The accomplishments of our classmates never cease to amaze me! Stanford Erickson recently announced the publication of his new book, Mama’s Boy Presidents: Why Do We Keep Electing Them? Little did we know while we were at North Brae and at Cap that throughout our careers or later in our lives it would be our classmates we would turn to for expert advice, as is evidenced by Stanford enlisting Mike St. Clair, who provided editing services and offered his insights on the management styles of the featured Presidents.
I try to keep blog posts relatively short but I am making an exception in this case. The premise of this book is fascinating, regardless of your political affiliation. Also included is Stan’s bio so you can read what he has been doing since we graduated from Cap!
If you are interested in ordering the book, scroll down for the Amazon and Barnes and Noble links.
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Overview
Since John F. Kennedy, seven of the last nine presidents of the United States have been Mama’s Boys. Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush can be characterized as Daddy’s Boys. Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, all experienced a unique relationship with their mother that some psychologists refer to as Mama’s Boys. During times of crisis, many of our greatest presidents have been balanced Mama’s Boys and balanced Daddy’s Boys. Yet we also have been led by unbalanced and conflicted Mama’s Boys and Daddy’s Boys. Their presidencies have been less successful than their balanced counterparts. Although Mama’s Boys have been among our best presidents, they also have been among the most dictatorial. Their emphasis on a strong federal government, one that tends to mother us, is threatening to undermine what has made this nation extraordinary. The premise of this book is that the personality, character, policy inclinations, campaign and management styles, and worldview of a U.S. president is largely influenced by his being a Mama’s Boy or Daddy’s Boy.
The book is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mamas-Boy-Presidents-Keep-Electing/dp/1936372541 and at Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mamas-boy-presidents-stanford-erickson/1113157895
Radio Interview
http://kpel965.com/author-talks-about-mamas-boy-presidents
Stan’s Bio
Stanford Erickson is a thirty-year member of the National Press in Washington, DC, and a former member of the Overseas Press Club in New York City. For more than twenty-five years as a Bureau Chief in Washington, DC, and a reporter and editor in New York City, he covered Presidents, Congress, Administrative and Regulatory Departments and Agencies. He interviewed Presidents and other world leaders and many of the many significant business leaders in the country.
As a journalist, he worked for Hearst, McGraw-Hill, Knight-Ridder and The Economist Group. As a journalist he worked in San Francisco, Korea, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. He was a speechwriter in Washington, DC, and then headed up public relations worldwide for the largest U. S. ship company, traveling through North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He then returned to his first love: journalism, working for Knight-Ridder and The Economist Group and then, with investors, he bought and turned around Farm Journal, the largest media company serving farmers in the United States. At one point in his career, he was generally considered one of the most knowledgeable reporters in the United States reporting on world trade.
Erickson started as a reporter in San Francisco working for the San Francisco Examiner, a Hearst newspaper at the time, and later did feature articles for The San Francisco Chronicle. He wrote for Stars & Stripes, when he was drafted and served in the U.S Army in Korea. He worked as a reporter, editor and bureau chief for McGraw-Hill in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Washington, DC. He covered the White House during the oil-embargo in 1974-75 when Gerald Ford was President.
He was the speechwriter for the President of the American Bankers Association and for the President of the American Railroad Association and then for 10 years, headed up all public relations activities worldwide for Sea-Land Service, the world’s largest containership operator. Having made enough money to send his sons to college, Erickson returned to his first love: newspapers.
Erickson was Editorial Director, Editor-in Chief and then General Manager of Knight-Ridder’s Journal of Commerce in New York City. At the time, The Journal of Commerce had the largest news bureau in Washington DC, of all Knight-Ridder newspapers. When The Economist Group bought The Journal of Commerce, he was made President and Publisher of the magazine division and bought magazines for The Economist Group. He then struck out on his own and, with investors, bought The Farm Journal for $18 million and in three years took it from losing money with revenues of $23 million to making money at $45 million and with a stock valuation of $100,000 million. Along the way, he bought a daily agriculture television program, a daily agriculture radio program, the largest newsletter operation serving agriculture and invested heavily in AgWeb.Com.
Erickson started Media Integration Consultants in 2000, working to transform primarily print media companies into content-rich Internet and print media companies. He usually worked hands-on at a media company until it became profitable.
Throughout his career he has written poetry.
In 2012, he published a non-fiction book, How To Be Wiser Than Solomon, and has now published another non-fiction book, Why We Continue to Elect Mama’s Boys to Be Our Presidents.
His three-act play, The Kennedys: An American Tragedy, had a live reading by professional actors before an audience in Seattle, Washington in 2010. The play is currently with a Broadway producer.
He received his undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, a Masters of Arts degree from Francisco State University and a Masters in Business from Columbia University. He has won numerous editorial awards and served on numerous educational and commerce boards.
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We are proud of you, Stan!
