How to Get Rid of a President, David Priess
How to Get Rid of a President, David Priess
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

How to Get Rid of a President
History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives

Author: David Priess

Narrator: Jason Culp

Unabridged: 9 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 11/13/2018

Synopsis

A vivid political history of the schemes, plots, maneuvers, and conspiracies that have attempted -- successfully and not -- to remove unwanted presidents

To limit executive power, the founding fathers created fixed presidential terms of four years, giving voters regular opportunities to remove their leaders. Even so, Americans have often resorted to more dramatic paths to disempower the chief executive. The American presidency has seen it all, from rejecting a sitting president's renomination bid and undermining their authority in office to the more drastic methods of impeachment, and, most brutal of all, assassination.

How to Get Rid of a President showcases the political dark arts in action: a stew of election dramas, national tragedies, and presidential departures mixed with party intrigue, personal betrayal, and backroom shenanigans. This briskly paced, darkly humorous voyage proves that while the pomp and circumstance of presidential elections might draw more attention, the way that presidents are removed teaches us much more about our political order.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on September 18, 2018

David Priess thinks we’re so wound up in the miasma of the Trump administration, we have lost sight of history. He is right. The United States has always been like this. Presidents are routinely reviled by many, blocked by Congress, subject to threats and assassinations, and are forever under siege......more

Goodreads review by Conor on December 30, 2018

This book concerns America's history of consternation with its presidents, and what it has tried or threatened to do to remove them from office or render them impotent. Far and away, aside from perhaps assassination, the easiest way to pretermit a presidency seems to be by ensuring that the guy does......more

Goodreads review by Stewart on December 29, 2018

This is a presidential history book masquerading as political rhetoric. Priess approaches his topic carefully, with wit, and most importantly, with academic distance. Don't expect shocking revelations here, just fact, history told as it should be, with from a primarily unbiased perspective.......more

Goodreads review by Alice on December 31, 2018

Many people might assume that this is about our current occupant of the White House and therefore either be more inclined or disinclined to read it. Instead it is a general stroll through the trials and tribulations of our 45 presidents. As the author details many our presidents have had a series of......more

Goodreads review by Michael on December 07, 2018

For those of you looking for a good overview of times that the US has looked to remove a president throughout our history, Priess' book is a timely addition to the literature. This book gives readers a great birds eye view of historical anecdotes, stories, and detail about some little known pieces o......more

Quotes

Getting rid of presidents was never as entertaining as it is in David Priess's hands. He barnstorms through more than two centuries of American history, showing all the ways-from impeachment to death-that presidents have either left office prematurely or just barely avoided doing so. Dramatic and instructive, his narrative has clear resonance for the present day as calls grow for President Trump's impeachment.—MaxBoot, Washington Post columnist and author of The Corrosion of Conservatism

The temptation to impeach a president can run high in a polarized political environment but is fraught with peril as David Priess meticulously demonstrates in this timely book that romps through American history to answer all the questions about removing an unfit president by non-electoral means that you were afraid to ask.—AmandaCarpenter, CNN contributor and author of GaslightingAmerica

With the objective eye of a former intelligence officer and an uncanny instinct for deep truths, David Priess paints a genuinely non-partisan portrait of presidential removals. The stories here are eerily relevant to today's headlines, but also disarmingly fun to read.—MichaelHayden, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and author of The Assault on Intelligence

Legal scholars, political scientists, and pundits have dissected various means of undermining and removing leaders, ranging from voting them out of office to impeaching them. Now, with How To Get Rid of a President, David Priess finally racks and stacks all of the methods, fair and foul, in an entertaining and approachable sweep of history.—BenjaminWittes, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution andeditor in chief of the Lawfare blog

"A companionable history of U.S. presidents in crisis... Priess excels at making presidents look tragically human... Anyone distressed or appalled by today's rancorous clashes over presidential prerogative and power may take comfort from learning that the nation has weathered it all before."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Piquant studies of presidential woe.... A collection of colorful, slightly morbid vignettes that connoisseurs of political picaresque will relish."—Publishers Weekly

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List