Worst. President. Ever. - by Robert Strauss (Paperback)

About the Book

Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Winner in Biography

Now in paperback, W.P.E. flips the great presidential biography on its head, offering an enlightening--and highly entertaining!--account of poor James Buchanan's presidency.

This book proves once and for all that, well, few leaders could have done worse. But author Robert Strauss also explores with insight and humor the entire notion of ranking our presidents. He guides us through the POTUS rating game played by historians and others, the world of presidential history buffs, presidential sites, the presidency itself, and how and why the White House can often take the best measures out of even the most dedicated men.

Book Synopsis

Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Winner in Biography

"The Funniest. Presidential. Biographer. Ever." --Kai Bird, Pulitzer-prize winning historian

Now in paperback, W.P.E. flips the great presidential biography on its head, offering an enlightening--and highly entertaining!--account of poor James Buchanan's presidency. This book proves once and for all that, well, few leaders could have done worse. But author Robert Strauss also explores with insight and humor the entire notion of ranking our presidents. He guides us through the POTUS rating game played by historians and others, the world of presidential history buffs, presidential sites, the presidency itself, and how and why the White House can often take the best measures out of even the most dedicated men.

Review Quotes

Entertaining study of 'the first plodding-to-the-top president, ' a man mercifully forgotten by history. . . . Strauss makes a firm argument for the essential doofusness of the 15th president.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Robert Strauss is perhaps The Funniest. Presidential. Biographer. Ever. But it is no joke that he has turned the story of James Buchanan--indisputably the Worst. President. Ever--into a fascinating tale on the triumph of mediocrity.--Kai Bird, author of The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames

Strauss maintains a light tone, but doesn't sacrifice substance in offering solid historical detail and insights into American politics as the country careened toward Civil War.-- "Publishers Weekly"

Strauss makes his case in a manner to be appreciated by both serious historians and modern day politicos. This treatment of a critical piece of Pre-Civil War history will leave readers engaged, entertained, and better equipped to justify their next ranking of Buchanan's true place in American history.--Michael Smerconish, television and radio host, and New York Times bestselling author

A revealing look at President Buchanan and our fascination with ranking those who have been our Commander in Chief.--Julian Zelizer, author of The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society

About the Author

Journalist, educator, historian and author Robert Strauss has been a reporter for Sports Illustrated, a feature writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, a news and sports producer for an NBC affiliate, and a TV critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Asbury Park Press. He has more than 1000 bylines in the New York Times, and also writes for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia newspapers, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and more. He is the author of Daddy's Little Goalie. A father of two daughters, he lives in Haddonfield, New Jersey, with his wife Susan Warner.