Greene, John Robert 1955–

PERSONAL: Born April 13, 1955, in Syracuse, NY; son of John C. (in sales) and Margaret (a homemaker) Greene; married Patty Messer (an accountant); children: Thomas John, Christopher Edward, Mary Rose. Education: St. Bonaventure University, B.A., 1977, M.A., 1979; Syracuse University, Ph.D., 1983. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Chittenango, NY. Office—Box F, Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY 13035.

CAREER: Historian, educator, writer, and radio commentator. Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY, Paul J. Schupf Professor, History and Humanities, and professor of history and government, 1979–, also college archivist; University College of Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, adjunct instructor, 1981–2000. Visiting Professor, Chapman University, 2001; also Center for the Study of the Presidency, advisory board member. Previously worked as a radio disc jockey in western New York, played in a rock band, and taught the visually handicapped.

MEMBER: Delta Epsilon Sigma, Phi Alpha Theta, Pi Delta Epsilon.

AWARDS, HONORS: Distinguished Faculty award, Cazenovia College, 1993.

WRITINGS:

The Crusade: The Presidential Election of 1952, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1985.

The Limits of Power: The Nixon and Ford Administrations, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1992.

(Compiler) Gerald R. Ford: A Bibliography, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1994.

The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 1995.

Syracuse University: The Tolley Years, 1942–1969, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1996.

Syracuse University: The Eggers Years, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1998.

Generations of Excellence: An Illustrated History of Cazenovia Seminary and Cazenovia College, Cazenovia College (Cazenovia, NY), 2000.

The Hill: An Illustrated Biography of Syracuse University, 1870–Present, foreword by Kenneth A. Shaw, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 2000.

The Presidency of George Bush, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 2000.

Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 2004.

The George H.W. Bush Years, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: Historian John Robert Greene has written books on the American presidency and the history of Syracuse University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1983. A professor of history and humanities at Cazenovia College in New York State since 1979, Greene also teaches at Syracuse and is an advisory board member at the Center for the Study of the Presidency. Much of his published work examines Republican presidencies in modern American history. His first title was The Crusade: The Presidential Election of 1952, a look at the contest between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai E. Stevenson that gave the GOP its first White House win since 1928. Greene chronicles all aspects of the contest between the war veteran and the Illinois Democratic governor, in which America's involvement in the Korean War played an important role. Howard Reiter, critiquing the book for Perspective, asserted that its author "has given us the most complete picture of the campaign that we have, in often fascinating detail."

Greene's next book was The Limits of Power: The Nixon and Ford Administrations. Here he portrays the battle that then-President Richard Nixon encountered with the vociferous public criticism of the escalating war in Vietnam, and Nixon's eventual resignation during his second term, after allegations of abuse of power and criminal misconduct surfaced in his administration. Even Nixon's vice president resigned after a tax scandal, at which point Nixon named Gerald Ford, a longtime member of Congress, to the post. Ford succeeded Nixon in the White House in August of 1973, and was criticized in some quarters for granting Nixon a presidential pardon. The Limits of Power attempts to present an objective view of these years, and its title reflects the most far-ranging impact of this political era: the passage of a series of laws designed to limit presidential power. "Greene's chapters on Nixon's foreign and domestic initiatives are lucid and instructive," wrote Russell L. Riley in Political Science Quarterly. "He has further produced a penetrating account of Gerald Ford's indecisiveness over the Nixon pardon and the crippled state of his presidency in the aftermath."

Greene returned to the three-and-a-half-year White House tenure of Nixon's successor in The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, a 1995 book published by the University Press of Kansas as part of an ongoing series on American presidencies. In writing it, Greene relied heavily on the materials collected in the archives of the Ford Presidential Library, and even interviewed the former President himself. Ford faced particular challenges when he became chief executive, as Greene recounts, including the fact that his advance to the office had not come through a general election. He was expected to restore a sense of decency to American politics, and to solve an array of policy problems at the same time. Ford's approval rating dropped precipitously, however, when he pardoned Nixon, which Greene views as the major contributing factor to Ford's 1976 loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter. "This should be the definitive work on the Ford presidency for years to come," remarked R.W. Sellen in Choice. Washington Post Book World contributor Michael R. Beschloss asserted that "Greene does a sound job of showing how difficult the mid-1970s would have been for even a leader more gifted, sensitive and skilled in national politics than Ford."

Greene has also written histories of Syracuse University and Cazenovia College, as well as another book for the University Press of Kansas series, titled The Presidency of George Bush. After serving eight years as Ronald Reagan's vice president, the former Central Intelligence Agency chief entered the White House in 1989, facing a myriad of domestic policy and economic problems, as well as the challenge of a Democrat-controlled Congress. Greene argues that the greatest triumph of Bush's presidency was his handling of the Gulf War. Library Journal contributor Michael A. Genovese deemed the book "balanced, fair, and thorough," and "an excellent work of contemporary history." A Publishers Weekly contributor was similarly positive, noting: "A fine contribution to presidential biography, this should become the essential introduction to Bush's abbreviated, but still consequential tenure in office." A contributor to The Journal of American History called The Presidency of George Bush "the best book to date on the Bush administration."

In Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House, Greene provides a biography of the former First Lady, from her youth in Michigan to her studies with the famous dancer Martha Graham to her marriage in 1948 to U.S. Representative Gerald R. Ford and their subsequent life together. He also delves into her battle with alcoholism and role in the development of the Betty Ford Center for rehabilitation. Referring to the biography as "an affirmative account" of Ford's life, a Publishers Weekly contributor went on to note that the author's "account is frank enough and thorough." Gil Troy, writing in History: Review of New Books, commented that the author "provides a well-paced, insightful, and sympathetic account of Betty Ford's two great starring roles as the first feminist First Lady and the iconic celebrity who endured the all-too-typical descent into addiction, followed by therapeutic redemption."

The George H.W. Bush Years is part of its publishers "Presidential Profiles" series and is a general survey of the presidency that includes brief biographies of the first President Bush's administration, as well as other influential politicians and foreign dignitaries in power during his term of office. The book also includes a list of all the members of the U.S. House and Senate, U.S. Supreme Court justices, and others. Stephen Stratton, writing in Booklist, noted that the book "would fit nicely in school and public library reference collections."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2006, Stephen Stratton, review of The George H.W. Bush Years, p. 78.

Choice, March, 1986, L.H. Grothaus, review of The Crusade: The Presidential Election of 1952, p. 1130; January, 1993, N.W. Polsby, review of The Limits of Power: The Nixon and Ford Administrations, p. 882; January, 1995, review of Gerald R. Ford: A Bibliography, p. 750; May, 1995, R.W. Sellen, review of The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, p. 1512.

Historian, spring, 1996, Jonathan J. Bean, review of The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, p. 643; summer, 2001, Melvin Small, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 830.

History: Review of New Books, spring, 2005, Gil Troy, review of Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House, p. 93.

Journal of American History, March, 2001, review of The Presidency of George Bush, pp. 1595-1596.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, winter, 2001, Fred I. Greenstein, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 385.

Journal of Southern History, November, 2001, Michael Schaller, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 907.

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 1994, review of The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, p. 1508.

Library Journal, January, 2000, Michael A. Genovese, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 134.

Michigan Historical Review, spring, 2006, Caryn Neumann, review of Betty Ford, p. 128.

Perspective, March, 1986, Howard Reiter, review of The Crusade, p. 36.

Political Science Quarterly, spring, 1993, Russell L. Riley, review of The Limits of Power, p. 165; summer, 1995, Richard M. Strean, review of The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, p. 315.

Presidential Studies Quarterly, June, 2000, Michael F. Cairo, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 400.

Publishers Weekly, July 6, 1992, review of The Limits of Power, p. 47; January 24, 2000, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 302; December 20, 2004, review of Betty Ford, p. 51.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2006, review of The George H.W. Bush Years.

Washington Post Book World, October 4, 1992, review of The Limits of Power, p. 13; January 22, 1995, Michael R. Beschloss, review of The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, p. 3.

White House Studies, spring, 2003, Jack Lechelt, review of The Presidency of George Bush, p. 245.

ONLINE

Cazenovia College Web site, http://www.cazenovia.edu/ (October 20, 2006), faculty profile of author.

Center for the Study of the Presidency Web site, http://www.thepresidency.org/ (October 20, 2006), profile of author.