TAUGHT TO LEAD: The Education of the Presidents of the United States

What kind of education is necessary for a person to become president of the United States? Virtually any kind, it turns out. Unsurprisingly, many were scholastic achievers, including Clinton, Nixon, Carter and George H.W. Bush. FDR received a "gentleman's C." John Adams and Lyndon Johnson were truants, and neither George Washington nor Harry S. Truman attended any college. This anthology of essays, one for each president, offers contributions by a variety of historians, and the result is a compelling and informative book. Among other things, it's a useful tonic to the lofty manner in which we usually regard the founding fathers, who struggled, scraped and worried just like the rest of us. One of the book's most charming features is the wealth of pictures. Most fascinating are the class photos (for example, readers can try to guess which fresh-faced member of the basketball team one day became president) and report cards (not uniformly promising, especially JFK's). The essays are lively and focused, although the writers frequently run into a small tangle of logic—it's difficult to label any educational background deficient if the man later became president. So the writers sometimes pull their punches, giving the book an air less of straight history than of civic pedagogy; at times, the intended audience seems closer to curious teens than probing adults. Still, the book will fill a noticeable gap on library shelves, imparting the unavoidable lesson that good grades are only one road among many that lead to a successful career in electoral politics. (Mar.)