This is definitely a difficult book, and understanding certain critical passages may require several readings. In short, this is NOT a good book for an introduction to presidential politics and leadership. For a more readable and still highly regarded account, Neustadt's seminal work is a good choice. However, none of this is to say that Skowronek's book is not brilliant--it is, and reading it carefully is a very profitable experience and will enhance anyone's understanding of the presidency, agree with Professor Skowronek or not. Through all the technical references, Skowronek proposes a paradigm for assessing presidential leadership: Reconstruction, Disjunction, Articulation, and Pre-emption, all of which are based on the nature of the government and its commitments (vulnerable or resilient) and on the president's relationship to that regime (opposed or affiliated). Reconstruction results when presidents are opposed to a vulnerable regime--here are the "great" presidents: Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan, for example. Affiliation with a vulnerable regime produces Disjunction. Articulation results from affiliation with a resilient regime. And Pre-emption is the product of opposition to a resilient regime. Of course, this merely scratches the surface of Skowronek's argument, for which he argues quite well and which he approaches from a fairly historical perspective. I highly recommend this for anyone wishing to gain a deeper, fuller understanding of presidential leadership, especially in considering how much a president's skills affect what type of leader he is and how much circumstances shape his presidency.

I read this as part of a course (taught by the author himself) in my sophomore year of college. Skowronek is I think to be applauded for his historical approach to presidential politics, and for his style of writing: it seems more as if youre reading a story than a political science book. Time and time again, Skowronek comes back to his thesis and main themes (legitimacy and presidents ability to correctly understand and manipulate their historical moment. The book never loses focus as Skrownek discusses different presidents or as he tells stories about a particular president. And hes done his research really really well. In particular his use of presidential quotes is very very impressive. Numerous times he gives examples of Presidents who attempt to build political legitimacy using words that fit very well into Skowronek's conceptual framework ("preserving foundations", recovering old sacred truths, continuing work that has already begun). The problem with Skowronek's book is that I think, given the sort of analysis hes doing here, its not very naunced. Im sure for example, articulation presidents often distanced themselves from their predecesors in some form or another. Some may not have a problem with this: after all S. is trying to prove his point and prove it well. However I thought at times that the book could have been more nauanced. Just my thoughts....OHH BUY THE BOOK!

In "The Politics Presidents Make,"Stephen Skowronek presents a sweeping indictment of the Neustadtian view on presidential leadership made famous in Richard Neustadt's classic text, "Presidential Power." Skowronek challenges Neustadt's assertion that presidents after FDR represent a distinct group of incumbents, who, because of the constant challenges of modernity, cannot make due with the formal powers of the president--which is a mere "clerkship"-- and must instead utilize informal authority to "get things done," something "pre-modern" presidents did not have to do consistently. Skowronek views such a notion as a conceit of modern times, and he incorporates "pre-modern" presidents into his analytical framework, which gives the reader a better understanding of the presidency as it is weighed against the emergent structures of power and in relation to the recurrent structures of authority. Skowronek also disputes the idea that each president is at liberty to "be as big as he can be." The differences in "great" presidents and "incompetent" presidents arises not out of differences in skills-- i.e. bargaining ability-- but instead out of differing political identities vis-a-vis the current political order. Because the presidency is, in constitutional terms, an order shattering, order-affirming, and order-creating political institution, successful presidents are those-- like Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan-- who are able to reconcile the order-shattering and order-affirming impulses by creating new standards for constitutional governance. This type of leadership stance-- reconstructive leadership-- is the most potent form of leadership because it allows for a reconciling of the order-shattering and order-affirming aspects of the presidency, which enables such incumbents to legitmate their actions, the key to successful leadership. Skowronek has written a superb book-- one of the best books on the presidency ever written-- and it is valuable because it correctly identifies legitimacy as the most important aspect of leadership and not skills.

Robert Remini's brief study of John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) is part of the American Presidency Series edited by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The series has the commendable aim of introducing the reader to each of the Presidents in a volume of short scope. The broader aim, I think, is to reawaken an appreciation of the history of our country and to stimulate reflection on the American experience. Thus, each volume tries to present a story of a life and also to explain briefly what is unique about each President and makes him worthy to be remembered.

Remini gives an excellent discussion of John Quincy Adams's service to the United States, both during his Presidency and before and after it. The aspect of JQA's public service that stands out, both in his Presidency and outside it, is his commitment to American Nationalism. By this I mean a devotion to creating a strong, united nation for all the people to promote the public welfare. JQA worked diligently to advance the interests of the entire American people, as he saw these interests, rather than to be a tool of any faction or party or momentary passion. Much of the time, he succeeded.

As President, JQA advocated the creation of public works and improvements to link the country together. He was a strong supporter of education, scientific advancement, and learning. He wanted the Federal government to play an active role in supporting these ends and worked towards the creation of an American university. (After his Presidency he was a strong advocate for the creation of the Smithsonian Institution.)

Before he assumed the Presidency, Adams served as the Secretary of State under James Monroe. He worked for the goal of American Nationalism by expanding the boundaries of the United States through a skillful exercise of diplomacy until they extended to the Pacific Ocean. JQA also was instrumental in the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine.

Following his presidency. JQA served as a Congressman from Massachusetts. He distinguished himself in working for the anti-slavery cause and, specifically, by his tireless opposition to the "gag rule" which aimed to prevent critical discussion of slavery-related issues in the halls of Congress.

Remini presents his material in a way that focuses on this theme of JQA's public service and on its nationalistic aspirations . He also points out how and why JQA failed to realize many of his goals, particularly during his term as the sixth President (1825-1828) Adams was named President by the House of Representatives in a highly contested election. It was alleged that he struck a "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay, who became Adams's Secretary of State. This "corrupt bargain" doomed the Adams Presidency and tarnished both Adams's and Clay's careers.

Adams was also highly opinionated and stuffy and gave the impression of aloofness. He was not a good politician and lacked a certain ability to compromise or to work cooperatively with others. At one point Remini writes (p. 110): "It is really impossible to think of any other president quite like John Quincy Adams. He seemed intent on destroying himself and his administration. By the same token, it is difficult to think of a president with greater personal integrity." JQA was defeated for a second term by Andrew Jackson in a bitterly fought campaign. Among other things, Jackson possessed abundant popular appeal and charisma, in sharp contrast to JQA's aloof, intellectual character.

While Adams's Presidency failed, his goals and ideals were good. They lived on and deserve studying and remembering.

Remini also gives a good summary of Adams's personal life, adopting some of the psychohistory of JQa's recent biographers. He points out the stresses that Adams endured from his famous father and mother and the pressures placed upon him and his brothers for high achievement. JQA also imposed these pressures and expectations, alas, on his own children. There is a good discussion of Adams's failed love affair as a young man --probably the one passion of his life -- and of his subsequent marriage to Louisa Johnson. Remini describes JQAs extensive intellectual interests, his tendencies to anger and to depression and he links these traits in a sensible way to the failings of Adams's Presidency.

This is an excellent study of JQA which captures in short compass the essence and character of his contribution to the United States. Readers who want to learn more about JQA -- with a focus on his service as Secretary of State and as Congressman from Massachusetts may wish to read the two-volume study by Samuel Flagg Bemis: "Joh Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy" (1949) and "John Quincy Adams and the Union" (1956).

John Quincy Adams was the first son of a President to become President himself. Although his family connections didn't hurt, they also weren't overly helpful; his break from his father's Federalist connections means that JQA had to attain the nation's highest office based primarily on his own resume, not his father's.

Ironically, Adam's tenure as President was in some ways, the low point in his career of public service. Prior to then, he was one of the best foreign relations people in American history, one of the primary authors of the Treaty of Ghent and the Monroe Doctrine. In his post-Presidential life, he was a prominent Congressman noted for his anti-slavery work (including his winning defense in the Amistad case) and his part in founding the Smithsonian Institute. As a President, however, he was at best mediocre and ineffective, his four years marred from the start by his controversial election and his unwise appointment of Henry Clay as Secretary of State (for Clay, it was equally unwise to have accepted the position).

Having read Remini's three volume biography of Jackson, it was interesting to read his depiction of one of Jackson's principal political enemies. Remini does a good job, but this is not as strong an effort as his other biographical works. The brevity of the book (which I believe was imposed by the American Presidents Series editors) makes this book more of an overview than a full biography. Remini does cover most of the major points, however, and does deal with Adams's personal life as well.

As stated before, John Quincy Adams was not a very significant President, but he is an important part of early U.S. history. This book is a good introduction to the man often recognized as the best Secretary of State ever. For a more detailed biography, however, Paul Nagel's recent work is a worthwhile read.

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States, but much less well known than his father John Adams, the second President of the USA.

In this splendid biography, Robert Remini has provided us with a concise volume detailing the life of John Quincy Adams. Within this book, it is easily seen why JQA is rated as "below average" as a President, but highly regarded as an international diplomat.

Remini has done a spectactular job in describing the whole life of John Quincy Adams, and helps us to understand why Adams' life is being reclassified as more successful than previously recognized, despite the fact that his Presidency was a failure.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a basic understanding of Adams the man, not just as the President.

This brief (300 pages) history of the American Revolution, as seen through the actions of Adams, Jefferson, and Washington, is a thoroughly enjoyable, pool side type of read. Granted, it is a superficial history of the Revolution, but provides an interesting perspective of the motivations, interactions, and rather different personalities of the three founding fathers. Mr. Ferling's work does seem to be at times rather colored in favor of Washington and Adams, which might be expected, as he has written biographies of our first and second presidents. He makes some rather interesting comments about Jefferson's personality; comments which come close to a psychoanalysis of our third president. Overall, if you are searching for a history of the revolution, this work is not for you. If you are ready for a relaxing narrative of the revolution, and the actions of these three individuals, you will not be disappointed.

An excellent biography of the three leading fugures of the American Revolution. Ferling makes a compelling case to restore the reputation of John Adams to its rightful place. Adams deserves to be remembered as more than a grumpy counter-figure to Jefferson's optimism. The author also strongly attacks Jefferson by calling into question the lack of leadership evidenced by Jefferson throughout the Revolutionary years. Committment was provided by Adams and Washington when things looked bleak. When Jefferson was tending his vines at Monticello, Washington led troops and Adams served around the world. If you are interested in the Early Republic, this is a must read! You may disagree with his conclusions but they are well argued and refreshing.

So many books have already been published about the American Revolution as well as about Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Ferling brilliantly analyzes all three towering figures within a specific historical context, to be sure, but also in terms of each other. He creates and then explores a matrix of juxtapositions between and among them, comparing and contrasting all three in relation to each other but also in relation to the historical context on which each had such a profound impact. What Ferling has created is both a history book of panoramic scope and a trilogy of interrelated (and to some extent interdependent) biographies. It is so well-written that I often thought I was reading a novel.

Since childhood, I have viewed certain books as "magic carpets." I include Ferling's book among them. It transported me back more than 200 years and deposited me amidst the brave and brilliant men who were about to set the world "ablaze" with their incendiary passion for an independence soon to be declared and eventually to be achieved. Ferling guides his reader through this highly combustible process. Of special interest to me is Ferling's presentation of Adams (characterized as the "Bulwark" of the American Revolution), a founding father not always mentioned in the same breath with Washington and Jefferson. With all due respect to Jefferson's accomplishments, Ferling concludes the final chapter with this observation: "To the end, he was incapable of accepting the reality of his culpability in the perpetuation and expansion of African slavery and the danger it now posed to the achievements of the American Revolution." And then in the Epilogue, Ferling asserts that the Revolutionary generation "was indeed fortunate to have had Washington and Adams as its greatest stewards and shepherds."

If you have a keen interest in the War for Independence and, especially, in those who led the new nation through and beyond that war, there is this magic carpet I know about....

Horrible printing of Adams' most obscure photos. Fuzzy images with none of the range of tones normally produced by his incomparable application of the "zone technique." The poor images even make it impossible to appreciate the words of John Muir.

This book is flawed by the images selected to be in it. The other main weakness is that the book is clearly overpriced.

The good news, however, is that the image sizes are large enough to capture the power and majesty of Adams' work. The reproduction quality is superb, as well!

The essay by William Turnage is an excellent discussion of the roles of Thoreau, Muir, and Adams in creating the awareness that has helped us to save and cherish some of what remains of our American wilderness. The artist-turned-conservation leader, Adams' role, is a particularly important function in our society. The artist helps us to experience what we have never seen while the conservation leader takes actions that galvanize the emotions that are evoked by nature and the artist into helpful improvements. When the artist and conservation leader are the same person, there is a combined power and continuity of vision that is irresistible. Thank goodness!

Adams is someone we should all admire for another reason. His nature photography and conservation efforts were hobbies, labors of love. Photography of nature is a field that offered meaningful remuneration only in recent years.

His day job was doing commercial photography. He took pictures of dead people in the Los Angeles morgue as well as of open pit copper mines in Utah.

What we admire about him was what he did on weekends, before and after work, and on vacations. Because he wanted the most remarkable images, this often meant hiking before dawn in difficult winter conditions to remote peaks to get just the right perspective.

Andrea Stillman did a good job of selecting Adams' quotes for her opening remarks. "Photography is a way of telling what you feel about what you see." " . . . [T]he turning out to the light the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit . . ." is what his work is about.

Throughout the book, you will find other quotes about Adams' reflections on the wilderness. They are well selected and add much to your consideration of what his images mean.

Here are some of my favorite photographs as reproduced in this book:

Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park, Texas, 1947

Monument Valley, Arizona, 1942

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, 1942

Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley, 1948

Sand Dune, White Sands National Monument, 1942

The White Stump, Sierra Nevada City, 1936

Terraya Creek, Dogwood Rain, Yosemite, 1948

Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite, 1944

Half Dome, Winter, from Glacier Point, Yosemite, 1940

Leaves, Mills College, Oakland, California, 1931

Maroon Bells, Near Aspen, Colorado, 1951

Old Faithful (4), Yellowstone, 1942

Mount McKinley and . . . Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1947

After you have finished being refreshed and rejuvenated by these inspiring images, I suggest that you contemplate what the wilderness meant to your grandparents and parents, what it meant to you as a child, what it means to you now, and what it means to your children. If you are like me, you will see that wilderness is rapidly receding as a concept as well as a reality. What are we losing? How can we reverse that loss?

Understand all of Nature's message for us by living in harmony with her!

... because you can put four legs on it and use it for a coffee table. If you're going to have a single Ansel Adams book, this is the one. His images just don't work in any smaller format.

This book suffers from a dull prose style and a mere listing of the agonies of the Adams family, without much insight. But if you want the facts about America's most distinguished dysfunctional family, here they are.

(...) An insightful and interesting study of four generations of complex and often contradictory personalities. I especially appreciated the author's manner of hinting at future developments and bating the reader to read on and on...in my case, well into the night. His analysis of the Adams' strengths and weaknesses is what sets this book apart so I am perplexed that anyone would describe it as dull and a mere listing of events. But don't take my word for it -- if you have only a few moments to browse through it, check the index for the passage dealing with the death of the tragic first generation daughter, Nabby. The writing is poignant and wrenching. Anything but routine.

I read this book in about one week. I found it very well written with logical conclusions and theories based on an extensive primary and secondary source material study, complex yet readable and extremely well researched. This is a book that anyone interested in American history and the complexities of the first 4 generations of the Adams family will appreciate. A masterful undertaking by the author...never boring and highly informative.

This is a nice little tale about a bunch of superpowered teenagers arriving in Metropolis. One of them gets knocked uncouncious during Superman's battle with a giant cybernetic gorilla, and wakes up thinking she's Supergirl. Which doesn't go down well with the real Supergirl....this is more about characterisation that action, and it's a well-paced and very readable book. Gen 13 especially are very amusingly written - at first they believe Superman is a square, but by the end of the story, they've seen just how cool he can be.

Enough of that - Lee Bermejo's artwork is what makes this book so impressive. I would call it Lenil Francis Yu done properly. It's like single frames from a movie, rather than the stylised cartoon figures of most modern comics. The expressions and details and body language is so accurate and realistic, it's a pleasure to look at, and the colours and inks suit the pencils just perfectly. Best of all is the way Superman is drawn. Most artists need to draw Superman as a characature these days to get across how mighty he is, a ridiculously over-built cartoon. Berjemo makes the Man of Steel far more impressive by showing him as just a big, strong, yet realistic-loooking guy, and thus makes him look truly awesome. Hands down, some of the best Superman artwork I've ever seen.

Overall, a nice, small-scale story with sensational artwork.

There have been thousands of crossovers in comics and Superman has participated in many of them however if this is not the best Superman crossover it has to be at least in the Top 5...great story great art great Gen 13 characters and a legendary Superman make for a great read.

Many of the drawings of the creatures look like something out of H.P. Lovecraft. Speculation on what life on this planet will look like in the far future is kind of interesting, but many of the drawings looked silly to me...and the names -- "sharkopath?" ... "squibbon?"

Also what do Dougal Dixon and John Adams have to do with this book? I could not find them credited anywhere in the text or the verso page?

I bought this book after reading The Future is Wild.
This book is much the same, but adapted to younger tatses. It also expains that although they may look "silly" as the reviewer below remarked, but are proven body designs that would supposably accually work, or somethin or another. Please do not listen to the adjacent and dissilusioned reviewer. Althogh, you would probably appreciate the book better if you read the other first.

Harbors and High Seas gets more use from me than the lexicon reference to the Aubrey Maturin series, A Sea of Words. I skimmed through Harbors and High Seas after each O'Brian book the last time through; leaving alone the clearer geographical detail, this really adds depth to O'Brian's already convincing world.

I would recommend this highly to fans of the series who feel bereft at its close and long to return, to poke around a little themselves. Harbors and High Seas is full of taking off points, tangents to the stories that the curious reader can follow up on. A print of the decrepit Temple, reproduced here, might spark you to pursue some detail or other about Napoleon's Paris. The discussion of the many Desolation Islands has lots of little sides to it that could reward some curiosity. Like the stories, this is a sort of open-ended invitation into the historical setting, you might say.

Harbors and High Seas is a "companion" to the series, a complement to it, not just a reference to be consulted when you're muddled. Don't just refer to it -- read it for fun.

I'm now on book 7 of the Aubrey-Maturin series, and have only had my Companion for the last 2...how much it adds to the joy and the education. The best part of the companion is the maps, with clearly marked routes taken by Lucky Jack's vessels. O'Brian's description of Aubrey passing by Elsinore while Jack describes his role in Hamlet as a young midshipman comes alive with both the map and the picture of Elsinore. As well, eliminating the frustration of trying to determine what is fiction (Grimsholm) from what is not (Admiral Suamarez) greatly adds to the historical learnings.

The only downside to having this companion is the irresistable temptation to read ahead...the plot lines of the first 17 books are all given in general outline. As O'Brian readers know, however, much of the joy is as much in the characterization and writing as in the plot line. So, even if you do look ahead, it in all likelihood only will increase your desire to move on to the next book....I personally can hardly wait to get to Treason's Harbour and the mood that O'Brian will create around historic Malta.

If you love maps, though, and have always used them to add a visual learning dimension and reference to the words, you can't possibly read the books without it.

In closing, I guess I should add the warning that as addictive as these books are, they become even more addictive with the companion.

Beware!

Once in awhile just the right writer comes along for a critical assignment, and this time it is Dean King, accompanied by some other worthy contributors. A globe isn't nearly enough when you're sailing, fighting, surviving and adventuring with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, and it mattered not to me that King had to wait until there were sufficient chapters in O'Brian's incredible series (one that I look upon as one great, great book with 19 chapters) to form an adequate foundation for Harbors and High Seas, for I read them over and over and King's guide makes the repeat servings even more delightful.

Now as I travel the world in the O'Brian series I know where I am and where I've been -- and often where I'm going. The maps are outstanding (I always thought a map here and there in the novels themselves was called for), and King's narrative takes me ashore in places all over the aquatic world to round out my adventures with my favorite literary characters.

The old pictures from The Naval Chronicle are worthy -- and thoughtful -- additions to the whole fine work.

I guess I'll be reading Aubrey/Maturin books forever, and with Harbors and High Seas right at hand. Too bad the guide had to end with The Commodore but, hey, I'm not complaining. I'm happy for what's here.

Thanks to King, too, for his lexicon, A Sea of Words. That was the finishing touch for the O'Brian addict that I am -- I want to KNOW what a studding sail is, a snow (for I, like Maturin, thought a "snow" must be a white ship), the mainchains (not "chains" at all), the messenger (definitely not a means by which you might get a message to Garcia) . . .

A tip of the hat and a warm thank you to Dean King and his cohorts: John B. Hattendorf, J. Worth Estes, and mapmakers William Clipson and Adam Merton Cooper.

It is truly wonderful that this incredible series of historical novels has inspired these indispensible accompaniments. There is also the volume edited by A.E. Cunningham, "Patrick O'Brian: Critical Essays and a Bibliography" which belongs on the shelf with every O'Brian fan's collection. These books about O'Brian's books are a further testimony to the greatness of them -- they stood tall on their own, it's only that they're even more robust now.

Doug Briggs

HPL died in 1937. This book was published last year. He did NOT edit it. If he did, the contents would have been much better than the tripe contained therein.

Lovecraft may be dead for sometime now but he manages to live on through other authors who have taken his work to a whole other level. I had purchased this book as I had others just knowing that I would enjoy it. I certainly did and the stories relate in one way or another to Lovecrafts works. Sometimes you have to know what Lovecraft wrote about,others you do not so it can be for a Lovecraft fan or a horror fan. There are a few that have nothing to do with Lovecrafts work but I wont hold it against them. Ultamitly it is up to you to decide if you really like or dislike the scary, strange world that Lovecraft has opened up for us all to see.

This new anthology is one of the best of recent Cthulhu Mythos literature, 21 exceptional stories that are fresh, imaginative and most of them quite witty. These are not run of the mill pastiches. The writers attempt to provide a different approach to the material, and for the most part are quite successful. Among the best ones are: "The Cabin in the Woods" by Richard Laymon, "Sour Places" by Mark Chadbourn, "The Firebrand Symphony" by Brian Hodge, "Princpals and Parameters" by Meredith L. Patterson and (if you like a good "joke" story) "Are you Loathsome Tonight?" by Poppy Z. Brite. The last one is an Elvis Presley Mythos tale. The recent, exceptionasl new book "The Complete H. P. Lovecraft Filmography" has a chapter on mythos tales that could be successfully adapted to the screen. Well some of the tales in this new anthology could also apply to this category as well. "Children of Cthulhu" clearly shows that the Cthulhu Mythos is not moribund, but is continuing to grow in new directions. Recommended!

As if anyone really cares about the Corp, and that includes the new breed of Aggies. It's a tired tradition of a bunch of military wannabe's that couldn't get into U of Texas. Come on...no one other than Aggies will buy this book, just another constant reminder to Aggies that since they got a second rate education they can fall back on school pride. While you Whoop and Holler....the rest of the world says "WHO CARES".

This book is full of great information about the University and the Corps. Best compilation of data I have seen and written in a captivating manner. Several humorous stories help to bring the history to life. Amazing how more things changed over the years, the more they actually stayed the same.

This is one of the two best books about the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, the other being "The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band" -- both infinitely better than honorable efforts such as "Hey Aggies, You Caught That Damn Old Rat Yet?" and "The Corps at Aggieland." In addition to Corps organization charts that trace the organization's structure from its earliest chronicled times, Adams' account is rich with anecdotal and archival material about an established and unique Texas institution.

I was in the Corps at A&M, two classes after the author, so I recognized his descriptions of those times as wholly accurate and illuminating.

I did not want to be in the Corps. I thought it was a bunch of puerile stupidity. My parents insisted I try, giving me permission in advance to quit, if I wanted to do so. After about a week, however, the challenge and the spirit captured me completely, and -- despite the extremely difficult, peculiar environment -- I determined that nothing could make me quit. An upperclassmen, one of Adams' contemporaries, advised one evening: "If you quit this, you will find that quitting is easy, and you will make it a habit. It's the worst habit you can form."

The habit of not quitting, for which I fully, wholly, completely credit the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, enabled me to complete the Army's Airborne and Ranger Schools while I was a cadet in the Corps, then later overcome numerous difficulties in my ensuing mainstream career.

Adams' book makes a fine gift for anyone thinking about going to Texas A&M, anyone presently attending A&M, anyone who ever went there, and all the folks who wish they had. The Corps of Cadets is the embodiment, the vanguard, the foundation of the Spirit of Aggieland, and is responsible for making Texas A&M a university worth attending.

If you go to Texas A&M and you don't join the Corps, you might as well have gone to Texas, TCU, San Marcos or any of the numerous other plain old vanilla fraternity/sorority schools in the state. The Corps of Cadets is what makes A&M the best college Texas has to offer. Period.