This is the latest version of my list of biographies - what I have read and what I plan to read. Once again, You might notice the lack of women and people of color on here. I am working on it, though in some cases there just aren't great books out there.
Read
George Washington: I read His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis. It was fine, though I get the sense that Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow is more comprehensive.
John Adams: John Adams by David McCullough is an amazing book. Period.
Andrew Jackson: I read American Lion by John Meacham. It focuses on Jackson's presidency, so it isn't a full biography. I regret choosing this book though. It spent more time on gossip than important policy and refused to engage in much criticism of the Indian removal policy or any analysis of the national bank decision. How this book won the Pulitzer is beyond me. I should have read Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H.W. Brands.
Abraham Lincoln: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin is everyone's favorite biography. But after reading the biography of William Seward, I feel I need a different perspective as well.
William Seward: I recently finished Seward: Lincoln's Indispensible Man by Walter Stahr. This was a father / son book club book and it was pretty good. The prose was sparse but not boring and it moved at a pretty good pace.
Ulyses S. Grant: I read H.W. Brands's new Grant biography The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace. It was overall a fine book. It felt like American Experience in book form.
James Garfield: I don't think I can count Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Mallard as a biography. Then again, Garfield's presidency was so short, it's hard to see a reason for something much longer. Anyway, it was a good introduction and maybe someday I'll read Garfield by Allan Peskin or James A. Garfield (The American Presidents #20) by Ira Rutkow.
Woodrow Wilson: I read Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper, Jr. It was a decent biography - not too exciting but it served its purpose and seemed to be the best option available.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: I read Traitor to His Class* by H.W. Brands. It was a good biography. I didn't read No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin even though it is well-regarded because it was more about the home front during the war than an actual biography. There is also FDR by Jean Edward Smith for those who don't want to read Brands.
Harry Truman: I read Truman by David McCullough. It is a really good read and seems pretty fair. I have heard friends say that after they read this book, Truman was their new favorite president. I certainly don't feel that way. But I do respect him, which I didn't think was going to be the case going into it.
Malcolm X: I have read both The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley and Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable. I think everyone should read both. The Autobiography gives Malcolm's view (with some editing by Alex Haley) whereas Manning Marable's biography should be considered more objective and also adds a lot of historical context and analysis.
To Read
Thomas Jefferson: I don't know which book I will read about Thomas Jefferson, though to be honest, he is very low on my list of priorities. The two biographies I know about are Thomas Jefferson by RB Bernstein and American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis. Also, The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed (professor at New York Law School) won the Pulitzer Prize. I haven't read it, but have it on my list (and higher up than either of his biographies).
Alexander Hamilton: I definitely want to read Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It is very well regarded.
Benjamin Franklin: I think Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson is the better book because I have seen it more often. I like H.W. Brands, so I am sure his book (The First American) is fine.
Frederick Douglass: His autobiographies seem to be the best things to read on him. However, there are three. I cannot tell which one is the best, so I am going to read the latest of the three: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
Grover Cleveland: He is not the most exciting president, but his two non-consecutive presidencies span 12 years, so he seems like a good person to read about to learn more about 1884-1897. There are no well-reviewed biographies, but Grover Cleveland by Henry Graff - part of the American Presidents Series seems to be as good as it gets.
William Jennings Bryan: In my quest to learn more about the time after Reconstruction but before World War I, I plan to read A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, by Michael Kazin. Bryan was thrice the Democratic nominee for president.
Teddy Roosevelt: I generally avoid multi-volume biographies - time is too limited. So I won't read Edmund Morris's three volume set (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and Colonel Roosevelt) even though it seems to the best available. I have seen rumors that Doris Kearns Goodwin's next book will be about Teddy Roosevelt, so I will probably go with that one. But if it doesn't come out in time, I can always fall back on the prolific H.W. Brands and his single volume biography titled T.R. The Last Romantic.
Eleanor Roosevelt: It seems that Blanche Wiesen Cook's series is the best available. It currently stands at two volumes and goes through the first years of FDR's presidency and could easily run two more volumes. I wish there was something shorter.
Dwight D. Eisenhower: I plan to read Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith by the end of the year. There is also apparently Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen Ambrose, a one volume condensation or the full two volume work, though I had trouble finding that book.
John F. Kennedy: It seems that An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek is the best out there. However, the 1960s and 1970s presidents won't get on my list until 2014 at the earliest.
Lyndon Johnson: Robert Caro's trilogy is the most comprehensive and contemporary. Caro is a great writer and is able to find all the good stories. However, the sheer size of it means I won't get to it for some time - if ever. Instead, I'll probably read Doris Kearns Goodwin's single volume. There is also Robert Dallek's two volume set though I can't imagine reading his two volume set when I could just bite the bullet and read Caro's three volume.
Richard Nixon: I recently learned about Nixonland: America's Second Civil War and the Divisive Legacy of Richard Nixon 1965-1972 by Rick Perlstein. I think that is the best book to learn about Nixon.
Ronald Reagan: Someday I will read President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime by Lou Cannon.
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