What they're doing now

Curious about what life is like for the "fraternity" of former U.S. presidents, ex-Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene set out to spend a few hours talking privately with Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In each case, save one, he is successful; just as he was about to interview Reagan, the announcement came that the ex-president was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and would be unavailable to talk. Greene is deferential toward his subjects in Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents; he never asks the tough questions about the life-and-death actions these men took. Still, it is revealing to hear Nixon talk approvingly of how even his closest friends address him as "Mr. President"; to witness Carter sitting in the "green room" at a small Atlanta radio station, patiently waiting his turn to go on; to accompany the elder Bush and his son, Jeb, to a question-and-answer session for an audience of CEOs in Chicago; and to listen to Ford explain why he gave up drinking in support of his addicted wife. This is a warm, quotation-rich book, but it is not an education in the dynamics of politics.

Edward Morris reviews from Nashville.