Michael Duffy Presents: The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

TIME: 11:30am - Bar Opens, 12:15pm - Lunch, 1-2pm - Presentation and Q & A
PRICE: $20 Members; $30 Non-members (includes lunch); $10 Lecture only
EVENT TYPE: Speaker Luncheon

Time magazine editor Michael Duffy (along with editor Nancy Gibbs) presents a fascinating, news-making account of the personal and political relationships among America’s modern presidents as well as a new lens through which to view both American history and the presidency itself.  It is an unofficial club but a powerful force in its own right. The authors drew upon newly revealed documents and hundreds of interviews to portray the complex emotions that have bound these men to one another and the unique offices in which they have served—exploring how each president came to realize the club’s value—how they united to protect the presidency and resist any effort to diminish the office. They all come to realize they can do more together than apart, so they band together to consult, console, pressure, protect, and redeem one another as needed.

The President's Club, established at Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, is a complicated place: its members are bound forever by the experience of the Oval Office and yet are external rivals for history's favor. Among their secrets: How Jack Kennedy tried to blame Ike for the Bay of Pigs. How Ike quietly helped Reagan win his first race in 1966. How Richard Nixon conspired with Lyndon Johnson to get elected and then betrayed him. How Jerry Ford and Jimmy  Carter turned a deep enmity into an alliance. The letter from Nixon that Bill Clinton rereads every year. The unspoken pact between a father and son named Bush. And the roots of the rivalry between Clinton and Barack Obama.

The book will be available for purchase and signing.