Presidental Reading List

Ever since my grandmother bought a book about all the presidents for one of my early birthdays, I've had a bit of an obsession with the (so far only) men who've occupied the highest office in the nation. This has manifested itself in various ways over the years, but with my recent obsession with reading lists, I've decided to go ahead and try to read a book about each President in order.

#1 - George Washington - George Washington by Ron Chernow - finished 10/23/2017

#1 - George Washington - George Washington by John MacGregor Burns - finished 2/8/2018

#1 - George Washington - You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe - finished 1/3/2021

#2 - John Adams - John Adams by David McCullough - finished c. 7/2003

#2 - John Adams - John Adams by John Patrick Diggins - finished 2/16/2018

#3 - Thomas Jefferson - Thomas Jefferson by Joyce Appleby - finished 3/1/2018

#4 - James Madison - James Madison by Gary Wills - finished 3/14/2018

#5 - James Monroe - James Monroe by Gary Hart - finished 7/15/2018

#6 - John Quincy Adams - John Quincy Adams by Harlow Giles Unger - finished 8/19/2018

#7 - Andrew Jackson - American Lion: A Biography of President Andrew Jackson by Jon Meacham - finished 10/22/2018

#8 - Martin Van Buren - Martin Van Buren by Ted Widner - finished 7/30/2019

#9 - William Henry Harrison - William Henry Harrison by Gail Collins - finished 2/23/21

#10 - John Tyler - John Tyler, the Accidental President by Edward P. Crapol - finished 8/5/21

#11 - James K. Polk

#12 - Zachary Taylor

#13 - Millard Fillmore

#14 - Franklin Pierce

#15 - James Buchanan

#16 - Abraham Lincoln

#17 - Andrew Johnson

#18 - Ulysses S. Grant

#19 - Rutherford B. Hayes

#20 - James A. Garfield

#21 - Chester A. Arthur

#22 & #24 - Grover Cleveland

#23 - Benjamin Harrison

#25 - William McKinley

#26 - Theodore Roosevelt - Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris - finished 8/28/2016

#26 - Theodore Roosevelt - Who Was Thedore Roosevelt? by Michael Burgan - finished 6/24/2019

#27 - William Howard Taft

#28 - Woodrow Wilson

#29 - Warren G. Harding

#30 - Calvin Coolidge

#31 - Herbert Hoover

#32 - Franklin D. Roosevelt

#33 - Harry Truman

#34 - Dwight Eisenhower

#35 - John F. Kennedy - Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly - finished 2/15/2014

#36 - Lyndon B. Johnson

#37 - Richard M. Nixon

#38 - Gerald Ford

#39 - Jimmy Carter

#40 - Ronald Reagan

#41 - George H. W. Bush

#42 - Bill Clinton

#43 - George W. Bush

#44 - Barack Obama

#45 - Donald Trump

#46 - Joe Biden

As I'm working my way through the Presidents, I'm finding two different sets of criteria for ranking

Best Presidents - solely the accomplishments of their term in the office of PotUS

1. Washington
2. Jackson
3. Jefferson
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Van Buren
7. Adams Sr.
8. Adams Jr.
9. Tyler
10. Harrison

Personal Favorites - looking at their life as a whole, who do I want to spend time with the most

1. Washington
2. Adams, Jr.
3. Adams, Sr.
4. Harrison
5. Monroe
6. Van Buren
7. Jackson
8. Madison
9. Jefferson
10. Tyler

I've also decided to include some books I've read about the presidency, since it's always been a fascinating topic to me

• Your Presidential Fantasy Dream Team by Daniel O'Brien - finished 12/31/2016
• In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis - finished 7/30/2017
• Hottest Heads of State: Volume One: The American Presidents by John and Kate Dobson - finished 3/9/2018
• The Carnival Campaign: How the Rollicking 1840 Campaign of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" Changed Elections Forever by Ronald G. Shafer - finished 8/13/2019
• Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands - finished 10/28/21 (not strictly about the Presidency, but these men all tried to be President and were arguably more important than any President that served during their time in Congress)

Here's some resources I'm finding helpful while working on this reading project:

• My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies
• The Presidents of the United States in Order of Hotness
• The Five Most Badass Presidents of All-Time

And since no man is an island, here are some books about First Ladies and other members of Presidential families (including those not legitimately recognized).

#2 - Abigail Adams - First Family: John and Abigail Adams by Joseph J. Ellis - finished 9/23/2018

#3 - Sally Hemmings - The Hemmingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed - finished 1/27/2019

#6 - Louisa Adams - Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams by Louisa Thomas - finished 3/27/20

#43 - Laura Bush - Spoken From the Heart by Laura Bush - finished 6/13/2010

#44 - Michelle Obama - Becoming by Michelle Obama - finished 5/3/2019