Challenges discussion

Does anyone have a working list of the authoritative/best book to read for each President? Maybe we can keep a running list on here? Since a few people are working with the Chernow "Washington" book, we can consider that the starting point. But can we figure out a list for all of them?

I consulted these:
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/t...

But I'm all for pre-picking the books.

Have you read any from the Post list yet? I've read a few, Team of Rivals and the Garfield book. Maybe we can use that to build a reading list?

I'm skeptical of Team of Rivals personally. The author is a known plagiarist that makes me rather uncomfortable with her works. Also, from what I understand, she took some creative liberties with the Lincoln conspirators.

I know I'm going with the McCullough John Adams not because of the book itself but because McCullough has such a stellar reputation.

I actually didn't care much for Team of Rivals, so I'd be happy to read a different Lincoln bio.

McCullough also has the greatest voice. I love when he narrates Ken Burns' docs! I am all for reading his John Adams next if the rest of the gang agrees.

Actually that's the one I have on hold at the library. Clearly we are a well-meshed group :)

So I know we are just getting into Adams, but I thought we might want to sketch out some options for the next few bios. Here's what I came across in my research:

Jefferson - either Joseph Ellis's American Sphinx or Meacham's The Art of Power

Madison - either Ralph Ketchum's or Richard Brookheiser's (both of which are just named James Madison. Way to be creative, guys!)

James Monroe - The Last Founding Father by Harlow Ungar or Ammon's Monroe: The Quest for National Identity

There's a few more options to pick from, especially when it comes to Jefferson, but I thought it might worth thinking about what's ahead. Do we want to try to read the definitive bios? Or just read the ones that seem most interesting to us as a group? What I'm noticing is that for some of them, the "definitive" bios are rather old and either massive or sound pretty dry (or perhaps a bit of both!)

So let me know what the rest of you think. I'm really enjoying the conversation so far and looking forward to more to come!

I have read American Sphinx, its more a book about Jefferson's character than an outline of his life. It was interesting, but it didn't really cover his second term in office. So if you are looking for a book that details his life, this isn't really it, but it might be a nice change of pace.

Im currently reading Lynne Cheney's Madison book and its fine, I read a book about Alexander Hamilton by Brookhiser and somehow he made Hamilton boring and I don't know how Hamilton could be boring. I also read Dolley by Rita Mae Brown it was more of a fictionalized account of the the war of 1812, but I enjoyed it while I waited for the Madison book to arrive in the mail.


The Unger book was on my list for Monroe and I was thinking about reading Meacham's Jefferson book since I wasn't satisfied with the American Sphinx

I have been collecting biographies through a book swap, so I may not always be reading the same book as everyone else. Hope that's okay. Personally, I've been picking bios from a Washington Post list and making sure they have at least 400 pages.

Well it sounds like the Meacham Jefferson is the better choice. Thanks for the tip, Elisabeth!

Is this the Post list you were referring to?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/t...

I've been using that as well to try to make some choices. But as I mentioned, some of what they suggest seems a little old, daunting. Not that big and old is bad, of course!

yes that list! and there is a comment by "OKSteve" at the bottom of the article that gives good advice about the bios and some other good suggestions that I went ahead and added to my list of potentials.

I'm leaning toward Mecham - other thoughts? Anyone started on one?

I think the Meacham sounds like the best bet. I checked it out of the library yesterday and am planning on starting it on my commute home. Although I'm certainly fine with a different choice if we want to go in a different direction.

Agreed. I've got Meacham on hold- trying to make time to get there.

Since these books are so massive and we all tend to read at different paces, I was thinking we might want to set up a few stopping points for each book moving forward. Rather than having a single Jefferson thread, we could have one on the first x number of chapters (or something like that.) This might make it easier to record our thoughts as we go along and get the conversation going without feeling like we have to comment on the entirety of a 900 page book. What do the rest of you think?

I like that idea. These books can be a chore sometimes. If you made it points in the persons life, those who read a different bio can still contribute to the discussions as well.

I think that makes sense Elizabeth. It would be interesting to hear how some of these events are represented in other bios.

While not a complete biography, Destiny of the Republic contained just about all of the pertinent information I wanted to know about President Garfield. It was also written extremely well and captured the state of American politics and medicine in the 19th century.

From what I have seen in reviews and book details, Peskin's biography is much more thorough and academic, but Millard's book is better in terms of narrative and popular interest.

Reagan: The Life by H.W. Brands is extremely good. It deals with the important issues and people that a reader concerned with presidential lives would care about, and it leaves out a lot of the extraneous detail. For example, when talking about the campaigns, a few memorable and important bits are included, but the author assumes that the reader knows that the 1980 and 1984 elections went in Reagan's favor, so not every speech and visit is recorded. I am 5/7 of the way through the book and still want to read the rest, so that is a sign the author is doing something right.

B&N posted their list of picks:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/i...

There are some on the list I like, some I don't, and some I want to check out. Their paragraphs of reasons for the choices may help others decide if they want to give any of these a try.

I have read seven of those and own another three. I don't know how much I want to trust a bookseller, but I'm finding it's hard to go wrong with any particular choice, as long as you are not discouraged by some favorable bias. Personally, I put a lot of confidence in bestpresidentialbios (message 2 above).

The bestpresidentialbios site does help me evaluate whether I want to read a biography or not, especially in terms of telling me what it covers and where the author falls on the worship-hate spectrum.

It will not show recent releases like Chernow's new Grant book, so that is when a more contemporary list can be useful. The list does come from a bookseller, but anyone wanting to read biographies has already decided they are looking for a book, so the motivations match. The list includes material from the 1950s to the present day, so they are not just hawking the stuff they are bound to have in stock.

Brandon wrote: "While not a complete biography, Destiny of the Republic contained just about all of the pertinent information I wanted to know about President Garfield. It was also written extremely well and captu..."

This is a great book!

Meg wrote: "I'm skeptical of Team of Rivals personally. The author is a known plagiarist that makes me rather uncomfortable with her works. Also, from what I understand, she took some creative liberties with t..."

Mike wrote: "Have you read any from the Post list yet? I've read a few, Team of Rivals and the Garfield book. Maybe we can use that to build a reading list?"

Your comment is the first I've read that Doris Kearns Goodwin was accused of plagiarism. I immediately did some online research on reliable sites and you are correct. This makes me very sad. I've always considered her a rock star. Being a good human is a difficult task as we all know. I have a book on my TBR, "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma" by Claire Dederer. I'll need to read it soon. This has been a terrible shock. (I'll never consider Kearns a monster in spite of this book's title.) I'm hoping it was a one time mistake. I've met her and she is a sweet lady.

Matthew wrote: "Thanks for the insight on “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.” I’ve heard mixed things on this, and had it next in my queue, but will probably choose a different Lincoln biogr..."

"And there was Light" by Meacham is a good read and a great analysis of him as an American icon. It doesn't get into the weeds on everything like his early life or law career but it does a great job of defending him from both the right and from the left, both of which have attacked him in recent years.

I am so glad I just found this group. I guess I joined right on time. I've read Chernow's George Washington, one of the John Adam's (I forget which), Jefferson Art of Power, Brookhiser's James Madison and just finished Unger's Last Founding Father: James Monroe.
I, too, entered this rabbit hole via BestPresidentialBios.com I use his list and rating system to determine which books to choose from.

Michael wrote: "I am so glad I just found this group. I guess I joined right on time..."

Welcome, Michael! I'm currently taking my second turn with Calvin Coolidge, via Amity Shlaes. Great book!

I’m slowly making my way in order. Currently on Zachery Taylor. It’s interesting seeing the lead up to the civil war. Harrison and Taylor have similar frontiersmen stories so the variety of backgrounds between the biographies gives different points of view as the biographies overlap themselves chronologically. Cool stroll through American history and culture.