Presidential Reads

These titles include tales, biographies, and the histories of our Commanders in Chief and their work in the White House.

Updated November 25, 2024
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To rescue the Constitution : George Washington and the fragile American experiment
Baier, Bret
Paper Book
Fox News Channel's Chief Political Anchor reveals George Washington's indispensable-yet overlooked-contributions to America's founding "To Rescue The Constitution is a masterful exploration of the electrifying struggle to unite a young United States." --Jay Winik ...
To rescue the republic : Ulysses S. Grant, the fragile Union, and the crisis of 1876
Baier, Bret
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller Fox News Channel's Chief Political Anchor illuminates the heroic life of Ulysses S. Grant "To Rescue the Republic is narrative history at its absolute finest. A fast-paced, thrilling and enormously important book." --Douglas Brinkley An...
Character matters : and other life lessons from George Herbert Walker Bush
Becker, Jean
Paper Book
Former Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush and New York Times bestselling author of The Man I Knew, Jean Becker shares touching and pivotal life lessons from a leader that left a mark on people's hearts and souls.   As America heads into...
The man I knew : the amazing story of George H.W. Bush's post-presidency
Becker, Jean
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  A heartfelt portrait of President George H.W. Bush--and his post-presidential life--by a confidante who knew him well. As chief of staff, Jean Becker had a ringside seat to the...
Reagan : his life and legend
Boot, Max
Paper Book
In this "monumental and impressive" biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president's aides, friends, and family members, as...
Silent spring revolution : John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the great environmental awakening
Brinkley, Douglas
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon...
Mr. President, how long must we wait? : Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the fight for the right to vote
Cassidy, Tina
Paper Book
In this "heroic narrative" (The Wall Street Journal), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women's equality. Woodrow Wilson lands in...
The Virginia dynasty : four presidents and the creation of the American nation
Cheney, Lynne V.
Paper Book
From a small expanse of land on the North American continent came four of the nation's first five presidents - a geographic dynasty whose members led a revolution, created a nation, and ultimately changed the world. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were born, grew...
Citizen : my life after the White House
Clinton, Bill
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A powerful, candid, and richly detailed memoir from an American icon, revealing what life looks like after the presidency: triumphs, tribulations, and all. On January 20, 2001, after nearly thirty years in politics--eight of them as...
Accidental presidents : eight men who changed America
Cohen, Jared
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The strength and prestige of the American presidency has waxed and waned since George Washington. Accidental Presidents looks at eight men who came to the office without being elected to it. It demonstrates how the character of the man...
Life after power : seven presidents and their search for purpose beyond the White House
Cohen, Jared
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller New York Times bestselling author of Accidental Presidents explores what happens after the most powerful job in the world: President of the United States. Former presidents have an unusual place in American...
Becoming FDR : the personal crisis that made a president
Darman, Jonathan
Paper Book
"An illuminating account of how Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggles with polio steeled him for the great struggles of the Depression and of World War II."--Jon Meacham "A valuable book for anyone who wants to know how adversity shapes character. By understanding how FDR became a...
The Great divide : the conflict between Washington and Jefferson that defined a nation
Fleming, Thomas J.
Paper Book
In the months after her husband's death, Martha Washington told several friends that the two worst days of her life were the day George died--and the day Thomas Jefferson came to Mount Vernon to offer his condolences. What could elicit such a strong reaction from the nation's...
The trials of Harry S. Truman : the extraordinary presidency of an ordinary man, 1945-1953
Frank, Jeffrey
Paper Book
Jeffrey Frank, author of the bestselling Ike and Dick, returns with the first full account of the Truman presidency in nearly thirty years, recounting how so ordinary a man met the extraordinary challenge of leading America through the pivotal years of the mid-20th century.
First friends : the powerful, unsung (and unelected) people who shaped our presidents
Ginsberg, Gary
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!  A USA TODAY "BEST BOOKS OF 2021" PICK!  In the bestselling tradition of The Presidents Club and Presidential Courage, White House history as told through the...
Watergate : a new history
Graff, Garrett M.
Paper Book
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Do we need still another Watergate book? The answer turns out to be yes--this one." --The Washington Post * "Dazzling." --The New York Times Book Review From the...
The rough rider and the professor : Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and the friendship that changed American history
Jurdem, Laurence
Paper Book
Evoking the political intrigue of the Gilded Age, The Rough Rider and the Professor chronicles the extraordinary thirty-five-year friendship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts. Theodore...
Tired of winning : Donald Trump and the end of the Grand Old Party
Karl, Jonathan
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The most important thing that has been written to date about what is in front of the American people in the next presidential election." --Nicolle Wallace An extraordinary view into the politics of our times,...
And there was light : Abraham Lincoln and the American struggle
Meacham, Jon
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . Pulitzer Prize-winning biographerJon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how-and why-he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America. "Meacham has given us...
President McKinley : architect of the American century
Merry, Robert W.
Paper Book
"A deft character study of a president."--The New York Times Book Review "A valuable education on where America has been and, possibly, where it is going."--National Review "Magisterial."--The Christian Science Monitor ...
V is for victory : Franklin Roosevelt's American Revolution and the triumph of World War II
Nelson, Craig
Paper Book
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2023 "Belongs in the library alongside the histories and biographies of Martin Gilbert, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and David McCullough." --Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horse Soldiers In this epic and...
The loves of Theodore Roosevelt : the women who created a president
O'Keefe, Edward F.
Paper Book
An "elegant and illuminating" (Jon Meacham) family love story, revealing how an icon of rugged American masculinity was profoundly shaped by the women in his life, especially his mother, sisters, and wives. Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his senior thesis for Harvard in 1880 that...
Confronting the presidents : no spin assessments from Washington to Biden
O'Reilly, Bill
Paper Book
Instant #1 New York Times and USA Today nonfiction bestseller! Every American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with clear-eyed authority and wit. Authors of the acclaimed Killing books...
A promised land
Obama, Barack
Paper Book
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making--from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK...
Joe Biden : the life, the run, and what matters now
Osnos, Evan
Paper Book
*A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR* A concise, brilliant, and trenchant examination of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s successful lifelong quest for the presidency by National Book Award winner Evan Osnos. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has been called both the...
The light of battle : Eisenhower, D-Day, and the birth of the American superpower
Paradis, Michel (Lawyer)
Paper Book
A thrilling new biography of Dwight Eisenhower set in the months leading up to D-Day, when he grew from a well-liked general into one of the singular figures of American history. "This is hands-down the most deeply researched, sensitive, intimate, and nuanced portrait of...
Dinner with the president : food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House
Prud'homme, Alex
Paper Book
A sumptuous narrative history of presidential food--from Washington starving at Valley Forge to Trump's well-done steaks with ketchup--from the co-author of My Life in France. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is perhaps the most important house in the world, which gives the food...
American woman : the transformation of the modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden
Rogers, Katie (Journalist)
Paper Book
The first definitive exploration of thechangingrole of the twenty-first-century First Lady, painting a comprehensive portrait of Jill Biden-from a White House correspondent for The New York Times "A fascinating and deeply researched exploration into the most public...
The highest calling : conversations on the American Presidency
Rubenstein, David M.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the New York Times bestselling author of The American Story and How to Lead and host of PBS's History with David Rubenstein--David Rubenstein interviews living American presidents and top historians and journalists...
The situation room : the inside story of presidents in crisis
Stephanopoulos, George
Paper Book
 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER George Stephanopoulos, the legendary political news host and former advisor to President Clinton, recounts the history-making crises from the place where twelve presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White...
Incomparable grace : JFK in the presidency
Updegrove, Mark K.
Paper Book
Nearly sixty years after his death, JFK still holds an outsize place in American culture. While Baby Boomers remember his dazzling presence as president, millennials more likely know him from advertisements for Omega watches or Ray Ban sunglasses. Yet his years in office were marked by more than his...
Hoover : an extraordinary life in extraordinary times
Whyte, Kenneth
Paper Book
"An exemplary biography--exhaustively researched, fair-minded and easy to read. It can nestle on the same shelf as David McCullough's Truman, a high compliment indeed." --The Wall Street Journal The definitive biography of Herbert Hoover, one of the most...
Building the Great Society : inside Lyndon Johnson's White House
Zeitz, Joshua
Paper Book
Lyndon B. Johnson's (LBJ) towering political skills and his ambitious slate of liberal legislation are the stuff of legend in America: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and environmental reform. But what happened after the bills passed? One...

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