Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to Children

Presidents since George Washington have written to children. Chief executives prior to the overwhelmingly busy present even went through the White House mail themselves, choosing what to answer -- a task now impossible. Some earlier presidents, even as late as Eisenhower, confided opinions to young people that they rarely confessed to their peers. The presidential letters included here range in subjects from the monumental to the immaterial -- although almost nothing is insignificant to a child. We see the concerns of the presidency, & how these concerns are approached in letters to young people. Issues such as educ., citizenship, & national purpose appear in tandem with personal problems, from a dog, a bike, or a doll, to a job or a bride.Weintraub, Stanley is the author of 'Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to Children', published 2003 under ISBN 9780756768331 and ISBN 0756768330.