403 thoughts on “***The Best Presidential Biographies***”

1. Liz Parrott said:

   April 30, 2013 at 5:00 pm

   Thanks so much for compiling this list. It’s incredibly helpful to me!

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     April 30, 2013 at 7:21 pm

     Thanks! It’s a work in process and I’m open to suggestions. I have a couple to add which have been recently published which a number of readers have highly recommended…

     Reply

2. Alexander said:

   November 10, 2013 at 10:13 pm

   You have done a great job with your blog. Your reviews are very insightful and helpful. Thanks for all the work you have done. A great site that I will be sure to recommend.

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     November 11, 2013 at 7:23 am

     Thanks for the feedback!

     Reply

3. Patricia said:

   November 19, 2013 at 10:49 am

   Thank you so much! I got the idea for reading all the presidential biographies a couple of months ago. Thank you for the great reviews and giving me a path to follow!

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     November 19, 2013 at 10:52 am

     Thanks for your note, and good luck on your adventure! Please check back regularly and let me (and everyone else) know how you feel about the biographies you’re reading!

     Reply

4. Brian said:

   November 28, 2013 at 5:17 pm

   I am doing the same but only reading one book per President. Thank you for the reviews, great idea. Garfield and Destiny of the Republic was my first President.

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     November 29, 2013 at 11:22 am

     I’m curious how you chose James Garfield as your first president to read!?! In any event, that bio is definitely on my list and I’m scheduled to get to it mid-summer next year. How’d you like it?

     Reply

     • Brian said:

       December 6, 2013 at 11:32 pm

       Destiny of the Republic was the most current and well reviewed. No reason. Yes it was very good. The Republican Convention was amazing. Don’t want to give anything away. As much as that can happened with history.

5. Billy Watson said:

   December 21, 2013 at 10:08 am

   Thanks for your blog. I have just started on this journey and will probably follow your path as it looks like an excellent list. I just read the first chapter last night from the Fernow book on Washington. I am very excited about this project. Since I have to do everything different than everyone else, I will be going through the presidents twice. The first trip through I will read one book on each president. The second trip through I will read the rest of the books on each president. To my way of thinking, the first trip through lays a foundation for the second trip through. Probably makes sense to no one but me, but we’re all different.

   Thanks again

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     December 21, 2013 at 10:34 am

     I think your plan sounds more logical (and sane) than mine. But as you say, we’re all different and sometimes we take different paths to the same destination. Please let me know what you think about the books you read, definitely let me know if you read a great biography I’ve missed…and welcome on board!

     Reply

6. Justin said:

   January 10, 2014 at 4:23 am

   Great blog. I’ve been an avid reader of Presidential history for the last decade and have read a few you have listed. I’m going to start with Washington and move on through the list of president’s. I won’t hit every book you’ve listed but at least a couple on each. Started last week with Ron Chernow’s “Washington: A Life”. Keep the blog going. I book marked it for future reference. Thanks again.

   Reply

7. Javier said:

   January 25, 2014 at 6:35 pm

   What a treasure trove of books about presidents! I’m happy to have found this after finishing Destiny of the Republic about Garfield. Now, the only book I’ve read on Lincoln, I highly recommend: Lincoln’s Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk. More of a psychological biography. Fascinating.

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   • Steve said:

     January 25, 2014 at 8:02 pm

     Thanks – I’m looking forward to Destiny of the Republic in a few months when I get to Garfield. Lincoln is coming up in about 2 or 3 weeks. I’m even more excited about that! I’ll have to look up Shenk’s book; it’s not on my list, and I’ve not heard of it before now…

     Reply

8. arthurfellill said:

   February 5, 2014 at 5:30 pm

   Excellent work, sir! Might I recommend Nigel Hamilton’s two books on Bill Clinton to add to your list? One is called “Mastering the Presidency” and the other is “An American Journey.”

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     February 5, 2014 at 9:20 pm

     Thanks for the tip – I’ll look them up!

     Reply

9. Steve said:

   March 12, 2014 at 3:21 pm

   Since it appears that you like (or at least are willing) to delve into older, multi-volume works, you may want to consider a three-volume bio on U.S. Grant coauthored by Lloyd Lewis and Bruce Catton. The first volume, Captain Sam Grant, was written by Lewis, A Chicago journalist-turned-historian, and published in 1949. Sadly, Lewis died that same year. Catton later stepped in to complete the project (at the request of Lewis’s widow, I believe) and wrote volume 2, Grant Moves South, and volume 3, Grant Takes Command (both published in the 1960’s). I own all three but must confess that I’ve not read them yet. I have, however, read Catton’s Army of the Potomac trilogy. His Civil War writing is second to none.

   At this point, I think all three books are out of print, but they are readily available through used sellers online.

   Reply

   • Steve said:

     March 12, 2014 at 3:25 pm

     I should note that this trilogy is really a military biography, as it does not cover Grant’s life after the Civil War. I believe the first volume does cover Grant’s early life, but it focuses mainly on his early military career before the Civil War. Since these books do not cover Grant’s presidency, they may not fit your criteria for inclusion in your project.

     Reply

10. Dan said:

    March 31, 2014 at 4:13 am

    Something that’s really bugging me, in the picture at the top of the page with your bookshelves, what is that book in the top left next to A People’s History by Howard Zinn? I recognize the binding from frequent trips to used bookstores but I can’t identify it from the picture alone.

    Reply

    • Dan said:

      March 31, 2014 at 4:18 am

      I should also mention, I’ve been checking this site frequently since I found it last summer, and I love the work you’re doing. I hope to do something similar soon, but I keep finding myself adding books to my to-read stack rather than removing them. I’m also not sure I could be as patient as you are with the lesser-known presidents, particularly because my favorite era is FDR to Nixon, and that’s quite a ways in the chronology.
      Speaking of which though, there’s a pretty decent book called Nixonland that came out in 2008 that while not an outright biography of the man is a really interesting look at how he shaped the 60s to his electoral benefit at the expense of creating a huge cultural divide. I notice it’s not on your curriculum, but maybe when all is said and done you’d be interested in reading it.

      Reply

      • Billy Watson said:

        March 31, 2014 at 8:56 am

        Thanks for the mention of Nixonland. I have two great interests in my reading appetite. One is presidential biographies ad the other is the science part of political science ( why do groups migrate from one party to another, why do coalitions rise and fall, how do events and specific people affect elections and others don’t, etc ). Sounds like this book is a combination of both of my great interests. It has been added to ye olde reading list.

    • Steve said:

      March 31, 2014 at 6:02 am

      I think you’re referring to Paul Johnson’s “A History of the American People.” When I have some spare time I think it would be interesting to read an American history book by a British author/historian. That book and “A Patriot’s History of the United States” (off the pic further left) are intended to counterbalance Zinn(!)

      Reply

      • justphins said:

        April 3, 2014 at 5:16 pm

        I noticed you had multiple volumes of the Oxford History of the United States. I’ve read the four covering the Revolution to the Civil War, and they are excellent (although the weakest of the four is The Glorious Cause on the Revolution). I didn’t see An Empire of Liberty by Gordon S. wood on your shelf. If you don’t have it, I strongly recommend it. Wood covers the period from Washington’s presidency to the end of the War of 1812, and it is superb.

      • Steve said:

        April 3, 2014 at 7:16 pm

        justphins, thanks! You have a keen power of observation – before I started reading the presidents I was planning to read the Oxford History of the US but decided to wait until it is complete. I now have the Gordon Wood book (which I really wanted since I took a course of his at Brown Univ. “way back when”).

11. alamo2000 said:

    April 12, 2014 at 8:06 am

    One resource I recommend is the “Presidency” series from the University Press of Kansas. You have some of them listed (Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Hoover). They aren’t full-fledged biographies, though the first chapter usually includes a brief biographical sketch, but they are solid academic accounts of the presidential administrations. Better yet, they all have a detailed annotated bibliography in the back that always includes the author’s list (and often assessment) of the various biographies that are out there. The only drawback to this feature is the fact that the list (obviously) ends with the copyright date of the book, which means more recent work is not included. But you may find other books on some of the more obscure presidents mentioned in these bibliographies, and your local university library probably has them (or ought to). The books themselves are usually very solid analyses of the specific administrations — really good accounts, for example, of Harrison/Tyler and Taylor/Fillmore, to pick two more obscure examples (though I found the Polk volume to be a crashing bore). Anyway, worth a look as a resource for further reading.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      April 12, 2014 at 3:58 pm

      I’ll definitely have to look into these. They would be particularly useful if one or more are relatively new, have a complete bibliography in the back and a thorough assessment of those books. That might be a real jackpot.

      Reply

      • alamo2000 said:

        April 13, 2014 at 4:43 pm

        The series dates back at least as far as the 1980s, so the older volumes would not be particularly helpful, but they always provide a good list of resources, and sometimes the authors provide their own opinions about what is worthwhile and what is not. Nothing, however, as detailed and systematic as what you are attempting. I teach the presidency as an institution at a university, and find these bibliographies quite helpful when researching specific aspects of an administration. Your work, however, sets a new standard!

12. judgingcorrectly said:

    May 2, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    What a great idea for a blog. Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us!

    Have you considered ranking the presidents? Surely it is inevitable for you to draw conclusions about the relative merits of each of these men as you study their lives and administrations. Maintaining some kind of ongoing ranking would seem a profitable (and natural) way in which to summarize and share those thoughts with the rest of us (in addition to these world class book write-ups.) It would also have the rather unique benefit of being constantly updated and re-evaluated in a historical context as you move chronologically through time. Food for thought.

    I know I, for one, would be very keen to benefit from your insights as you compare/contrast the subjects of your studies.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      May 3, 2014 at 7:13 am

      Thanks for your comments – and I have wondered what I’ll do after I finish, though I have a fairly extensive follow-up list to get through (of the bios that followers of my blog can’t believe I didn’t read the first time through).

      Alongside creating a ranking of the best biographies of the presidents, I have indeed considered my own version of ranking the presidents themselves. Much of what is imbedded in the “rankings” I’ve seen (and I’ve collected and reviewed lots of these historical surveys) is subjective and emotional rather than objective and hard-nosed. I would love to find a way to create a president-by-president analysis/ranking that is unique, systematic, interesting and instructive…I’m still pondering.

      In the meantime, I’m still staring at over 50,000 pages of presidential raw material (biographies) to get through. There’s a lot of this mountain still left to climb..!

      Reply

      • Cyrus said:

        June 15, 2014 at 1:58 pm

        I would also be interested in a ranking. A major reason I started reading presidential biographies was for this purpose–as well as having read some books on the presidential rating game. But, I think the ranking would inevitably say as much about you as it would about the presidents, which given your growing knowledge on the subject, would be a good thing. Many of the historical presidential polls seem lacking to me for this reason–I just end up wondering who are these people who seem to end up ranking the presidents in a rather predictable order without explanation.

        Thomas E. Woods Jr. was right when he said: “The polls take for granted that there exists an objective, apolitical, nonideological basis upon which such a ranking of the presidents may be compiled. But there is no such thing. To evaluate whether someone has been a good president requires a standard of measurement–philosophical, moral, economic, and constitutional. What constitutes good “economic management,” for instance? A Keynesian will say one thing and a free-marketer another.”

13. judgingcorrectly said:

    June 15, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    Personally, I find the basis for all such evaluations highly dependent on one’s understanding of the Framers’ intentions when they constructed the office of POTUS (in addition to the broader concepts embedded in the Constitution). A simple example – of which Thomas Woods is illustrative – is one’s understanding of the nature of the union. Those who adhere to the compact theory of the union will find Lincoln to be a tyrant who waged a wholly unnecessary (and unconstitutional) war. Those who would side with, say, Daniel Webster’s understanding of the nature of the union will no doubt rank Lincoln as among our greatest presidents. Two completely divergent opinions.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      June 16, 2014 at 6:36 am

      There is no doubt that one’s perspective will meaningfully alter how one sees each of the presidents. This is partly why I am reluctant to undertake the exercise of ranking the presidents as has been done frequently (of course there is also traditional bias in favor of presidents who undertook, by choice or otherwise, bold actions or fully used presidential powers). I am also considering ranking the presidents by how they outperformed my expectations relative to conventional wisdom. Jefferson, for one, was unexpectedly disappointing to me and Monroe does not strike me as having been the fifth best president in our history (as was recently asserted in a poll of historians).

      Reply

14. Woody said:

    September 23, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    I decided about a year ago that I would fill in gaps in my knowledge of US history by reading presidential biographies. In searching the web to find the best books to guide my reading I found your blog and it has been immensely helpful. But as a result of your reviews, I have broadened my readings to include exceptional biographical books from eras where I felt my basic knowledge was complete. For example, I just finished Team of Rivals which I very much enjoyed because of its unique theme. (I had read years ago the Sandberg biographies, so I did not find the book lacking in its dearth of discussion of Lincoln’s early years.) Next on my list is Cernow’s Washington biography and Smith’s on Grant. After that I will jump to Truman as I consider my primary goal as having been completed. Thanks very much for doing this blog and sharing some “neat stuff” as well.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      September 24, 2014 at 5:58 am

      You’re certainly picking some of my favorites! One of the books I’m most looking forward to at this point is David McCullough’s “Truman” which so dominates that biographical space that I had a hard time even finding another biography of Truman to put on my list. Let me know which Truman bio you read and what you think about it!

      This project has served as a fill-in-the-gaps for me as well. There’s so much history my high school & college classes didn’t cover, much of it fascinating. So many interesting personalities, so many times when history could have gone very differently but for a particular person or battle or stroke of luck (or genius).

      Somehow, my next phase will have to involve reading biographies of people like John Jay, John Marshall, Ben Franklin, Lafayette, Sherman, Robert E Lee, Seward…who were also extremely influential and often interesting.

      Reply

      • alamo2000 said:

        September 24, 2014 at 8:58 am

        There is no question that McCullough is a great and very popular biographer. He can also fall in love with his subject, which can lead to some biased judgments. If you really want to balance him out with another Truman biography, it is my understanding that Robert H. Ferrell’s book “Harry S. Truman: A Life” is both very good and well-respected. Copyright 1994, University of Missouri Press. I confess I have not read it myself — have a copy, but so many books, so little time……. But I acquired it on the recommendation of a historian who knows the Truman literature, and thought it was more balanced than McCullough’s treatment.

      • Steve said:

        September 24, 2014 at 9:04 am

        Alamo, thanks. I’m all over it! As romantic as McCullough’s Truman sounds, I would love something to counterbalance that perspective and it sounds like Ferrell’s will hit the spot. Too bad I won’t get there until late next summer but at least I’ve got the book on the way…

      • Mark Vos said:

        October 6, 2014 at 1:27 pm

        Also on Truman, don’t forget Alonzo Hamby’s tome. It’s a McCullough-sized doorstop that came out not too long after McCullough’s. It’s in my reading que, along with McCullough, Ferrell, and Dallek. From the NYT review:

        “The need to be recognized and respected dominated Harry Truman’s life. That is the main theme of Alonzo L. Hamby’s superb new biography, “Man of the People.” So much has been written about Truman in recent years — most of it celebratory — that yet another book about him runs the risk of being ignored. That would be unfortunate in this case, since the Truman we meet in these pages is more troubled, complicated and genuine than the man we have read about before. While Mr. Hamby’s account lacks the narrative drive of David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Truman,” published in 1992, it is superior, I think, in providing a clear interpretive framework for understanding the relationship between Truman’s personal traits and his momentous Presidential decisions.”

        Mark Vos
        Rancho Cucamonga, CA

      • Steve said:

        October 6, 2014 at 4:32 pm

        Mark, thanks for your note – I’ll definitely check out Hamby’s monster bio of Truman. Given the surprising lack of Truman biographies in my library this could make an interesting addition.

15. alamo2000 said:

    September 24, 2014 at 9:47 am

    Great. Then I can find out whether you think it’s worth my time….. 😉

    Reply

16. John said:

    September 24, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    I just stumbled upon your website and am thrilled to have found it. I’m currently working on a senior research project(I’m a history major) that is going to require reading 10-12 books over the next couple months, but afterwards plan on doing something similar to your reading journey. Thank you for what you’re doing.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      September 25, 2014 at 4:45 am

      I’m glad you found the site! And I’d love to know what the focus of your post-research project journey will be (if you’ve decided yet…)

      Reply

17. Jeff said:

    October 5, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    Thanks for this list very helpful. I’ve read several of them and am reading Oates’ Lincoln and Morris’ Dutch right now. My favorite was McCullough’s John Adams: phenomenal.

    Reply

18. Steve said:

    October 28, 2014 at 11:47 pm

    If anyone is interested, the Kindle versions of books 1 and 2 of Edmund Morris’s TR trilogy are $1.99 each right now. I think the price drop is because of TR’s birthday yesterday, but those prices will only last for a few days.

    Reply

    • Billy said:

      October 29, 2014 at 10:41 am

      Thanks, Steve. I am a big Kindle guy. I am on several lists that email me free or reduced price books daily. For some reason volume 1 was on one of my lists but not volume 2. Now I have both volumes. It is amazing how many presidential biographies I have accumulated for 1.99 over the past couple of years.

      Reply

      • Steve said:

        October 29, 2014 at 12:05 pm

        Nice! $1.99 is the way to go for sure. Let’s hope they drop volume 3 as well.

19. Phyllis said:

    December 25, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    I’m so glad to have found your website. Last June, I finished my “presidential bio project” after 2 years of reading. Now it looks like I have to start over! Many of my favorites are on your list but some new must-reads are there too. Thank you for bringing some additional bios to my attention. I recommend “Lincoln’s Boys” by Joshua Zeitz and “Those Angry Days” by Lynne Olson for follow-up reading.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      December 26, 2014 at 6:46 am

      Congratulations on completing your project – that’s quite a feat! I’m always excited to hear about great bios that others have read that have escaped my attention. I’ll look into the Zeitz and Olson books asap and along the way do let me know if there are others you feel strongly about!

      Reply

20. Malcolm Greenhill said:

    January 13, 2015 at 3:08 am

    Steve, I have to say that I am so impressed with your persistence and the quality of your reviews. As you are probably aware my reading follows my interests in a scattergun manner and I could never stick to such a focused enterprise over such a long period. All kudos to you. Just curious but did you get to read anything other than presidential biographies during this time?

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 23, 2015 at 4:24 pm

      Malcolm, thanks – I’m more than a little surprised myself that I’ve stuck with it for so long (and unless I’m mistaken, you were one of my first visitors!) I’m not prone to giving up on things easily but I think the website has helped me stay on target, particularly in those moments when I was tempted to stray (Andrew Johnson will do that to you I guess). My ability to read unrelated nonfiction has evaporated, but I occasionally sneak in some fiction in parallel (for sanity). I’m a voracious consumer of online information, but otherwise the only other thing I read in print is The Wall Street Journal. Couldn’t do with out that!

      Reply

21. Dave Stewart said:

    January 23, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    I have just joined your blog and look forward to future posts. As an avid collector of presidential biographies, I have some favorites. One modest in scope but very excellent biography not on your list is Martin Van Buren by Ted Widmer. Its appropriately academic narrative is punctuated here and there by bursts of wonderful humor. It is the only biography in my collection that I read (at a single sitting) and found full of laughs. Anyone who wants a quick view of this minor president might enjoy this one. I don’t know Ted Widmer but am sure that he must qualify as good company on any occasion.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 23, 2015 at 5:23 pm

      Welcome aboard! I can’t wait to hear more about your favorites, particularly where they are missing from my library (like the Widmer bio on MVB). I thought Van Buren was fascinating and deserved an even better biography than the two I read. I’ll look at adding Widmer’s to my follow-up list.

      Reply

22. Casey said:

    January 26, 2015 at 11:40 am

    I just started my journey on reading a bio on every president! And I’m using your list to read on each president! Just finished Washington: A Life! Now I’m onto John Adams; I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE AND THE BIOS THAT YOU HAVE PICKED I find this very interesting and one of my favorite websites

    Reply

23. Ron said:

    January 30, 2015 at 6:44 am

    I am looking forward to Ron Chernow’s upcoming biography of Grant. He is the best biographer I have read, bar none. He is a true wordsmith. Even after reading Jon Meacham’s recent biography of Jefferson, I found myself referring back to Chernow’s Hamilton biography to flush out the story (example the Citizen Genet affair). I wish I knew when it was coming out.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 30, 2015 at 6:51 am

      It seems there are a lot of us who feel the same way! The two presidential bio-related events people seem most fixated on at the moment: the publication of Chernow’s “Grant” and of Robert Caro’s final volume in his series on LBJ.

      Reply

24. Elliott said:

    January 30, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    Hi Steve – still pouring over your website and still enjoying it immensely. I’m now reading Dallek’s LBJ two volume biography which is a great counterweight to Caro. Both brilliant biographers but really interesting to read their different perspectives. Elliott

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 30, 2015 at 5:50 pm

      I’ve been told that Caro’s volumes are going to change my life – but I’m glad to hear that Dallek’s are also fantastic! Sounds like LBJ got lucky with his biographers. I’m going to be really interested to hear your opinion of the two-vol series once you finish-

      Reply

25. Aman said:

    February 9, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Hey Steve,

    I know this does not fit within your scope of presidential books but have you looked into William Manchester’s trilogy on Winston Churchill, The Last Lion? Manchester is a great biographer whose thoroughness compares to that of Robert Caro’s.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      February 9, 2015 at 8:47 pm

      Funny you mention that – at some point after I’m finished with the presidents I plan to move on to great biographies more broadly. Manchester’s Churchill trilogy is already on my bookshelf just waiting for an opportunity(!)

      Reply

26. Jerry said:

    February 17, 2015 at 6:17 am

    Love the site. For another perspective, see presidentialbios.com .
    And I too have moved on to great biographies more broadly. Next up Simon Bolivar!

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      February 17, 2015 at 2:28 pm

      Thanks for the website reference – looks interesting! I’ll have to figure out whether I’m missing any biographies on presidents #27-44 that made your “best” list!

      Reply

27. Billy said:

    February 17, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    Steve,

    Congrats on the TV spot. That was awesome and well deserved. My only criticism was they should have pointed out you have inspired many to do the same. At any rate that was neat. It was good to put a voice to a name.

    Reply

28. pastorjimmyreagan said:

    March 8, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    What an outstanding blog! I blog and review Christian books, but enjoy reading presidential biographies. I have read a few and would like to eventually read one or two on every president. What a resource this blog will be as I decide to pick which ones to read. To have read so many gives such insight on individual volume’s worth. I look forward to following your journey.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 9, 2015 at 6:23 am

      Thanks so much for your comment! One thing I’ve been increasingly begun to observe is to what extent each believed in a Supreme Being and how, if at all, that influenced their behavior. Many, of course, were not strictly “religious” but did believe in a Prime Mover. Others (John Adams comes to mind) were extremely devout and undoubtedly were shaped by their views/faith. I will enjoy checking out your blog as well –

      Reply

      • pastorjimmyreagan said:

        March 9, 2015 at 6:36 am

        Thanks!
        Yes, some Presidents were devout, some were as you say, and the rest claimed some sort of Christianity apparently only for political purposes. There seems to be evidence that Washington was a stronger believer than most biographers mention. Adams does seem devout. Lincoln seemed to make a profession of faith after Geetyburg. Reagan had a strong faith. It is one fascinating part of the story.
        I enjoy reading your reviews in that I may be looking for one good biography of each, and you really help in deciding. Great job!

29. C said:

    March 19, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    How are you able to read so quickly? I write notes while I read nonfiction as well (or else I’ll forget a lot of it), and I seem to trudge through big nonfiction tomes at a turtle pace. I have almost 1,000 books on my to read list, and I’d like to jump into reading more American history, but my reading speed is so aggravating. Any tips on how to get through nonfiction books quicker?

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 20, 2015 at 6:46 am

      I don’t read quickly so much as I just read very, very consistently – usually before anyone else is up, after they’re all asleep, during my kids’ swim or soccer practices and on flights. Anytime you’re likely to be on your iPad or iPod or iPhone, I’m probably reading(!) I also take notes (lots of them) but on a laptop since I can type much faster than I can read (or write). I’m impressed at your backlog – I thought I was being audacious with a couple hundred bios!

      Reply

30. Linda Davenport said:

    March 23, 2015 at 7:27 am

    I think you should add David Stewart’s recently released “Madison’s Gifts” to your list of biographies. I just finished it as a companion to Lynne Cheney’s new book on Madison, and found that it filled in a lot of gaps with its approach of looking at the 5 partnerships Madison formed at different points in his life and political career with Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Dolley, and James Monroe.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 28, 2015 at 6:56 am

      Thanks, I have referenced it (and three other) recent Madison biographies on my “Recent/Upcoming Releases” page. I’m not sure yet which I will read first after I read Irving Brant’s class multi-volume series, but I will undoubtedly read them all(!)

      Reply

31. Billy Watson said:

    April 21, 2015 at 11:59 pm

    I understand H.W. brands has a bio of Reagan out in a few days. I seem to be adding books to my list faster than I read them.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      April 22, 2015 at 5:43 am

      Yep, just under three weeks now! Didn’t love Brands’s bio of Andrew Jackson, but I did like his Grant bio and am really loving his bio of Teddy Roosevelt (which I’m reading now). And speaking of adding books faster than you can read them, when I started this I was projected to be finished by now. Instead I’ve got another 80+ books to go(!)

      Reply

32. Peter said:

    May 20, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    I thought Nixonland by Rick Perlstein was an interesting book about Nixon and his time, but I have not read it in while! 🙂

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      May 20, 2015 at 4:49 pm

      Thanks for mentioning it – you’re the second person who has recommended it! Clearly I need to look into adding it to my list.

      Reply

      • Peter said:

        May 21, 2015 at 1:25 pm

        Thank you!

33. Scott La Mar said:

    September 6, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    Steve,
    I have just finished the book Reagan : The Life. By H. W. Brands.
    Though I was not a big Reagan fan living through his presidency. I have reconsider my option of Reagan. I found the book to be very good and helped my understanding of why things were done as they were.
    I hope you enjoy it as well as I did. I am looking forward to your review of this book on Reagan and the suggestions from all your reviews of Reagan.

    Thanks again for your reviews and the time you spend in your quest.
    Thank you
    Scott La Mar

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      September 6, 2015 at 4:29 pm

      Thanks for the feedback – that’s a biography (and a president) I’m looking forward to! ETA: 1.5 years…

      Reply

34. Darren Seacliffe said:

    September 25, 2015 at 9:36 am

    Will you be planning to start on this Herbert Hoover series?

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Herbert-Hoover-Imperfect/dp/0230103081/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=05R1NQ9XZPH306A978ED (one of the volumes)

    Though I have little experience in this field of history, I’ve ample faith that this is the most detailed comprehensive biography of Herbert Hoover at the moment. If you do get down to reviewing it, I’m very sure I’ll read it the moment you publish it. I’ve 2 of the volumes myself. You don’t have to buy all of them if you can’t afford them. I’m happy enough if you can review the volume Imperfect Visionary and the one that comes after it.

    Thank you for your work. I feel motivated to undertake a similar challenge when it comes to my personal library. I may not have as many presidential biographies as you do but I think I’ve enough books to fill up at least half your list of presidential biographies.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      September 25, 2015 at 7:52 pm

      I would love to read the series but have never been able to acquire the entire set for less than about $200. So while some of the individual volumes look excellent it’s difficult for me to justify spending the time and money to purchase and read the series when relatively few other people are likely to do the same. And I haven’t ever read just one or two volumes in a larger series; so far I’ve either decided to skip a series, or read every volume.

      But given how interesting some of the volumes in this series appear to be I am almost certainly going to put the series on my “follow-up” list and read it once I’ve gotten through all the presidents one time through.

      Reply

      • Darren Seacliffe said:

        September 27, 2015 at 4:06 am

        I’ll see if I can acquire the first volume.

        I already have the volumes on Hoover as Secretary of Commerce and President.

        I passed over the volumes on his humanitarian work and his start in public administration. I’ve no interest in his life after the Presidency.

        From what I’ve read, he certainly does seem to be a very interesting man.

35. Steve Martin said:

    September 25, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    Love your blog so much. Helps me decide what to read next.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      September 25, 2015 at 6:37 pm

      Thanks for your note, and if you read something that blows you away (or repulses you) do let me know! I love to hear what other people think…even if you completely disagree with me.

      Reply

36. redskullduggery said:

    November 2, 2015 at 11:31 am

    I am planning on attempting a much less ambitious project (reading the single best presidential biography of each president) and your exhaustive reading list will be invaluable in creating my reading list. Thank you so much for undertaking this project!

    Also, when you get to Eisenhower, I will be interested to hear what you think of Jean Edward Smith’s book. I thought it was fantastically written and researched but I was disappointed with the relatively short shrift given to Eisenhower’s presidency, particularly for a book as long as it is.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      November 2, 2015 at 12:19 pm

      I’m looking forward to Jean Edward Smith’s bios of both Eisenhower and FDR. His biography of Ulysses Grant was my favorite of the half-dozen Grant biographies I read, and I really hope I’m not disappointed when I get to Ike…!

      Reply

37. Billy Watson said:

    November 2, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    Agree about Smiths Grant bio. Soooooooo good

    Reply

38. redskullduggery said:

    November 5, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    One quick follow up, it appears that Smith has a biography of one of the Bushes coming out in July 2016:

    http://books.simonandschuster.com/Bush/Jean-Edward-Smith/9781476741192

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      November 6, 2015 at 7:29 am

      Thanks; I just added this one to “upcoming releases” a day or two ago…but I’m still looking for definitive word on whether the subject is Bush 41 or Bush 43…!

      Reply

      • Ed Murphy said:

        November 26, 2015 at 9:50 pm

        The Simon and Schuster website has been updated. Smith’s biography is about Bush 43.

39. William Bell said:

    November 9, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    I’ve been meaning for quite some time to leave a message thanking you for this outstanding resource. Since about April of this year, I’ve been on my own quest to read biographies of each president. I discovered your blog when I was on John Quincy Adams, and have referenced it ever since. (Incidentally, I greatly enjoyed Kaplan’s biography of Adams, and think you will as well. Liz Cheney’s biography of Madison, on the other hand, struck me as entirely too eager to “reconsider” Madison by engaging in revisionism. This from a guy who’s a fan of both Mrs Cheney and President Madison.) I’m eagerly awaiting your review of Amity Schlaes’ “Coolidge”. I first read it shortly after it came out, well before I decided to read about all his predecessors and successors, as well. Even after the many outstanding biographies I’ve read on the other presidents, I think “Coolidge” is, with the sole exception of Jean Edward Smith’s “Grant”, my favorite, so I’m eager to see your take on it.

    My sole source of complaint, and I’ll age it that this one is a tad unreasonable in my part, is that I’m rapidly catching up to you, since I’m currently reading only one per president. I’m on Cleveland now, and when I pass you I’ll be lost again! Thank you, though, for this blog. It’s been an invaluable resource in my own attempt to learn more about our presidents and our history, and I’ve shared it with several other friends who are equally interested in history.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      November 10, 2015 at 6:41 am

      Congrats on your quest and thanks for your comments! I finished Shlaes’s “Coolidge” yesterday and although several people got me excited about it…I was a little disappointed. Part of the problem is probably Coolidge himself whose personality was clearly not designed for a great biography. But although Shlaes was committed to revising history’s view of CC, she didn’t make a convincing case in my opinion. But as always, I’ll need to get through all 6 (or 7?) Coolidge bios before I can really appreciate what Shlaes added to the discussion. But we are in complete agreement on JES’s “Grant” – one of my favorites without a doubt!

      You and my wife both think I’m moving too slowly on this project…and every time a book gets added to my list it adds at least a week to my overall timeline. But thankfully I still find this a fascinating journey; there are few institutions quite as interesting and perplexing as the American presidency and exploring the personalities that fill the office. I sense you will pass me by the end of the year – – and then I can start taking my cues from your reading experiences!

      Reply

40. Darren Seacliffe said:

    November 10, 2015 at 7:21 am

    Congratulations for finishing the Coolidge. When will the review be out? I look forward to reading it.

    I can’t wait for you to start on Herbert Hoover. I’m still thinking if it was right of me to buy the biographies of Andrew Mellon by David Cannadine and 2 of the Hoover volumes.

    Shlaes also wrote a book on the Great Depression. Maybe you can have a shot at it after you’ve read your way through all the presidents. Will you be adding the new president to your list after the elections?

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      November 10, 2015 at 7:27 am

      Coolidge review should be out today or tomorrow – sometimes it seems to take me as long to write and edit a review as it does to read the book itself. With 130+ books in the rear view mirror now I find it harder to find the perfect way to articulate my impressions of a biography without sounding like something I’ve already said in a previous review.

      Reply

      • Darren Seacliffe said:

        November 10, 2015 at 7:47 am

        Well, I feel that me and the other readers aren’t too particular about the way you write these reviews. Even if you recycle some of the comments you made in earlier reviews, it’s the review that counts. Besides the amount of detail and the level of analysis in the books, you may want to talk about the readability of the books you’re covering, the extent to which the author introduces related historical figures or incidents, how much the author goes into the background of the topic he’s covering and your impression of the president after reading the author’s work instead. Personally, I was more interested in the parts where you dealt with these areas than the part on the analysis and the level of detail.

        After all, the most important thing in a biography is not giving the facts (Wikipedia’s enough for that), not analyzing the person (no one can truly understand a person better than him himself) but to engage the interest of the reader in the person and either win his sympathy or persuade him to think negatively.

41. David said:

    November 12, 2015 at 11:35 pm

    Steve, may I suggest the addition of Robert Remini’s John Quincy Adams to your follow up list? While it is a contribution to the American Presidents Series (and therefore more concise than a truly great biography ought to be) Robert Remini is a talented enough biographer to make up for this volume’s brevity.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      November 13, 2015 at 5:57 am

      Let me take a look. I once promised myself I’d read everything Remini wrote on any topic but while I was thinking specifically of his book on the history of the House of Representatives I’m sure I could handle one on JQA as well. I still wish someone would tackle this presidency in a more compelling and profound way, however…

      Reply

      • David said:

        November 13, 2015 at 5:10 pm

        Remini has also written excellent biographies on both Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. He is definitely the foremost author on that period of our history. Now if he would only write a biography on Calhoun to finish out the Great Triumvirate.

      • edgarhons said:

        December 20, 2015 at 10:14 pm

        His House book is great but way too short for the task. He does a great job bringing the different eras to life but it sometimes felt like it was jumping ahead too fast because so much had to be crammed into one volume. I wish I had known more about the prominent Speakers of the House before reading it and it’s definitely something I’ll be reading more than once.

42. Lee said:

    January 1, 2016 at 12:04 pm

    Congrats on the blog and the arduous journey!

    Here’s a list presidential bios not listed on your site and you may want to consider during your follow-up reading:

    The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson
    The Fox at Bay: Martin Van Buren and the Presidency, 1837-1841
    William Henry Harrison and the Conquest of the Ohio Country: Frontier Fighting in the War of 1812
    The Republican Vision of John Tyler
    James Buchanan and the American Empire
    James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s
    James Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War
    The Loyalist: The LIfe and Times of Andrew Johnson
    President Grant Reconsidered
    Garfield of Ohio, the Available Man
    Benjamin Harrison: Centennial President
    Major McKinley: William McKinley & the Civil War
    Reticent Expansionism: The Foreign Policy of William McKinley
    William Howard Taft: Confident Peacemaker
    Chief Executive to Chief Justice: Taft betwixt the White House and Supreme Court
    William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative
    Woodrow Wilson and World War I, 1917-1921
    An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover
    Conflict and Crisis : The Presidency of Harry S Truman, 1945-1948
    Tumultuous Years: The Presidency of Harry S Truman, 1949-1953

    I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and several of your reviews. Take care and enjoy!

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 2, 2016 at 8:56 am

      Wow, that’s quite a list – thanks for taking the time to cross-reference your list and mine! I’ve printed this out and will be looking into each individually at some point. Obviously anything I add up through Wilson will end up on my “follow-up” list but I’ll try to look into Hoover and Truman quickly since there could still be time to make additions before I get to them the first time-

      Reply

      • Lee said:

        January 3, 2016 at 1:18 pm

        You’re welcome! I didn’t realize how long our lists were until I cross-referenced them. I hear that the “Life of Hoover” is an excellent read and I eventually get around to reading all 6 books in the set.

        There are 3 other books I highly recommend in addition to Presidential bios:

        The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America by Jay Sexton
        The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman
        Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

        Chernow’s book, Alexander Hamilton, contains several insights into the Hamilton/Jefferson feud, Hamilton/Madison collaboration and feud. This is the book if you’re wanting a better understanding of Jefferson and his interaction with another great founding father in Hamilton. You will not be disappointed!

        It would be a real treat if Chernow wrote a Jefferson bio after he’s finished with U.S. Grant.

43. Bart van Mourik said:

    January 11, 2016 at 9:47 am

    You embarked on an awesome but profoundly pleasurable task. Owner an reader of biographies on all American presidents upto the Nixon years, I was delighted to see that we agreed in the majority of cases in our assessment. Nonetheless, it was extremely helpful to discover quite a few highly-rated titles unknown to me. Regretfully, many of these are currently out-of-print. Whilst the grand biographies, such as those by McCullough, Meacham and Smith, outshine most of the overly concise works like those in the Presidential Series, I wonder if you have come across Natalie Bober’s “Thomas Jeferson, Draftsmanship of a Nation” and, if so, how you judge its merit.
    Kind regards from a fellow bibliophile,
    Bart van Mourik
    The Hague, The Netherlands

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 12, 2016 at 6:51 pm

      Thanks so much for your note, and for some reason I continue to be somewhat surprised when I find people overseas who are as interested in great presidential biographies as I am! I have never come across Natalie Bober’s book, but I will look into it. In addition, someone may read your note and have a view, in which case I hope they’ll share it with us both!

      Reply

44. RcCarol said:

    January 27, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    Thanks for the blog! I don’t have a reading plan, but I do read biographies from time to time, and all your research will benefit me when I do decide to pick up a presidential biography.

    I see that you have the Fred Kaplan volume on JQA on your list. I just finished it and loved it. It is one of the best written biographies I’ve read. I was disappointed by only two things. One, I felt that short shrift was given to his presidency. As thorough as other parts of the book are, the biography segment felt like more of a gloss. Quite odd.

    The other disappointment I had with it was that when JQA died, the book ended. I guess that makes sense, given it is a biography, so when the subject dies, why keep writing? But I was rather looking forward to a summary of his legacy, including his descendants, a number of whom were prominent.

    I look forward to more of your reviews!

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      January 27, 2016 at 1:08 pm

      Yes, I have the Kaplan bio of JQA on my follow-up list since it was published after I did my tour through JQA. I’ve been told that I’m probably going to like it..but not love it, and probably for some of the reasons you point out. And I’m often bothered by otherwise excellent biographies that don’t take a few pages to consider a former president’s legacy. In my mind that’s the crucial last step in examining a president’s life. And even 2+ years after finishing my first run-through of JQA biographies I still find him one of the single most interesting presidents (though with a relatively lackluster presidency itself).

      Reply

45. HBM said:

    February 12, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    A brief comment on James Cannon’s Ford. A second volume (An Honorable Life) was published by the Univ of Michigan Press in 2013. The newer volume picks up where Time and Chance ends (Nixon’s pardon) and takes Ford through Carter’s election.

    https://www.press.umich.edu/135548/gerald_r_ford

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      February 13, 2016 at 4:35 pm

      Awesome – thanks for the heads-up. I missed the 2nd volume somehow and am glad to be bolstering the Ford portion of my list!

      Reply

46. Matt G said:

    March 9, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    Awesome blog! Ive been following your page for a few months now & embarked on reading a biography on every president in chronological order. I use your list & reviews as my guide to picking the biographies I will read. I am currently up to James Polk, A Country of Vast Designs by Robert Merry. I started the presidential biography journey by first reading Team of Rivals, which was recommended by a friend, then skipped around to a few other presidents (LBJ, Teddy, Taft) which then made me want to start from the beginning, and so I did. I decided also to pick up a few books on topics/issues which happened during certain presidencies (War of 1812, Mutiny on the Amistad, Mexican-American War, Compromise of 1850, April 1865, etc), I find this gives me a better understanding of some of the contentious issues that these presidents had to deal with, which the biographies do not fully cover. I’ve also noticed that there are some other major characters in these biographies that never became president but played important roles in our government. Characters like Aaron Burr, Hamilton, Henry Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, etc. I have also picked up biographies on these characters as an in-between read. Anyway, I find your reviews great and extremely helpful, keep up the good work! Also, I am having a difficult time finding an affordable copy on any Franklin Pierce biography. Any recommendations on where to find one? Looking maybe to read the Wallner 2 Vol set.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • HBM said:

      March 9, 2016 at 4:01 pm

      The best site would probably be abebooks.com. There are listings for the Nichols bio in the mid-$20 range. If you’re not concerned about edition, the American Political Biography reprint of it would be a good option. Holt’s bio from the American Presidents series is offered from the mid-teens.

      On a side note, I hadn’t realized the Wallner books appreciated so much.

      Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 9, 2016 at 4:07 pm

      If I wasn’t afraid of turning this 5 year project into a 10 year project I would have *loved* to have read biographies of the supporting cast as I went along (Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, etc. as you point out). I hadn’t thought about reading subject texts on the War of 1812, etc., but that’s a fabulous idea. Only the Civil War seemed adequately covered by the nearly 20 Lincoln and Grant biographies I read. The War of 1812, WWI and WWII were never really the focus of the biographies I read on those respective presidents so I feel like I’m missing a great deal of context (and outright history).

      Re: Franklin Pierce – the Waller series is the place to go if you can find the series. I think I paid $40 in total for the two volumes (former library books as I recall) but I see the price has skyrocketed! I can’t guarantee success but your best bet might be to email the author directly (he has contacted me, so I know he is communicative…his contact info is HERE). You might let him know you found his series on this site and I thought he might be able to help you find a copy of his series at a price that doesn’t resemble a car payment. Maybe he has some sitting in his basement? 🙂

      Good luck, and let me know what you think of Robert Merry’s book on Polk!

      Reply

      • mgeller20 said:

        March 10, 2016 at 11:08 am

        Thanks for the recommendations Steve & HBM! Really helpful! I will let you know if anything comes of contacting the author directly!

    • Billy said:

      March 10, 2016 at 7:00 pm

      RE; price

      Books are a lot like everything else. They go up and down in price. One thing you can do if you are patient is research the price history on Amazon and put in a notification for when the price gets down to a certain level. The way this works is go to a service (free) like Camelcamelcamel (my fave) or Keepa. You can look at the graphs and see what the lowest price has been and put in a notification. When the price reaches that level you will get an email. As an example, the Wallner book on Pierce about his New Hampshire years is now around $80 but as recently as last fall was 9.91. You could put in a notification on CCC for $10. Might be a month, might be a year or more.

      As an added bonus when you are through you could sell it for more than you paid for it when the price goes back up.

      Reply

      • mgeller20 said:

        March 11, 2016 at 9:08 am

        Thanks Billy!! Will definitely use this tip!

47. Terry said:

    March 10, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    Hi Steve,

    Thank you for producing this list and your excellent insights into these biographies.
    I am not a true scholar of past presidents, as the time available beyond my personal pursuits does not provide for such. I’m just someone who has an interest in learning and gaining a general knowledge of those who have shaped the fabric of our country and democracy. That said, I do enjoy hearing different perspectives regarding each of these men, and yet identifying a contrarian view from the jacket of a book is difficult at best. I’ve bookmarked your site as my “go to” resource for obtaining a clear understanding of what biographies may afford me the opportunity to hear both sides of the story.

    Thank you very much for taking the time and making the effort to build this excellent site!

    Sincerely,
    Terry

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 14, 2016 at 6:44 am

      Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts and welcome! I began this journey with the hope, at a very basic level, of getting to know more about the people who have served as president. That mission quickly expanded to understanding more of our country’s history. Now I find myself intrigued by the evolution over time in what it takes to be (and be seen as) a successful president. But to be honest, at the most fundamental level I’m still just interested to find great biographies about the people who have undertaken one of the most complex jobs on the planet.

      Even though this site is just a “hobby” I’m always interested in feedback, so do let me know what you think – particularly if you read something I need to add to my list, or if you disagree with something I’ve posted!

      Steve

      Reply

48. Eliot Kopp said:

    March 10, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    Hi Steve,
    I noticed that you have finished the Black book on FDR. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you started it about two weeks ago. I’m just wondering how you find the time to read such a massive book in only two weeks and are able to truly digest the material enough to be able to review it adequately.

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 10, 2016 at 1:31 pm

      Yes, just finished this morning although it may be this weekend before I write / post the review. Answer to your question: a 3-day swim meet with a lot of downtime and two long airline flights. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t sleep on planes and you find yourself on two trans-Pacific flights 🙂 But wow that was a long biography (longest single-volume bio I’ve read so far)…

      Reply

49. Eliot Kopp said:

    March 14, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    Great. I’m excited to read your review, because it is difficult for me to read a book written by a non-historian who also happens to be a convicted felon. I am told that it is actually a very well-written, balanced book, but your seal of approval will make it easier for me to undertake the journey. . . 🙂
    Eliot

    Reply

50. Chris Carson said:

    March 19, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    I’d add Arthur Link’s 5 volume masterful biography of Wilson to your list. A very comprehensive list, and a great resource for this if us interested in Presidential history.

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • Steve said:

      March 24, 2016 at 5:50 am

      I added the 5-volume set to my follow-up list in my post on The Best Bios of Woodrow Wilson…but I haven’t seemed to have added it to my master list. Thanks for noticing – I’ll have to make that change asap!

      Reply