Many fans of the site have written Emails to our staff here at the American Exceptionalism Project inquiring how we choose the Presidential Biographies we read. The answer is quite simple; we found a list from our good friends at the Washington Post and copied it! Here is the link to the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/12/05/the-best-of-the-best-presidential-biographies-2/
Of the books recommended we do some quick research on Amazon, and then select the best. The “American Presidency Series” books are usually pretty good. They are a condensed telling of that particular Presidents life and admittedly just a summary. But we reasoned that a short look at some of the lesser known Presidents at this time is sufficient, as we ourselves are looking to get through a sequential look at each American President in a reasonable period of time. We also want to invest more time on the well known leaders. Icons like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower without getting bogged down in lesser known Presidents like Pierce, Buchanan, and Warren Harding. As I write this post, we are currently reading “Team of Rivals,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is an excellent book and worthy of the Pulitzer it won. We are always interested to hear your suggestions for good biographies on the Presidents, especially the lesser researched ones. Here is a list of what we have read, and what we intend to read over the course of our Presidential journey. Happy Reading!
The Presidential Biographies
1) George Washington: His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph J. Ellis.
2) John Adams: John Adams, by David McCullough
3) Thomas Jefferson: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph J. Ellis; Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham.
4) James Madison: James Madison and the Making of America, by Kevin Gutzman
5) James Monroe: The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness, by Harlow Giles Unger.
6) John Quincy Adams: John Quincy Adams, by Harlow Giles Unger
7) Andrew Jackson: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham
8) Martin Van Buren: Martin Van Buren (The American Presidents Series), by Ted Widmer
9) William Henry Harrison: William Henry Harrison (The American Presidents Series) by Gail Collins
10) John Tyler: John Tyler (The American Presidents Series), by Gary May
11) James K. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America, by Walter R. Borneman.
12) Zachary Taylor: Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest, by K. Jack Bauer.
13) Millard Fillmore: Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President, by Robert J. Rayback
14) Franklin Pierce: Franklin Pierce (The American Presidents Series), by Michael Holt.
15) James Buchanan: President James Buchanan (The American Presidents Series), by Jean H. Baker
16) Abraham Lincoln: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
17) Andrew Johnson: Andrew Johnson (The American Presidents Series), by Annette Gordon-Reed.
18) Ulysses S. Grant: President Ulysses S. Grant (The American Presidents Series), by Josiah Bunting III; Grant Takes Command, by Bruce Catton. (We are reading both books here at the American Exceptionalism Project)
19) Rutherford B. Hayes: Rutherford B. Hayes, by Hans Trefousse (The American Presidents Series)
20) James Garfield: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard.
21) Chester Arthur: Chester Alan Arthur (The American Presidents Series), by Zachary Karabell.
22&24) Grover Cleveland (the 22nd and 24th president): The Forgotten Conservative: Rediscovering Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character, by John Pafford.
23) Benjamin Harrison: Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents Series), by Charles W. Calhoun.
25) William McKinley: William McKinley, by Kevin Phillips. (The American Presidents Series)
26) Theodore Roosevelt: Theodore Rex by Edwin Morris.
27) William Howard Taft: The William Howard Taft Presidency (The American Presidents Series) by Lewis L. Gould.
28) Woodrow Wilson: Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, by John Milton Cooper Jr.
29) Warren G. Harding: Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series), by John W. Dean.
30) Calvin Coolidge: Coolidge, (The American Presidents Series), by David Greenberg.
31) Herbert Hoover: Herbert Hoover (The American Presidents Series), by William E. Leuchtenburg.
32) Franklin Roosevelt: Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century, by Alonzo Hamby.
33) Harry S. Truman: Truman, by David McCullough.
34) Dwight D. Eisenhower: IKE: An American Hero, by Michael Korda.
35) John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life, by Robert Dallek.
36) Lyndon B. Johnson: Flawed Giant by Robert Dallek.
37) Richard Nixon: Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas.
38) Gerald Ford: Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life by James Cannon.
39) Jimmy Carter: Jimmy Carter, by Peter Bourne
40) Ronald Reagan: Reagan: The Life, by H.W. Brands
41) George H.W. Bush: George H.W. Bush Destiny and Power, by Jon Meacham.
–Due to the Partisan nature of any Presidential bio, we felt it premature to dive into biographies of the most contemporary of Presidents. Although we have not read the below editions, they do come recommended to us. It is safe to say, we are at least 20 years removed from a sober biography of any of the four following leaders.
42) Bill Clinton: First in His Class, by David Maraniss; The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, by John F. Harris.
43) George W. Bush: Decision Points (Bush’s memoir).
44) Barack Obama: Barack Obama: The Story, by David Maraniss; The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, by David Remnick.
45) Donald Trump: Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J Trump.