Presidents' Day History: The Must-Reads Of Presidential Biographies (PHOTOS, POLL)

The recent success of such award-winning and bestselling presidential biographies as "American Lion" by Jon Meacham, "John Adams" by David McCullough as well as Doris Kearns Goodwin's portrait of Lincoln's Cabinet, "Team of Rivals", are all tributes to the value of great historians.

In honor of Presidents' Day, here are some other great books about the Presidents and presidency, is a short list of some of my favorite Presidential biographies -- all what I call "must reads." Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, and some may already be familiar. Not all of them focus on the presidential years of the subjects. But this is a good place to start with a collection of accessible and fascinating views of the lives and careers of some of the most significant Commanders in Chief -- all told by great storytellers, great writers and great historians.

A comprehensive reading list of these and Presidential biographies can also be found in "Don't Know Much About History".

"Founding Father", Richard Brookhiser

Fairly brief, mostly admiring but honest, and to the point, Brookhiser of the National Review, cuts through the mythology but keeps Washington firmly in place as "Father of Our Country."

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Comments

[Steamboater]

05:19 PM on 02/16/2010

Best presidential bio I ever read wass David G. McCullough's, "Mornings On Horseback" about Theodore Roosevelt. I have my issues with himbut all-in-all what an honest and commited man he was to those plicies he favored. His life is an adventure that few will ever come close to having.

There's a relativley recent one, "River Of Doubt" by Candice Millard that I'm ordering from Amazon too about Roosevelt's journey on the dark spiral of the Amazon River. Really looking forward to that one.

[lmpub]

09:19 AM on 02/15/2010

I have read several of these biographies and for history buffs, they are good reads.

[charlesV]

08:36 AM on 02/15/2010

Can anyone recommend a good JFK book? The ones I remember from years back were either take-downs or glorifiers. I'm dissapointed that there wasn't a recommendation on the list.

[3fingerbrown]

06:28 AM on 02/16/2010

Try Richard Reeves's "President Kennedy: Profile of Power." Best JFK book I've read--neither hagiography or hatchet job, just lots of good reporting.

[OdinsEye]

01:20 AM on 02/15/2010

I posted this on your other "Presidents' Day" article as well:

There is no federal holiday called Presidents' Day.

I remember when the 1971 Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the observance of Washington's birthday to the third Monday on February. I know a lot of people still think that the holiday was changed in either 1968 or 1971 to Presidents Day and was done to celebrate either Washington and Lincoln (whose birthday of 12 February was never a federal holiday, but was observed by many states), or to celebrate all presidents, but they are incorrect. The law simply moved the observed holiday of Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February. The law did not rename or re-purpose the holiday.

I refer anyone wanting to learn more about this to read the excellent article at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/gw-birthday-1.html as well as the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) official federal holiday list at http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2010.asp and to look up federal law Title 5 U.S. Code 6103 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/5/usc_sec_05_00006103----000-.html) .

[Kenneth Davis]

03:10 PM on 02/15/2010

Mea culpa! This is correct. The official name of the holiday remains Washington's Birthday even though by law, the holiday can never fall on February 22, Washington's actual birthdate. An attempt to change the holiday's name fell through back in 1968, but it has obviously entered the public lexicon as "Presidents Day" (NO APOSTROPHE needed).

[booki]

01:14 PM on 02/14/2010

of course, everyone is enthralled with history ( our roots, heritage, pride, sadness)
thank god it does not dictate our lives today.i am happy for Presidents Day tomorrow..........another day, i do not get mail, and have open up my mailbox.
and find bills, .......
and the reminder: that being a true american, is supporting ......
your bank, wall street..........your energy companies
and a dream.
that has made us all fools.