Fame-Dropping is a bit like name-dropping, but when your guide is historian James C. Humes, you can expect something more than just trivial details about celebrities. A former White House speechwriter and Pennsylvania state legislator, the author commands powers of persuasion that have opened doors into the lives of the world's most influential men and women. Fame-Dropping zooms in for a close-up while offering you a front-row seat for viewing history's big picture. Rich with insight, and told in a lively, self-deprecating style, this book contains tales of a gregarious ghostwriter who has met countless notables - from star performers to those who wield power behind the scenes, in Hollywood, Washington, and beyond. Learn, laugh, and enjoy with a "well-traveled political junkie" and Churchill biographer as he witnesses Richard Nixon's informal side, dances with a young and radiant Queen Elizabeth II, and watches Margaret Thatcher tear up a speech he'd just written. Come and join Sir John Gielgud at the bar for cocktails, dine in Washington with McGovern's Hollywood supporter Shirley MacLaine, and find out what the guests found hanging in Pamela Harriman's powder room. At once intimate and grounded in a historian's wider perspectives, Fame-Dropping invites you to come closer and listen in, as you take a whirlwind tour of world events with the man who was welcomed everywhere.

The presidency, in Theodore Roosevelt's famous words, is a Bully Pulpit. No one has studied the presidency from this vantage point. This book, in a sense, is a study of American political history seen through the prism of selected presidential addresses. It reveals how presidents used major addresses to create a theme for their administrations, to introduce history-making legislation or programs, or to rally successfully a majority of the nation behind their policies. No other book has examined the major presidential addresses--their construction and their impact--as history. No other book examines, in such detail, the background of the speechwriters who drafted the addresses. James C. Humes, a former White House speechwriter, has a unique understanding of the process of presidential speech-drafting.

A single speech can be a defining point in American history, such as the Kennedy inaugural (Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country), or a rallying cry, such as Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural (The only thing we have to fear is fear itself). It can become an American creed as did the Gettysburg Address or a prophecy like the Reagan address to the Houses of Parliament in 1982. Washington's Farewell Address would prescribe our conduct in foreign policy for a century, as did the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. Sometimes the message is a declaration for war, such as Wilson's speech in 1917, or a war against an economic elite like Jackson's Bank veto in 1832 or Cleveland's Tariff message in 1887. This book is of great interest not only to historians and political scientists but also to students of the presidency and government.

In 1998, Professor Humes and Doctor Ryals traveled with Edward Nixon, the brother of the President, to the People's Republic of China. While retracing Nixon's steps, they interviewed those Chinese Foreign Service experts who had planned the president's meetings with Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai. These proteges of Chou En-lai ended their diplomatic careers as envoys in Anglophone nations such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. During interviews with Humes, Ryals, and Edward Nixon, these experts shared their observations about the forces, such as the Gang of Four, who were plotting to prevent the Nixon Trip, as well as why, at the time, Mao was amendable to restoring ties with America despite the ongoing Cultural Revolution.

Presidents and Their Pens: The Story of White House Speechwriters explores 23 presidencies through the detailed analysis of speeches including Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Stick" speech, Eisenhower's farewell to the nation, and Bill Clinton's compassionate words in the wake of tragedy. Confidant and wordsmith to five Republican presidents (Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush), professor of language and noted historian James C. Humes tells how and why presidential speeches have marked milestones in our nation's history, from Washington through Obama. Readers will find out how FDR brought down the house with humor, how "Give 'em hell" Harry Truman planned his Whistle-Stop Tours, and how Ronald Reagan defied his advisors to make history at the Berlin Wall. Presenting stories of greatness as well as tragically unfulfilled promise, Presidents and Their Pens also features an introduction by author and historian Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

An enormously entertaining compendium of witticisms, anecdotes, and trivia about Winston Churchill by a former White House speechwriter.

Turn Any Presentation into a Landmark Occasion
Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history's greatest speakers.

Author, historian, and world-renowned speaker James C. Humes—who wrote speeches for five American presidents—shows you how great leaders through the ages used simple yet incredibly effective tricks to speak, persuade, and win throngs of fans and followers. Inside, you'll discover how Napoleon Bonaparte mastered the use of the pregnant pause to grab attention, how Lady Margaret Thatcher punctuated her most serious speeches with the use of subtle props, how Ronald Reagan could win even the most hostile crowd with carefully timed wit, and much, much more.

Whether you're addressing a small nation or a large staff meeting, you'll want to master the tips and tricks in Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln.
"As a student of speech, I very much enjoyed this intriguing historic approach to public speaking. Humes creates a valuable and practical guide."
—Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO, FOX News

"I love this book. I've followed Humes's lessons for years, and he combines them all into one compact, hard-hitting resource. Get this book on your desk now."
—Chris Matthews, Hardball

In "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations," the premier collection of noted sayings, Mark Twain is the only American with more citations under his name than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was the greatest raconteur to occupy the White House between the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. A superb mimic with a professional comic's sense of timing, he had an ear for a ringing phrase and could laugh at himself, relishing the opportunity to tell stories at his own expense.

The anecdotes, sayings, and witticisms collected in this hugely entertaining and edifying volume are a testament to the high humor and insouciant, infectious personality of one of our greatest presidents.

Although born and raised more than an ocean apart, Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill--the two titans of the greatest generation--led remarkably parallel lives whose paths would intersect during history's most harrowing days. Through their youth, education, and military training, both men experienced similar triumphs and failures that shaped their lives, though they met only for the first time upon the eve of war in 1941.
"Eisenhower and Churchill" tells the magnificent story of these two great leaders and their exemplary partnership in war and peace. Through enlivened pages and fascinating anecdotes, author James C. Humes illuminates the human side of each man, who had more in common with each other than a world war. You'll discover the extraordinary stories of how both were born to domineering mothers and failed fathers, both did not qualify for the military academy on the first try, both were traumatized by experiences in World War I, both were talented writers, and both lost a child in the very same year (1921). Remarkably, each man did not warm to the other at first; but as they worked together, their respect for one another grew to become a powerful friendship that lived long after the echoes of war had receded into the past.
As allies, they shared a hatred for tyranny and led the world through the greatest war of the twentieth century. As friends, they shared a sense of trust and cooperation that should be raised as a standard. Containing new research and memorable insights, "Eisenhower and Churchill" brings to life the two lions of the twentieth centruy.
"Who would not welcome an intimate book about Churchill and Eisenhower, and who is better situated to write it than Professor Humes, who knew them both, and studiously--and ardently--records their careers and their friendship?"
--William F. Buckley Jr.
"James C. Humes's "Eisenhower and Churchill" is a wonderful dual biography laced with lively anecdotes, engaging prose, and shrewd analysis. A truly welcome addition to our growing literature on the Second World War."
--Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and director of the Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans

"From the Hardcover edition."

Interweaving vignettes that capture Nixon's skills as a strategist and negotiator of foreign policy, a former White House speech writer illuminates the essential rules that brought Nixon success and shows how they can be applied by leaders in every field.