Speaking of America: United States Presidents and the Words That Changed History

Gr 4-8–This book offers a unique and fresh perspective on presidential biographies. Cohen goes beyond simple facts to explore the presidents’ words, the context in which they lived, and their impact on the world. The author achieves this by describing a quote that the president was famous for, what the president meant by the quote, the consequences of the words, and an interesting fact about each president. For example, the author uses John Quincy Adams’s quote, “Am I gagged or am I not?” to explain his anger regarding a law passed specifically for him that forbade him from speaking out about the immorality of slavery. The quote captures the country’s mood in 1886, when the debate over slavery began to capture the new country’s discourse. Concise, informative, and exciting passages are consistent and easy to follow and capture the dueling thoughts of the time, the mood of the people who lived then, and the impact the president’s words and actions had on them. Diversity in ethnicity and gender is reflected in colorful illustrations accompanying each page, helping to bring the story of each president alive.