goodwill, before finally earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. One is simply left awestruck by the width and breadth of his accomplishments through the Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity and many other organizations he either created or promoted in the 20+ years since he left office.

Brinkley takes Carter up to 1998, a time that offered much hope in finally establishing a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. The Middle East had long been Carter's most personal interest, having formed a heart-felt friendship with Anwar Sadat during the famous Camp David Accords. I was surprised to learn that it was Carter who made Arafat a player in the Peace Process, by reaching out to him and bringing him to the table when the first Bush administration had virtually ignored teh Palestinian leader. Clinton deserved a lot of credit for the lengthy peace talks between Israel and the Palestine Authority but it was Carter who did much of the groundwork in bringing these talks about.

The chapters revolve around specific achievements and Carter's relationships with the various presidential administrations that followed his. It was interesting to read that Carter established such a close bond with Gerald Ford, who joined him on numerous international projects and even a few domestic projects, although the two often didn't see eye to eye on political matters. Brinkley notes how Carter was never able to break through Reagan's teflon exterior, but had a good working relationship with the Bush administration until the fallout over the Persian Gulf War, which Carter refused to accept. He and Clinton managed to form a good working relationship despite the many differences in their personalities. Clinton stole a number of pages from the Carter playbook, relied on many of his same advisors, but ended up tripping over himself on many occasions because he refused to take Carter's advice.

Many view Carter's administration as a failure, but Brinkley notes the framework that was laid during that time, and how Jimmy Carter followed through on many of the initiatives he set in those four short years. Most impressive are his achievements in world health, spearheading efforts to rid the world of small pox, guineau worm and other maladies that needed his clout to get the money necessary for their eradication. Most important was Carter's political will, which seemed undaunted despite the setback he suffered in losing the 1980 election to his nemesis, Ronald Reagan.

I think anyone with an interest in Jimmy Carter will greatly appreciate this book as it puts his many accomplishments in perspective and illustrates how he earned the respect of many persons across political and international boundaries, even begrudging respect from such persons as George Bush, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger. You may not agree with everything Carter has done, but his integrity is unimpeachable.

Incredibly biased..........2006-05-20

Only made it thru the first few chapters, but he describes Ford as someone who sent 18 men to their death for political gain. He describes Reagan as an unprincipled and deeply immoral man, and suggests the Cold War was won because Reagan followed Carter's policies. He largely endorses the idea that Reagan's team conspired with Iran to keep the hostages until Carter was out of office. He repeats without disclaimer Carter's claim that he could have won re-election if he had been willing to bomb Iran (apparently, we Americans are a bunch of bloodthirsty idiots who would have supported such an action).

Given Brinkley's unbridled venom for any Republican, it is going to be hard to believe any of the rest of the book.

---Edit: although I cannot change my star rating to 3, I found Brinkley's fawning reassuring - it meant the duplicitous and arrogant behavior of Carter perhaps unwittingly revealed in the book to be the result of Carter's nature and not biographer bias. If this is the sort of book an unabashed supporter of Carter writes, then one wonders what a truly unbiased account will someday say. Overall, the best of the books on Carter I've read so far - as my own review shows, Carter is difficult to view objectively.

Carter's post-presidency.......2005-08-10

This is a biography of Jimmy Carter from the time he lost the election to Ronald Reagan in 1980 to 1997. Brinkley attempts to show how Carter, though no longer a resident of the White House, took much of the Presidency with him in terms of what interested him and the power he still might wield in having an influence on world affairs. Carter got very involved in trying to help resolve conflicts around the world, from Panama and Haiti to North Korea and Bosnia. So focused on peace (and some might say the ever-elusive Nobel Peace Prize), Carter often could be a fly in the ointment of US policy, driving presidents (especially Clinton) up the wall. Carter is a micromanager, needing to know every detail. He is also a tireless worker, especially for what he perceives to be just causes. He has always put his faith above all other things, and might rank as the most decent public official Washington has seen in a long time, or can expect to see again. Brinkley is totally pro-Carter in all respects, though he is willing to point out how and where Carter got himself into trouble along the way. An interesting book about an interesting man.

A revealing portrait of an underrated man.......2005-02-23

Jimmy Carter is usually considered a mediocre president at best, totally incompetent at worst. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book lists his presidential successes and goes on to show how they led to his influential post-presidential activities. We now can see Jimmy Carter for what he truly is, a human rights champion and a shining example to us all.

Never count a good man out........2003-09-23

Regardless of how one feels about Jimmy Carter the fact is that he has become one of the most admired men in the United States and one of the most beloved Americans in the world. He left office after being voted out in a landslide and with some of the worst poll numbers in history. Now, his poll numbers are very high and any time a conservation turns to Carter someone will almost certainly say that they think Carter is the best ex-President we have ever had or the most moral man to have been in the White House in years and years. This turn around occurred in less than twenty years, and that the turn around occurred is a fact not open to question. The real question is; how and why did it happen?

That's the question Douglas Brinkley attempts to answer with this book. Brinkley basically starts with Carter's 1980 defeat and follows Carter's career for the next twenty years. On this journey the reader will meet Jimmy Carter the Baptist missionary, the Habitat carpenter, the lay physician out to heal the world, and the ex-President who refuses to profit from his former office but is at the same time a tireless fund raiser for his Carter Center. We also get to see the tireless diplomat who is willing to put himself in great personal danger to try and secure a peaceful resolution to conflicts around the world. This is truly a man who takes to heart his faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ. On the other hand we also see a somewhat darker side of the former peanut farmer. We see an ego as big as all outdoors, a tendency to grandstand, a self-righteous zealot, and a serious stubborn streak. The reader will also find a great clue in Carter's post presidency to the failure of his administration. The aforementioned faults of course did not help his presidential efforts but it may well have been his inability to prioritize that lead to his political downfall. It seems that Carter will give small details and events the same attention he gives to massive undertakings without taking into account the real importance of the event. One can easily see how a President with this trait would very quickly become bogged down and accomplish very little.

Brinkley does an excellent job of telling this remarkable story. He had access to both President and Mrs. Carter along with their papers and also did many interviews with their fellow workers and friends. Interestingly, many of the people who had worked with Carter on some of his projects critiqued some of the draft chapters and pointed out mistakes. Make no mistake, most of these people are Carter intimates but steadfast Republican James Baker is also among those who offered both insights and critiques. The writing style that is found in this book is generally easy to read although the narrative does seem to drag in places. The biggest fault I could find in this book is the printing. I read the paperback version and the printing is tiny. I suppose that in discussing Jimmy Carter, Biblical type print is understandable but it still hurts the eyes. Still, this book is well worth the effort so break out the bifocals and enjoy.

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Unfinished Presidency:Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond The White House
Douglas Brinkley
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ3XPG

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Manitoba History, published by Manitoba Historical Society on September 1, 1999. The length of the article is 2095 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Profiles in dissent: the shaping of radical thought in the Canadian West.
Publication: Manitoba History (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1999
Publisher: Manitoba Historical Society
Issue: 38 Page: 45-8

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Pharmacist's favorite

Handbook of Chinese Herbs
Him Che Yeung
Manufacturer: Inst of Chinese Medicine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Pharmacist's favorite.......2001-01-31

What this two-volume set may lack in polish, it makes up for in accessibility. The two volumes, materia medica and prescriptions, are organized alphabetically by the Pinyin representation of the names of the herbs and formulas. This is probably the best method of organization for the Western practitioner of Chinese medicine needing quick information about a specific formula or medicinal. Each entry is reasonably detailed, and major modifications to prescriptions are almost always included. Chinese characters are provided for all Pinyin names, but as they are hand-written, they can be difficult to read for non-native speakers. There are indices for those who wish to look up herbs or formulas by category, syndrome, common or pharmaceutical name.

Although Bensky's volumes are in most ways more comprehensive, I more often find myself reaching for Yeung's when I know what I'm looking for and need to recall some detail that has eluded me. As their name suggests, these are truly handbooks and still seem more useful to me than their newer, prettier competitiors.

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The Che Handbook

A Great Pictoral History

Support Leftwing fascism !

Little information but lots of pics

Visual history

The Che Handbook
Gareth Jenkins , and Hilda Barrio
Manufacturer: MQ Publications Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The Che Handbook gives new life to the values and thinking of the Che Guevara behind the legend, a man who was at once sensitive, passionate, and determined to pursue his socialist dreams to their conclusion. A unique collection of intimate photographs and Che's own words, this book provides an accessible and authentic portrait of one of the most significant revolutionary figures of the 20th century.

The Che Handbook includes:
--Over 250 images, many never published before
--More than 100 quotations from Che Guevara's writings, personal correspondence, and speeches
--Newly-published interviews with Che's close friends and allies
--A collection of remarkable iconic posters and artwork
--A time-line giving the chronology of Che's life and career
--A map of Che's revolutionary route through Cuba
--Essays discussing the key moments of Che's life

Customer Reviews:

The Che Handbook.......2007-07-08

I LOVED THIS BOOK LOTS OF PICTURES AND LOTS OF INFORMATION. ALSO THE SIZE OF THE BOOK WAS GOOD AS IT CAN FIT INTO SMALL BAGS IF YOUR ON THE MOVE.

A Great Pictoral History.......2007-02-26

First allow me to address the obvious fabrications of the below review, "John," without reading the book, immediately bashes Che and the Cuban Revolution by recycling propaganda spread by the rich elites who kept the island under mafia/racist domination. If Che was so against the arts, why was he a devoted fan of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda? And why is the Havana Film School one of the best in the world? Also the book "John" cites, "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant" is a radical right-wing piece of hate speech in which the author even glorifies Augusto Pinochet! Pinochet, the cruel dictator who butchered thousands during his reign in Chile (which was of course backed by the CIA). That said, "The Che Handbook" is a wonderful little pictoral history of the legendary revolutionary. For those looking for a more detailed, authoritative study, I recommend "Guevara, Also Known As Che" by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, but here we get great quotes, ideas and reflections set to a rich backdrop of photos from Ernesto Guevara's early years as a doctor in Argentina to his joining Fidel Castro's band of Cuban rebels bent on liberating their island from the corrupt Batista dictatorship. The written information is very valuable with insights into Che's philosophy and vision and there are also key interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Guevara. Overall it is Che Guevara compacted into a quick, easy read with some excellent photographs documenting his life and times.

Support Leftwing fascism !.......2005-09-08

Che Guevara was a member of a totalitarian dictatorship, and a man who personally sent over 1,800 innocent people (political opponents) to their deaths by firing squad (he stood at his office window, smoking a cigar as the men were lined up and shot in the head at point blank range). he hated gays and "artists" and sent many of them to long prison terms or death. Che was an intellectual in the worst sense of that word, and was a coward in battle. Fidel sent him to "promote the Revolution", just to get him out of Cuba (Fidel hated Che). Read the book "Fidel, Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant", by Humberto Fontova for the real history of Che and Cuba under communism. Know the real history before putting on that Che t-shirt, and if you do put it on, know that it is covered in blood. Stop supporting Leftwing fascism.

Little information but lots of pics.......2005-03-20

Little information for people that think the world of Che. However there are a couple interesting interviews with people that knew him and fought with him. Plus there are lots of pics that are published for the first time! I give it 4 stars because I would of loved more interviews and information. However the pics were appreciated :)

Visual history.......2003-10-09

An important document of a successful revolution. No matter what aura of glamour may be projected onto Che, he stands as an inspiration for all oppressed people anywhere in the world.

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Him-che Yeung
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Charles D Hodgman
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Mathematical Tables From Handbook of Che 7TH Edition

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Charles D Hodgman
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Safety And Health In The Use Of Chemicals At Work: A Training Manual

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Safety And Health In The Use Of Chemicals At Work: A Training Manual
Abu B. Che Man
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ASIN: 9221064700

Book Description

A Family Place is an evocative, first-person account of Leila Philip's search to uncover and then to come to terms with her family's rich and complicated past. This is a past populated by manor lords and tenant farmers, romantic-era gentlemen farmers and Civil War heroes, wealthy ne'er-do- wells, renegade aunts, and secret children, all of them inextricably linked to a white-columned mansion named Talavera, located two hours from New York City in the Hudson Valley.

Today, Talavera is managed as a commercial fruit farm called Philip Orchards. Since inheriting the estate after their father's death in 1992, Leila Philip and her four siblings have struggled to find the means to keep the house intact and the land from being consumed by development. This uphill battle has forced Philip to ask: What compels a family to risk everything—financial well-being, its place in the modern world, even each other —to hold on to a piece of land?

In her quest for answers, Philip began researching her family's unbreakable bond with this remarkable place. From 1730, the first year of the family tenure on the land, to the present, A Family Place chronicles a fascinating history that is full of surprises. Like Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life and Kathleen Norris's Dakota, A Family Place is both deeply personal and broadly resonant as her search becomes entangled in the tensions between memory and recorded fact.

Customer Reviews:

This had fantastic potential..........2002-04-06

I was disappointed in this book. The Hudson Valley is a magnificent well for story tellers and I was excited to read about the generations who had lived in a single home and worked on its orchard.

This is much more a creative writing guide than a history of a house/family. Philip spends chapters describing the writing process, but not enough about the actual home/family. The writing parts would have made an excellent preface, but the book needed more substantative history.

Too often Philips interupts herself to backtrack to modern times.

This had great potential, but left me looking for another book.

Delightful read.......2002-02-12

Evocative, elegant account of family history, deftly blending geneology with present day realities. Highly enjoyable read~

A Great Read.......2002-01-08

After all the books about houses in France and Italy, it's nice to see a truly American story about a house and the family that has owned and loved it for nearly 200 years. Philip deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a memorable narrative. Although nonfiction, the book's flow and vivid descriptions make it read like almost like a novel. Talvera may be the most interesting American country house since Tara.

A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family

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Read it once, then read it again.
Warm and Delightful!! Very enjoyable read.....

A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family
Leila Philip
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142001457

Book Description

In this luminous memoir, award-winning author Leila Philip tells the story of her ancestral Hudson River home, Talavera, the mystery of her attachment to it, and her search to come to terms with the truth about her family's fascinating three-century history there. After her father's death in 1992, Philip and her family struggled to find the means to keep Talavera intact. This uphill battle led her to examine the forces that compel a family to sacrifice almost everything to hold on to a piece of land. In a historical quest both surprising and engaging, Philip addresses the tensions between memory and recorded fact and invites readers to take a new look at their own sense of home.

Customer Reviews:

Read it once, then read it again........2004-01-27

Philip will not let us have what we are expecting - a rose-tinted reminiscence of home and place, with the occaisional failure thrown in for good measure. Instead, we get a "widening gyre" of tales, passing spirally through history, through the process of discovering history, the way in which Philip records this history, and ultimately, the way in which we read it. The book is about her home, and yet it is not. It is about personal loss, and yet it is not. It is about the balance between artifacts and memories, and yet -

Read the book, but know that its success lies in that it does not simply end with the last page, but recycles back to its own beginning, and to the readers'.

Warm and Delightful!! Very enjoyable read............2003-08-17

Having my own family roots in a neighboring county, I found "A Family Place" a most enjoyable and delightful read. In her love for family as well as curisoity for her roots, Ms. Philip takes us with her as she searches through boxes and closets for pieces of her past. I have known those boxes and closets too! And I know the feel of barefeet on lawns and skipping around cow patties.... I highly reccomend this book to anyone who has or wishes they had a special family. It may even inspire you to do some personal sleuthing yourself. Enjoy!

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