John Tyler

Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power

Richard J. Carwardine · 394 pages

An original and deeply insightful biography of Abraham Lincoln, already awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize.As a defender of national unity, a leader in war, and the emancipator of slaves, Abraham Lincoln lays ample claim to being the greatest of our presidents. But the story of his rise to greatness is as complex as it is compelling. In this superb biography, the highly regarded Oxford Universi

Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President

Robert J. Rayback · 484 pages

For some reason hard to understand, the historically minded public has had to wait 85 years since the death of a president for an adequate biography. This gap has now been filled with Dr. Rayback's authoritative work on Millard Fillmore. It is no eulogy; rather, it is honest and unprejudiced, describing and assaying his defects of judgment such as his leadership of two absurd parties at the beginn

Lincoln

David Herbert Donald · 714 pages

The phenomenal national bestseller that is "the Lincoln biography for this generation" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.)-now in paperback. Drawing on resources not available until recently, including Lincoln's personal papers, archives, and newspaper reports, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Herbert Donald presents a masterful account of Lincoln's rise to the presidency and the political and p

Herbert Hoover

William E. Leuchtenburg · 192 pages

Renowned New Deal historian Leuchtenburg offers a frank, thoughtful portrait of the lifelong public servant, and shrewdly assesses Hoover's policies and legacy in the face of one of the darkest periods of American history--the Great Depression.

First Family: Abigail and John Adams

Joseph J. Ellis · 299 pages

John and Abigail Adams left a remarkable portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: both were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was the more gifted), and over the years they exchanged more than twelve hundred letters. Joseph J. Ellis distills them to give us an account both intimate and panoramic; part biography, part political history, and part l

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Morris · 886 pages

Biography of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, detailing his life from birth (1858) to his ascendancy to the Presidency (1901). This is the first book in Edmund Morris's trilogy on Roosevelt (followed by *Theodore Rex* and *Colonel Roosevelt*). It won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Bibliography or Autobiography and the 1980 National Book Award in Biography.

Zachary Taylor

John S.D. Eisenhower · 167 pages

Coolidge

Amity Shlaes · 565 pages

From the Publisher... Amity Shlaes chronicles a riveting portrait of a great American president, Calvin Coolidge, who served in office in the 1920s. He was known to many as "Silent Cal" and to some as "Scrooge." His personality portrayed a quiet, passive man, old fashioned, but the most modern of all presidents. His discipline represented strength, and he was admired for his courage. From the g

Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman

Merle Miller

Chester Alan Arthur

Zachary Karabell · 170 pages

This is mostly a historical account of Arthur’s presidential administration from his unexpected inauguration through passing the Pendleton Act, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and a mainly uneventful term as U.S. President.

James Monroe: The Quest For National Identity

Harry Ammon · 706 pages

Documents the career of the fifth president noting his contributions to American diplomacy and nationalism. Bibliog.

Benjamin Harrison

Charles W. Calhoun · 206 pages

Politics was in Benjamin Harrison's blood. His great-grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence and his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was the ninth president of the United States. Harrison, a leading Indiana lawyer, became a Republican Party champion, even taking a leave from the Civil War to campaign for Lincoln. After a scandal-free term in the Senate -- no small feat in the Gilde

The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage

Daniel Mark Epstein · 559 pages

The first full-length portrait of the marriage of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln in more than fifty years, The Lincolns is a fascinating new work of American history by Daniel Mark Epstein, an award-winning biographer and poet known for his passionate understanding of the Civil War period. Although the private lives of political couples have in our era become front-page news, the true story of this

John Quincy Adams: American Visionary

Fred Kaplan · 652 pages

A brilliant combination of literary analysis and historical detail, this masterfully written biography of the much misunderstood sixth president of the United States reveals the many sides of this forward-thinking man whose progressive vision helped shape the course of America.

Washington: A Life

Ron Chernow · 928 pages

In this work, the author, a biographer provides a portrait of the father of our nation, dashing forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man, and revealing an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people.

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

Jon Meacham · 568 pages

In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was th

James K. Polk

John Seigenthaler · 208 pages

Franklin and Lucy

Joseph E. Persico · 443 pages

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth century. While FDR's official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women--particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd--that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman. It is no coincidence that Rutherfurd was with Roosevelt the day he died in Warm Springs, Georgia, alon

First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies

Kate Andersen Brower · 398 pages

Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources to tell the stories of the ten remarkable women who have defined the role of First Lady of the United States since 1960. From Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama, she offers new insights into this privileged group, and shares stories exploring everything from the first ladies political crusades to their rivalries with Washington figures; from t

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream

Doris Kearns Goodwin · 432 pages

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

Robert Dallek · 848 pages

An Unfinished Life is the first authoritative single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written in nearly four decades. Drawing upon firsthand sources, freshly unearthed documents, and never-before-opened archives, prizewinning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy, forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency, and his legacy. In a tale tha

Grant: A Biography

William S. McFeely · 608 pages

The story of the Ohioan who became the leader of the Union Army and later the president.

John Quincy Adams

Harlow Giles Unger · 384 pages

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

Joshua Wolf Shenk · 359 pages

Drawing on seven years of his own research and the work of other esteemed Lincoln scholars, Shenk reveals how the sixteenth president harnessed his depression to fuel his astonishing success. Lincoln found the solace and tactics he needed to deal with the nation’s worst crisis in the �coping strategies” he had developed over a lifetime of persevering through depressive episodes and personal tra