After a historically unusual presidential campaign and a broadly unexpected election outcome, I can’t help but wonder:
What kind of Trump biography will I be reading in 15 or 20 years?!?
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Contrary to much that has been said recently, there is nothing new about shockingly polarized politics or outlandish political rhetoric.
But irrespective of your personal political views one thing is certain: the next few years will be memorable!
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My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies 
“May you live in interesting times!”
Are you planning on appending a Trump bio to your list? Will there be a reasonable bio of him by the time you reach #45?
Sadly, no. I really think I’m going to wait until a comprehensive biography of his entire life is written to tackle him. In the same spirit, I’m uncertain when I’ll actually be able to add a great Obama bio to my list…
I don’t mind (too much, anyway) bios written before someone’s death – in which case they are necessarily somewhat incomplete – but I need to see pre-presidency and presidency side-by-side in a biography in order to assess how the person really evolved and how those two major aspects of a life fit together.
If you should change your mind about that, I highly recommend Wayne Barrett’s Trump: The Deals and the Downfall. Though it was first published back in 1992, it really is a first-rate work of investigative reporting, one unlikely to be surpassed as Barrett was able to interview people for it who are no longer alive (such as his father’s employees).
I had a discussion with an elderly woman in a parking lot in Green Valley, Arizona a couple weeks back where we talked about this. I look forward to all the bios I read but I think it will be very difficult to find a truly unbiased biography of any president from George HW Bush on. I could be wrong, but I wholeheartedly agree with your idea of seeing a pre-President and post-President that is somewhat separated by history in order to get the “best” picture of them.
You may be correct, but it will depend on one’s lifespan. In the 1970s it would have been difficult to imagine a balanced, objective biography of Nixon or Johnson. I believe we are seeing some balance emerge on them.
I have really enjoyed reading through your website about the various presidents and the books written about them. I hope you keep it up! I guess you will have read about all of the Kings/Queens of England from William the Conqueror to Washington 🙂
I know for me I can not and will not read any presidential biography past Reagan as it is pretty clear that the string of presidents since that time have been one disaster piled on another disaster. I was a young kid during the time of Kennedy so I think it makes a huge difference if you are alive and aware of the various coverups, disasters, etc. Especially with these past six presidents counting this current numpty and geriatric patient. 24/7 media is not helpful either with their race baiting, “cancel culture”, “politically correctness” nonsense, it is relentless even radio channels I use to like to listen too, I can’t anymore. I had to get rid of my TV and cable. I am not sure we will actually survive this decade without a full blow civil type war, global war, economic collapse that will make 1929 look lame, or just be forced into a total globalist communist government. I am very concerned about the future of my grandkids and there is no where for them to go as all of Western Civilization is crumbling at a fast clip. I hope I am wrong, but most all of the cities are drug riddled, homelessness on steroids, crime rates through the roof and it is spreading to the suburbs. It is like a perpetually worse version of Boston on 19 Sep 1919 – total American nightmare.
I started my biography journey just after the last presidential election. Working on Eisenhower now. I have to say I have had a whole new perspective this political season as I know much much more about our nations history and our past leaders!!
I started all this more as a way of entertaining rather than educating myself, but have really enjoyed how much history I’ve learned along the way. It’s fascinating to see how the country has changed since its earliest days…and how it has not!
You can *always* start with The Art of the Deal 😉 I read that in 7th grade ha!! May lose brain cells, but it was interesting (at least then)
Funny you mention that – I read it in 7th or 8th grade and recently asked my parents to dig it out of the heap of stuff I left behind when I went off to college and never (permanently) returned. Tragically, it seems they tossed it out with the garbage at some point…
I read The Art of the Deal when it came out. I recently read it again and was very surprised. You really only need to read the first 3-4 chapters. Trump’s way of dealing with people and business is about the same then as it is today. The rest of the book is about the details of past deals, but even in those chapters you can see how he thinks and operates. Outside of adding Twitter to his arsenal, not much has changed in the way he does things.
Drats. One more presidential bio going in my shopping cart. And I already have McCullough’s Truman to get to, Caro’s set on LBJ, an Eisenhower book, and not to mention Manchester’s Churchill trio (though not a U.S. president, but a book on a world leader nonetheless). Guess I have to get going!
One unyielding law of the universe: there’s just never enough time for everything!
Make America Great Again!
Make America READ Again! 🙂
Now THAT’s funny. And somewhat ironic since POTUS #45 apparently hasn’t read a book cover-to-cover since…well…apparently ever 🙂
This seems a good place to leave a comment on the overall project. I’m reading one biography of each president and am just finishing up Treouffouse on Andrew Johnson. I have gained much from your descriptions of the “best” biography and find that you help me make a choice that strikes a middle ground among various considerations.
The most striking thing to me about the pre-Civil War era is how the issues of the day are similar in many ways to the current political issues. My consternation over having elected President Trump are mollified by having seen the nation survive Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore and Buchanan. And, surprisingly to me, each of them emerged as having some admirable characteristics along the way.
Finally, I will say that I expect to end my journey somewhere around Lyndon Johnson. I tend to think that these books are best read as history and that the influences of my own experience will color my reaction to the Presidents whose times I have inhabited as an adult.
Thanks so much for the blog.
Thanks for your note – the thing that struck me at the beginning of my second year on this journey was what you identified in your second paragraph. Nothing, it seems, is really new. All that changes are the names of the players, the date and the specific issues. But the themes, the angst and polarization all seem part of an endless “Groundhog Day”-type loop.
I’m planning to end with Bush 43 or Obama, depending on where I get the last “real” biography with some feeling of distance from the subject (though that would really probably be Reagan at this point) and as time elapses I’ll push forward. In the meantime I’ve missed a few biographies of most of the presidents which I “need” to read so I’ll go back and fill those in as well.
“Next few years…” I like how you think. It already feels like an eternity to me. LOL I But if there is one thing I’ve learned in my own journey from 1 through 17, it’s that we have survived worse. The experiment continues…
Steve
The last posting here was July 2017, which I find surprising, and thus would like an update on your thoughts on POTUS#45. Although I concur with your endless “Groundhog Day” analogy, and that we (the American public) have had and survived many ‘bad’ Presidents, I wonder if #45 isn’t qualitatively different.
I am one of many of your fans who have been reading Presidential biographies and using your reviews as guidance. Initially jumped around in time and related people and places (Grant, Eisenhower, Frémont, West Point by Stephen E. Ambrose, Supreme Court by William H. Rehnquist), but now moving linearly POTUS 2-12 (yeah skipped old George). This has been very therapeutic for me to deal with #45, as the incompetence, political back stabbing, greed, ego, newspaper press polarization and human nature of the Presidency and cabinet and Congress is repeated throughout the last 200 plus years.
But there seems to be a new aspect (besides Twitter). Many Presidents held strong opinions which they followed in the belief they were doing what might be ‘best’ for their constituency and country. Even those who just played the politics like van Buren, had national goals. But POTUS#45 plays a reality TV show in which everything revolves around him, and has no strong beliefs about the country and acts as if there are no real consequences (as there wouldn’t be if this is a reality TV show). As proof, his hair is not greying and he isn’t suffering any medical ill effects (as becomes all other Presidents who take the position seriously).
BTW, great picture of you in the Washington Post Article Feb 4, 2016.
Ric
Until the latest presidential election I’ve only added POTUS categories one at a time – and sequentially (that’s how I’m reading the biographies, of course). Since I felt compelled to post something #45-related following the election I had to create the POTUS #45 category out of order and haven’t tried to keep it current (I haven’t read anything Trump-related and won’t for some time).
My wife often asks me when I think a worthy, comprehensive Trump bio is going to come out. I think she expects it to tell a crazy – but fascinating – tale. Unfortunately I suspect it’s going to be awhile. I think that Trump, more than most presidents, is going to require significant time and distance for a deliberate, dispassionate perspective. Depending on his length of service in the White House it could be a decade or more before a balanced, comprehensive and insightful biography of him is published.
As I’m reading presidential biographies I often try to contemplate how the various presidents were viewed by their contemporaries vs. how their legacies have evolved over time. Those are often starkly different perspectives – Truman, for example, immediately comes to mind. So while I suspect I know what type of treatment Trump would receive from modern-day biographers if they published something today, I won’t try to predict what the second- or third-order impact(s) of his actions will be and how they will be evaluated by posterity. One of the difficulties inherent in “breaking the mold” (whether thoughtfully or carelessly) is that what seems crazy today might seem prescient tomorrow. In this case I have my doubts, but I hope I’m wrong 🙂
Although I’ve tried to keep my personal political views out of my posts (in an ideal world we should be able to agree on the best-written presidential biographies without worrying about what side of the political spectrum we each occupy) it is fair to say I had higher hopes for the current administration. But I’ve also witnessed the country surviving fractious, difficult and nearly impossible moments due to the strong fabric of the Constitution, the resolve of various branches of government and the occasionally strong will of the American people. So although it would be easy to wallow in despair over the current state of affairs, I harbor an unusual degree of optimism relating to this country’s resiliency. (To be honest, I’m more worried about the intermediate-term impact of our fiscal situation than the chaos being generated in the White House).
But no matter what, I think one thing is certain: great presidential biographies are colorfully written, engaging, insightful, balanced and capture the president, the country and the global context in an way that is both entertaining and instructive. And I *really* wish I could peer into the future to see what the best biographies of POTUS #45 will have to say!
I;m just beginning my journey (about 13 hours into Chernow’s Washington book, which is very very good). I’ve been setting my course but once you get past Nixon or so, it really does seem that biographies become “biographies” written largely by political enemies or sycophants. What is the minimum time for a really effective even handed bio to be written? Do you think it varies by president? It seems that finding a good book on Bush (41) might be easier than on Reagan. Anyway, very much enjoy the blog. I decided to set off on this project after going to see Hamilton here in Des Moines and loving it. Thanks for the help along the way.
Glad to hear you are getting started with this fascinating adventure! Although I agree that many biographies of recent presidents seem to be less focused on objectivity and more focused on pressing a point, I can although think of many that don’t fit that mold. I do generally prefer biographies that present all sides to a person’s character / actions and allow the reader to form a conclusion on the basis of full information. But, having said that, since I’m reading several bios per president I’m also in a better-than-average position to manage the “outlier” perspectives and those which are downright biased or one-sided since I can synthesize everything I’ve read and create a holistic portrait. In any event, good luck on your journey and let me know how it goes!
And so we reach the last explosive chapter or two in section covering Trump’s first (only?) term. Are we near the end of the biography or only half way through? Time will tell.
In an age when memorials are being removed and legacies are being questioned, I’m curious about whether a book has been written on the evolving historical reputations of chief executives. It’s a topic that is sometimes covered in the epilogue of more modern biographies. It’s also something that can be observed in the historical rankings of presidents (e.g. C-SPAN). But I’d love a deeper dive into the topic. A president-by-president analysis of the impact of social movements, new sources, delayed repercussions, changing values, and individual biographies on their academic understanding and/or reputation in the popular mind.
If there is no such book then I think you would be a good position to advise on such a project, if not write the damned thing yourself.
I’m going to hold my breath and see whether anyone comes up with a title that fits your description as that could make for interesting reading.
More broadly, however, I’ve always been fascinated by how we evaluate, judge and rate presidents given some of the things you allude to (along with some other factors as well). How different are the skill sets required to be a great president in one era vs. another (how would Lincoln deal with the pandemic? what on earth would Trump have done during WWII?) How do changing social / cultural norms impact our view today of presidents who lived 100 or 200 years ago? Delayed repercussions is one way to think about what I often consider: second- and third-order effects of big decisions whose final impacts won’t be known until long after a president is gone. etc…..
I’ve been tempted to write short “thought pieces” on the topic (or one or more aspects of this broad topic) but I just haven’t done it yet. It’s feels a bit like trying to tackle a massive puzzle by highlighting small sections that may be interesting on a micro-scale but which doesn’t inform the big picture where you have to see everything – and how they interrelated – in order to understand the “whole.”
Food for thought…
Excellent response to a great question. There is actually a reasonable wiki article on Presidential rankings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States). It provides the rankings over time from the various polls over time (beginning with Schlesinger Sr’s 1948 poll).
To my knowledge there isn’t one book. I know there are a few books covering the changing reputations of the more pivotal Presidents (e.g., Jefferson and Lincoln). A couple recent books, based on rankings by C-SPAN and The Wall Street Journal, do provide some historiography, but nothing comprehensive.
Food for thought indeed! Separating the era from the man is certainly an interesting thought experiment, particularly when they face events that did not come up in their campaigns (i.e. that the public didn’t necessarily choose them to tackle).
I find it almost nearly impossible to separate Lincoln from the Civil War, particularly as he died as it ended. As for Trump and WWII, I’m not sure how he would have done, but I’m pretty sure I know how he thinks he would have done.
For a good title and better theme – how about buyer’s remorse; what made the next president possible.
It’s interesting to see how many presidents are being reevaluated as times change. Jefferson and Madison are being increasingly critiqued for their slaveholding, not to mention Jackson for his authoritarian streak, his treatment of Native Americans and all-around orneriness, whereas LBJ and Grant (among others) are being positive reassessed for their domestic achievements with Vietnam and their various scandals being downplayed. Our assessment of historical figures is always going to be a reflection of our historical moment as much as it is the subjects themselves.
Hey Steve. Love the site. I’m picking 1-2 presidential bios for each president and your assessments have really helped me choose them. I agree that a full, comprehensive bio of Trump will have to come at least ten years, maybe several decades, after his presidency to allow for proper context. In the meantime, have you read Trump Revealed by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher? From what I understand, it was somewhat rushed to publication before the 2016 election, but I appreciated the book’s journalistic chronicling of his life up to his decision to run in 2015 while avoiding a lot of the editorializing you might expect. Trump even participated in interviews for the book.
I have a sneaking suspicion it will be quite awhile before a comprehensive and even “semi”-definitive Trump bio can be published. There’s just so incredibly much noise (both for and against) that I imagine he will have to be off the stage politically and physically for a period of time…and the country will need the opportunity to absorb and reflect and assess. Things clear to us today are often far murkier when observed in their own time and I suspect the same will be true for Trump. And while I imagine I have an inkling of how history will judge him (not just historians, but a broader consensus I’ll call “history”) only time will tell. One thing’s for sure – if an articulate, energetic biographer has access to substantially all relevant information regarding his personal, professional and political lives, it’s going to be a wild biography.
Is there a 20-something Robert Caro out there?
How great would that be!?! I’ll be even more impressed if he uses a typewriter – not a computer – like the one Caro seems to still be using 🙂
I also wonder whether Trump the man is interesting enough to warrant an in-depth biography in the manner of Caro or Chernow or Edmund Morris. I tend to doubt it. Maybe a social study like Perlstein.
Presently there is no Presidential bio of Trump. However, for those who want an early start, I think reading Lou Cannon’s “President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime” (1991) would suffice. The parallels are striking and scary. Both are just actors and the incompetence and backstabbing among their staff and Cabinet and advisors is so similar, swapping names is trivial.