The Near Great

the long version

In this definitive new book, Archibald Laird has sought to honor the vice presidents through a visit to their final resting places. Photographs of the burial sites accompanying the text provide the reader with a sense of the grandeur and respect accorded these men. In addition, the author provides intriguing facts about the vice presidents’ lives and their many accomplishments. While doing research on the vice presidents, Dr. Laird found that many authors had slighted or neglected the men who “didn’t quite make it” to the presidency. Dr. Laird’s profiles elevate to prominence a sometimes overlooked group of American leaders. The author contends that these men were not lacking in the character, abilities and ambition necessary to fill the second highest position in the United States. In fact, many of the vice presidents proved themselves equal to the office of president by assuming that position either out of necessity (the two Johnsons) or througli election (Adams, T. Roosevelt, etc.). The chronologies and other data found in The Near Great-Chronicle of the Vice Presidents are also useful in giving the reader a perspective on the order of succession of the American presidents and vice presidents and of major historical events. As a helpful supplementary reading and reference guide, this beautifully illustrated book will be indispensible in the public, private or school library. It is packed with so much information on the vice presidents that teachers, students and researchers will want copies for their personal use.