First Dads

 Book 51 of my 2020 Reading Challenge

read from July 2 - August 6

First Dads: Parenting and Politics 

from George Washington to Barack Obama

by Joshua Kendall

Summary (via Goodreads)

published 2016

Every president has had some experience as a parent. Of the 43 men who have served in the nation's highest office, 38 have fathered biological children and the other five adopted children. 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, on the other hand, had to make appointments to talk to him.
In a lively narrative, based on research in archives around the country, Kendall shows presidential character in action. Readers will learn which type of parent might be best suited to leading the American people and, finally, how the fathering experiences of our presidents have forever changed the course of American history.

My Opinion

3 stars

I thought this was an unique take on looking at the presidents.  Overall, it emphasized how little I actually know about most of the presidents beyond name recognition.  While this book was well-researched I also took things with a grain of salt since a lot of history relies on subjective assessment, either by themselves or someone else.  Same with the scandals, especially concerning possible illegitimate children; it was probably my favorite section but I know those things are impossible to know for sure.

It was also interesting to compare the public vs. private persona - things that would be strengths as a president can be weaknesses as a parent.  For example, Grover Cleveland didn't form close relationships which isn't great as a father but helped keep his administration small (he didn't feel a compulsion to appoint friends or keep people around for loyalty).  Or many successful presidents were successful because they were so focused on their career, not leaving as much time for a home life, especially in the early days when travel was difficult.

This would've been a good book for my pre-pandemic lifestyle where I spent a lot of time waiting in the van to pick up or drop off kids.  Even though I'm not driving anywhere I still read it in that way - short snippets here and there.  The book is not set up chronologically but instead grouped the presidents together by their parenting style.  This kept it interesting and easy to follow, especially when I could compare the style to the eras, but since I wasn't reading it quickly there were some points where I had to re-read something to orient myself.  

I chuckled at the sentence, "Until America's entry into the Great War, [Woodrow] Wilson rarely worked long days. He...set the record for presidential golf outings with one thousand."  Since this was published in 2016 I'm guessing there might be a new record holder.  *eye roll*

Fun fact: Franklin Pierce's 7-member cabinet is the only one that stayed together for the full presidential term.