The Presidents Fact Book: The Achievements, Campaigns, Events, Triumphs, and Legacies of Every President By Roger Matuz
The Presidents Fact Book is the complete compendium of all things presidential and a sweeping survey of American history through the biography of every president from George Washington to Joe Biden. Organized chronologically by president, each entry covers the major accomplishments and events of the presidential term; cabinet members, election results, groundbreaking legislation, and Supreme Court appointments; personality and personal habits including hobbies, odd behaviors, and outlandish penchants; a behind‑the‑scenes look at the wives, families, friends, and foes; and much more.
The American President: Detailed Biographies, Historical Timelines, from George Washington to Joseph R. Biden, Jr. By Kathryn Moore
Historian Kathryn Moore presents a riveting narrative of each president’s personal and political experiences in and out of office, along with illuminating facts and statistics about each administration, fascinating timelines of national and world events, astonishing trivia, and much more. These details are woven together to present a complex and nuanced portrait of the American presidency, from the nation’s infancy to today. Fully updated to include a chronology of events from 45th President Donald J. Trump’s first term, and results of the 2020 election.
Biographies of Presidents
Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
Donald brilliantly depicts Lincoln’s gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever-expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation and the first president of the United States. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one volume biography of George Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his adventurous early years, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America’s first president.
The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt
“The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt” is an invaluable literary work and a true gift to readers, as it is a glimpse into the psyche of such an enigmatic historical figure.
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by HW Brands
Drawing on archival material, public speeches, correspondence and accounts by those closest to Roosevelt early in his career and during his presidency, H. W. Brands shows how Roosevelt transformed American government during the Depression with his New Deal legislation, and carefully managed the country’s prelude to war.
Lyndon B Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s extraordinary and insightful biography draws from meticulous research in addition to the author’s time spent working at the White House from 1967 to 1969. After Johnson’s term ended, Goodwin remained his confidante and assisted in the preparation of his memoir. In Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, she traces the 36th president’s life from childhood to his early days in politics, and from his leadership of the Senate to his presidency, analyzing his dramatic years in the White House, including both his historic domestic triumphs and his failures in Vietnam.
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter
In his “warm and detailed memoir”, Carter tells what he is proud of and what he might do differently. He discusses his regret at losing his re-election, but how he and Rosalynn pushed on and made a new life and second and third rewarding careers. He is frank about the presidents who have succeeded him, world leaders, and his passions for the causes he cares most about, particularly the condition of women and the deprived people of the developing world.
To learn more about Presidential Gravesites
The President is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials and Beyond. By Louis L Picone.
Packed with fun facts and presidential trivia, The President Is Dead! tells you everything you could possibly want to know about how our presidents, from George Washington to George H. W. Bush (who was the most recent president to die), met their ends, the circumstances of their deaths, the pomp of their funerals, and their public afterlives, including stories of attempted grave robbings, reinterments, vandalism, conspiracy theories surrounding their deaths, and much more.
Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites by C-Span
Some presidents have been larger than life but none of them have been larger than death. Brian Lamb has visited the gravesites of every American president, living and dead, in order to put together this book, with assistance from the staff of C-SPAN. Heavily illustrated and with contributions from historians Richard Norton Smith and Douglas Brinkley, Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb? is about the presidents’ lives as much as it is about their final resting places.
Dead Presidents: An American Adventure Into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation’s Leaders. By Brady Carlson
In Dead Presidents, public radio host and reporter Brady Carlson takes readers on an epic trip to presidential gravesites, monuments, and memorials from sea to shining sea. With an engaging mix of history and contemporary reporting, Carlson explores the death stories of our greatest leaders, and shows that the ways we memorialize our presidents reveal as much about us as they do about the men themselves.
Historically Speaking 