A team of five psychologists assisted the author in his research into how the presidents' destinies were shaped during childhood. This volume includes stories of seemingly perfect parents who by accident or design raised high achievers.

Our greatest presidents have entered the Oval Office armed with overwhelming ambition, intellect, and ideals. But were these characteristics evident in youth? What are the family circumstances that have created our presidents? How did their upbringing shape their future--and ours?

In The Raising of a President, bestselling author Doug Wead goes where no presidential biographer has gone before: straight to the childhood homes of America's greatest leaders. Wead analyzes the types of families in which they were reared, and offers fascinating psychological profiles based on his findings. Using presidential letters and personal correspondence--as well as notes from his own private conversations with six presidential families--Wead brilliantly portrays the early lives, loves, and political awakenings of George Washington;John Adams and the rest of America's first dynasty; Lincoln, who never betrayed his humble roots; Franklin D. Roosevelt and John E Kennedy, each raised in prominent political households; and the once and future commanders in chief Bush.

More than just political biography, The Raising of a President sheds new light on America's presidents, who were not only born but made.

PART ONE FOUNDING FATHERS AND MOTHERS

ONE How the Presidents' Parents Shaped Their Sons and Influenced the Nation

TWO A Magnificent Obsession: George Washington's Parents

THREE John Adams and the First American Dynasty

FOUR Sacrificed on the American Altar

FIVE A Private Grief

PART TWO THE ENIGMATIC RISE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

SIX Forged in a Crucible: Abraham Lincoln and His Father

SEVEN Nancy Hanks: A Mother of Mystery

EIGHT A Wonderful Stepmother: Lessons in Love

PART THREE THE R.OOSEVELTS: AMERICA'S GREATEST FAMILY

NINE James R.oosevek: An American Aristocrat

TEN Sara Roosevelt: A Formidable Presence

ELEVEN FDR'S Break with Mother

PART FOUR THE KENNEDYS: AMBITION UNLEASHED

TWELVE The Ruthless Ascent of Joseph P. Kennedy

THIRTEEN Survivor: The Mother of John E Kennedy

FOURTEEN The Rise of Camelot

FIFTEEN Shattered Dreams

PART FIVE THE BUSHES: THE QUIET DYNASTY

SIXTEEN About His Father's Business: Prescott Bush

SEVENTEEN George and Barbara Bush: Raising a President

EIGHTEEN George W. Bush: The Warrior President

EPILOGUE A President in the Family: How It Happens

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE PRESIDENTS' PARENTS

APPENDICES

A: The Presidents' Ancestry and Background

B. Professions of the Presidents' Parents

C: Presidents' Birth Order

D: Ages of Presidents at the Death of Their Parents

E: Deaths of Children and Siblings of Presidents

F: Deaths of Parents Before and After Presidents

G: Parents Who Lived to See the Inaugurations of Their Sons

H: Fathers of Presidents Who Remarried

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index