Poems and Songs of the Presidents of the 20th Century

Three men served the eighteen U.S. Presidents of the 20th Century from William McKinley through William Clinton. The first of these men worked for six presidents (McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding and Coolidge). His son replaced him and worked for the next six presidents (Hoover, F. Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson). His grandson then worked for the last six presidents of the 20th Century (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton). Three generations lived through the century and while serving the presidents in background roles collected poems and songs written to or by the presidents. These different poetic forms cover successes and failures and recount tragedies and simple pleasures. Combined with paintings by Bruce Johnston, the poems bring life to the presidents which led the country.

-- John Kermit Kerr