Best Presidential Biographies?

Crockett

Crockett

5,000+ Posts
For Father's day I bought my dad a copy of McCullough's book, John Adams, thinking it would help him use the time after a knee replacement to take place this Wednesday. He read the book in about 3 days and the surgery still looms. He loves how a great presidential biography illuminates the time and personalities of an era.

I'm thinking of buying a biography of George Washington, the Indispensible Man for him. He's also very interested in Jackson. I know I'm not the only history lover who posts here. Suggestions?
 
The Presidents Series

Check these out. I've read several and they give a great introduction to the Presidents. No real in depth, but the series as a whole is gantastic. It's also an easy way to read a short bio on some of the lesser known Presidents. And as a basis for further reading on "Greats"
 
Truman by McCollough

No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Mornings on Horseback by McCollough

Those are all excellent books.
 
Indispensable Man is terrific (at least I thought so when I read it in high school). Another one to consider possibly, although not about a President, is Alexander Hamilton by Chernow. I'm only about 25% through it, but it's great so far. VERY detailed.
 
As an admirer of Lincoln, I suggest David Herbert Donald's "Lincoln."

Its historical fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" too.
 
Grant's memoirs are the best book by a president.

I would steer clear of goodwin; she is a plagiarist and got caught at it.

Another piece of advice: most of the popular biographies are written by people who are not professionals in history and don't have a thorough grasp of the enormous research that has been done on these men. So they repeat factual assertions and theories that have been thoroughly discredited by those who are.

Stick with books by the pros; they don't write as well but their opinions are more reliable.
 
Stephen Ambrose was a plagiarist too, so forget Band of Brothers.

Plagiarism is stupid and shows some serious character flaws but it isnt a basis for not reading the book, IMO.

Plagiarism doenst mean it isnt true, just not properly attributed.

Only matters if you citing her as an authority above reproach. I am only citing her as a good writer, which she most definitely is.

I found the Herbert bio of Lincoln to be a tad dry.

I would like to find a definitive bio of Nixon, especially an exploration of his psyche. He was Shakespearean in his flaws.
 
"Grant's memoirs are the best book by a president. "

Since Mark Twain literally ghost wrote most of it for Grant, that isn't too suprising.
 
Thanks for a lot of great suggestions. Dad is planning to read 1776 in the hospital and then start presidential biographies in sequential order starting with Washington. I have a second hand copy of His Excellency George Washington. I coundn't find a copy of The Indispensable Man in used bookstores in Lewisville and Denton. We'll have a lot of choices to sort through for the Jefferson biography. I'm thinking something recent and scholarly would be my father's preference.
 
The reference to Twain ghosting Grant's memoirs is an urban legend. This story has been debunked repeatedly but keeps popping up
 
I read Grant's Memoir (maybe the thickest book I ever went through) and would have to say I was surprised at how well-written the book was given my impression that Grant was more a man of action than of deep thought. But it doesn't have the humorous touches you would expect from Twain. Also, I think one of the most moving things I've heard about Grant is how hard he worked to finish the book as he died so it could provide income for his family. Truly he was a man of courage.
 
The Survivor is a very good bio of Clinton.

As for Twain/Grant, the connections mentioned are the reason that some suggested Twain actually wrote the memoirs. I did not say that he had no role in getting it published or made no suggestions.

I also am not the one who said he was a ghostwriter, which suggests he wrote it himself or did an "as told to" job.

There are plenty of sources to the effect that Grant worked valiantly at writing this book and though I am not a great admirer of his, I think he deserves credit for writing a very lucid, interesting and idiosyncratic account of his life.

By the way, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a campaign biography for his pal Franklin Pierce. It was pretty bad.
 
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