The Best Biographies of Warren Harding
[Updated] Biographically speaking, it seems Warren Harding comes in just two flavors: depressingly dull…or positively fascinating. And the right choice …
Category Archives: Best Biographies Posts
The Best Biographies of Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson is a surprisingly difficult person to get to know. Even after navigating six biographies of Wilson totaling nearly …
The Best Biographies of William H. Taft
William H. Taft is often remembered as the president who may have gotten himself stuck in the White House bathtub. …
The Best Biographies of Theodore Roosevelt
After reading 121 biographies of the first 26 presidents, Theodore Roosevelt easily stands out as one of the most fascinating …
The Best Biographies of William McKinley
[Updated] History resurrects the memory of William McKinley when pondering what makes a president admirable…and yet extraordinarily average. His pre-presidency, however, …
The Best Biographies of Benjamin Harrison
Of the forty-three (and counting) presidents whose biographies I’m reading on this journey, none have caused me quite as much …
The Best Biographies of Grover Cleveland
[Updated Oct 2022] When I first reached Grover Cleveland on this journey about three weeks ago I only had two …
The Best Biographies of Chester Arthur
For an obscure and mostly forgotten former president, Chester Arthur’s story is remarkably interesting. Don’t get me wrong – PBS is …
The Best Biographies of James A. Garfield
Who would have guessed that a president of so little fame and so brief a tenure in the White House …
The Best Biographies of Rutherford B. Hayes
After two weeks, two biographies and about seven hundred pages, Rutherford Hayes reminds me of a better-intentioned, more savvy and …
The Best Biographies of Ulysses S. Grant
[Updated] Despite the pivotal role he played in the Civil War and the importance of his administration to Reconstruction, I …
The Best Biographies of Andrew Johnson
Of the six presidents to lead the nation after James Polk, only Abraham Lincoln left a legacy that escaped the …
The Best Biographies of Abraham Lincoln
[Updated] Of the sixteen presidents whose biographies I’ve read so far, none have offered the variety of choices of Abraham …
The Best Biographies of James Buchanan
The more I learned about James Buchanan, the more he seemed a mix of equal parts of John Quincy Adams, …
The Best Biographies of Franklin Pierce
Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher once remarked that “nice guys finish last.” Although he was referring to the dating scene …
My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies 