Play Book Tag discussion

Regina had a group that was reading presidential biographies in chronological order of the presidents. I don't know if she got to finish this task. A few people have stated they want to join me in doing this so I'm creating a thread. Care said she could do a president every other month and that sounds doable to me. If you don't want to follow any sort of schedule or order and just want to read a presidential biography or two in Regina's honor please let me know what you read. I'm definitely not a history expert and I also welcome any recommendations on good presidential biographies. If you just want to jump in for a particular president please do so.

schedule for 2022:

Feb-March: George Washington
April-May: John Adams
June-July: Thomas Jefferson
August-Sept.: James Madison
Oct-Nov: James Monroe
December-January(2023): John Quincy Adams

2023 (with a few of the presidents dying shortly after being in office I shortened the reading time for them)

Feb-march: Andrew Jackson
April-may: martin van buren
June: William Henry Harrison
July-august: John Tyler
Sept-oct: James Polk
Nov: Zachary Taylor
Dec-jan(2024): Millard Fillmore

2024 (updated to reflect me getting very behind)
Feb: Franklin Pierce
March: James Buchanan
April-May:Abraham Lincoln
June-July:Andrew Johnson
October-December: Ulysses Grant
2025
Jan-Feb:Rutherford B. Hayes
March-April:James Garfield
May-June: Chester Arthur
July-August: Grover Cleveland
Sept.-Oct.: Benjamin Harrison
Nov.-Dec.: William McKinley

For George Washington I'll be reading Washington: The Indispensable Man since it's a biography Regina recommended. I'm sure there are a lot of Washington biographies out there so I'll be interested to see what everyone else picks to read. I propose posting reviews here once we've finished a book so it will be easier to find them.

I am interested in books about Martin Van Buren. I have not read much about him and would like to know more.

I doubt I will join in, and certainly not on a schedule, but some presidents will have such a wealth to choose from, it should be fun to follow.

Then there are the ones without so many biographies...like President Filmore.

I will enjoy watching from sidelines.

Sounds good and count me in! I'm going to start with Washington: A Life.

I may read one at some point, but like Theresa will be lurking to follow the discussions. If anyone is reading out of order I highly recommend

Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington

And for Garfeild-Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

Neither are full bios, but both are excellent reads and I am sure Reginia would approve

I have a few on my TBR, but I've read bio's of Washington, Adams and Madison fairly recently, so I will jump in with what I have.

What I might do is work through some of the many books I have about the American Presidency collectively or as an institution or even some of the insider books - I just got The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas.

I have a copy of His Excellency: George Washington and Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring sitting on a shelf with other books that belonged to my father. I'll see if I can get to at least one of them next month for George's birthday.

I may try to join in as well. It's a lovely idea. I will probably go with You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington.

I'm glad you will be joining us Jen. My Washington book is here so I'll likely start reading it next week.

Rachel N. wrote: "I'm glad you will be joining us Jen. My Washington book is here so I'll likely start reading it next week."

Thanks Rachel! I probably won't get to mine until March. I really appreciate the 2 month timeline and such a nice way to honor throughout the year.

I hope everyone who is joining me is enjoying their reading and learning some interesting information about George Washington. I'm about halfway through the biography I'm reading. I never realized how much time Washington sat around during the Revolutionary War and how little time he actually spent fighting. For some reason I also never learned that he never had children. The revolutionary war has just ended and I'm interested in how Washington ended up being president when he just wanted to retire from public life after the war.

I got 200 pages into Washington: A Life, a full life biography and realizing I was going to run out of time quickly pivoted to Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy, which focuses on Washington's post-election travels both North and South as part of selling/unifying the country to ratify the Constitution. The book consistently reinforces how he was uniquely qualified and singularly positioned to be the first president to bring the country together both as the conquering victor of the war and as a southern land owner. I am very much convinced that had his military background not instilled in him the character traits of both honor and duty, he would not have subjected himself to being president.

Here is my Review for my Washington biography.

I am reading: Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. I am not pushing to finish by any particular time. It's a doorstopper. So far, it's an amazingly detailed biography full of personal interactions, letters, and family dynamics. I am learning a lot.

I finished my Washington biography: Washington: The Indispensible Man. Here's my review:

This is a comprehensive look at the entirety of George Washington's life. Each chapter is fairly short and the chapter headings give the time period when the events occurred. I didn't know much about Washington going into this book so this was a good book for me. It covers the basics without going too deep into details. There are plenty of illustrations and maps. This book was written in the 1960's and it does contain some outdated views of Native Americans. I also got annoyed with the author in the later part of the book because he kept saying all elderly men become senile, not true. The author definitely didn't leave me with a very positive view of Jefferson and portrayed John Adams as being very jealous of Washington. My next read on my journey through presidential biographies is John Adams by McCullough. It will be interesting to see how he portrays Washington versus this book.

I'll be starting John Adams soon since it's a rather long book and I want to take my time reading it so I can pay attention to all the points.

Rachel N. wrote: "I finished my Washington biography: Washington: The Indispensible Man. Here's my review:

Nice review. The book I read also did not paint Jefferson in a good light, Adams was left unscathed. Not sure if your book made reference to this, but in the one I started (Chernow) but did not finish, Washington was described as having a "colossal temper" and that it was something he constantly battled and maybe even overcompensated for by always seeming so stoic and stone faced.

Interesting, my Washington book didn't mention him having a temper at all. It did mention he liked to gamble, drink and flirt a lot.

I am still working through Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. This book really brings Washington to life. Washington left an enormous amount of written documentation. He knew he was in a position to be important historically and even had scribes employed during the Revolutionary War (at a time when they had trouble paying the soldiers). He certainly is portrayed as having a temper, but it does not come out very often. He seems very slow to anger, but once he reaches a breaking point, he can be very harsh.

Just managed to finish. Luckily I chose a lighter (literally) option with You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe which is maybe a quarter of the size of Chernow's book. It was enough of a taste that I'm interested to read more to compare.

My review:
I enjoyed this bite sized and modernized perspective of George Washington. I love that when Coe realized that the nearly 200 biographies of Washington were all written by white men and continued the same general idolizing, that she took it as a cue to give her own take on the resources taking on the mythmaking of Washington as much as his story.

Throughout I learned quite a bit about Washington. I really appreciated his loyalty and love of family. I had no idea that when he married Martha, he married into money which afforded him to take on his leadership positions in the revolution. It was interesting to understand his interest in business and property, including his somewhat conflicted view on slavery. Though I'm sure that I missed some about battles, I liked that the book was focused more on relationships- friends, family, frenemies, and slaves. I hope that Coe writes about more presidents.

Finished my book on Washington. It was absolutely wonderful! It really gives the reader a sense of what Washington was like as a person to those who knew him.

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow - 5* - My Review

Glad you finished your Washington books Jen and Joy and that they were both good books. I hope you'll both be continuing on to read about John Adams. I'm about 90 pages into John Adams. Very different writing style than my Washington book but I'm starting to get used to it now. Right now we're leading up to the Declaration of Independence.

Rachel N. wrote: "Glad you finished your Washington books Jen and Joy and that they were both good books. I hope you'll both be continuing on to read about John Adams. I'm about 90 pages into John Adams...."

Thanks Rachel, I'm a big fan of David McCullough and was considering your choice but not fully committed to a option yet but I do hope to continue on.

Checking in to see how everyone is doing with their John Adams books. I'm about halfway through John Adams he's currently in London as the first U.S. ambassador to England. I feel like Adams has been in Europe forever. Lots of info about Jefferson so far, who is still proving to be a bit of a jerk in my opinion, and not much on Washington, wondering if that will change once Adams finally becomes vice-president.

I have not started yet. I was trying to find a copy of Ferling's book on Adams, but it is not available locally. I am on a waiting list for the McCullough audio. I think this is a wonderful idea and plan to continue.

I am less than halfway thru but enjoying what I've read so far of the McCullough biography. Hoping to stay on track and close out by end of this month.

I doubt I will be able to keep to a set schedule, but I will definitely follow along.

I haven't done well to find a John Adams book yet. It's been a bit crazy so I may need to pause until my main project finishes in July and then catch up.

I just got the David McCullough book on Adams, which I hope to finish by end of May.

Glad you finally got the McCullough book Joy. For me the section where Adams is in Europe dragged a bit. I'll be interested to see what everyone else who is reading the book thinks. I finally made it to Adams being president which is interesting so far.

Does anyone have a Theodore Roosevelt biography that they read and enjoyed? Preferably under 800 pages as I have a lot of chunksters this year.

Rachel N. wrote: "Glad you finally got the McCullough book Joy. For me the section where Adams is in Europe dragged a bit. I'll be interested to see what everyone else who is reading the book thinks. I finally made ..."
I am liking this book quite a bit. I didn't mind the parts in Europe since I was not that familiar with what he did over there. It really has brought him to life for me. I found it interesting that Adams had caught malaria while in Holland. He apparently suffered from depression. One of the best images in the book is him pitching in to help with a bucket brigade while he was President. Isn't it great that he left so much correspondence?!

Theresa wrote: "Does anyone have a Theodore Roosevelt biography that they read and enjoyed? Preferably under 800 pages as I have a lot of chunksters this year."

I own a copy of this but have not read it yet. It comes highly recommended by a close friend:
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough (this is the one I'm probably going to read when I get to T. Roosevelt).

This one is narrowly focused on Roosevelt's trip down the River of Doubt in the Brazilian Amazon, which I loved. It does not cover his presidency, though:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard

Joy D wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Does anyone have a Theodore Roosevelt biography that they read and enjoyed? Preferably under 800 pages as I have a lot of chunksters this year."

I own a copy of this but have not r..."

Noted, especially that Amazon trip one! I am looking more, I think for his pre-presidential days. Of course over the years I have read bits here and there, often as part of historical fiction, of his involvement in NYC especially with the police force, San Juan Hill, and preserving natural beauty by creating the National Park system. I think it is time to get a better grip on that Teddy Roosevelt.

From reading the book's description, Mornings on Horseback is about T. Roosevelt's early years, from about age 10 to 30. I guess I will need to look for something else to cover his presidency.

@JoyD - found this resource for Teddy R bios. It was quite helpful.
The McCullough definitely fits best what I am looking for. https://bestpresidentialbios.com/2015...

Thanks for the link, Theresa!

Finished the excellent book on the life of John Adams and very much enjoyed it:
John Adams by David McCullough - 4* - My Review

Link to PBT discussion:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I have not yet decided which of the many Jefferson books to read.

I've been looking into books on Jefferson. There are many. I've narrowed it down to these two:
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
or
Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty

Has anyone else decided?

I have Madison and Jefferson lined up and it will take a couple of months as it is a big book.

Joy D wrote: "I've been looking into books on Jefferson. There are many. I've narrowed it down to these two:
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
or
Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty.

I decided on Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty. I'm still finishing up my Adams book, almost done.

I just finished reading John Adams. I'm taking a few days break before starting my Jefferson book. Hope everyone else is enjoying their books. I just came across Regina's review of the Adams book and I'm reposting it here because it's so well written.

Regina Lindsey
Sep 26, 2012
Regina Lindsey rated it really liked it
Shelves: favorites
Four Stars: I am prevented from giving it five because I feel DM should have spent more time on the weaknesses/poor decisions rather than so strongly focusing on his strengths.

I found the book well written and enjoyable to read. Over the past few reads I have gained a tremendous amount of respect for JA. Resoundingly, regardless of opinion, those who knew JA have a common opinion. His integrity was constant. I think he expected that same sense of integrity in everyone and this was the source of a great deal of disillusionment, particularly when it came to those he counted as friends. He was fiercely loyal and often did not receive the same in return. He was often able to look past differences and find common ground when either working with someone or forming a friendship. He loved his country and sacrificed a great deal personally for it and often without recognition. For a man, admittedly, with a great deal of pride this was difficult to swallow. Politically his strengths seem to be his sense of timing and an ability to think situations through past immediate consequences. Further, he had a set of guiding principles that for the most part he tried to live regardless of the political consequences. His was progressive in thought as seen not only in what he said about slavery but in his actions. He was also ahead of his time in issues such as freedom of religion for Jews and some of his ideas for the Massachusetts Constitution.

On the other hand he was incredibly vain which provided ample ammunition for his critics. At first glance his time in Europe can be seen as unique experience strengthening his skill set for the presidency. However, in reality, in probably hurt him in that he no longer had his finger on the pulse of America. It seems to have weakened that sense of timing he once had. He liked to lecture people sometimes it was harmless as when he lectured an English community on its history but in the Senate as VP it hurt him tremendously. He could be impetuous. He often needed to take a breath before dashing off his thoughts for print. The biggest mistakes of his presidency was not using his authority to veto on the Alien and Sedition Act, retaining Washington's cabinet, and allowing Washington to appoint Hamilton in the new standing army.

Nice review, Rachel!

I think I am going with Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. It will be interesting to compare notes on the different versions we will be reading.

I'm back about Teddy Roosevelt biographies though only I'm looking to read one any time soon. But I have a recommendation from a colleague who just read and highly recommends Theodore Roosevelt by Henry F. Pringle,

He said that it was really excellent, covers the entire span of Teddy's life which not all the biogarphies do, quite comprehensive and not too dense, reasonable length.

Never know just where a legal team meeting's wrap up is going to end up. Today we ended up on biographies of Teddy Roosevelt.

Thanks for the tip, Theresa!

I am just starting Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

Finished the biography of Jefferson. It is a cradle to grave account that basically covers Jefferson's life from a high level - hitting the highlights. It provides a glimpse of Jefferson as a person. Meacham's premise is that he had idealist tendencies, but tempered them with pragmatism. We learn about his successes, failures, public persona, and family life. I think it could have been more comprehensive about his relationship with Sally Hemings, but at least it is not passed over (as has been done by some other Jefferson biographers I have read).

It delves into his major interests, his love of learning, sensitivity to criticism, desire to avoid conflict, and penchant for control. He comes across as a complex, intelligent person with the ability to compromise and balance his philosophical views with his political opinions. As with the other presidential biographies I have read recently (of Adams and Washington), I am impressed by these founding fathers who, no matter their disagreements, obviously want what is best for the country. I wish more current politicians would follow their example.

This book provides a great overview of Jefferson’s life, including writing the Declaration of Independence, representing the US in France, orchestrating the Louisiana Purchase, and sending Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. I especially appreciated learning more about his contradictory views on slavery. I think it is interesting that lots of people observe that he never freed Sally Hemings, but in this book we learn that she lived as a free woman on her own after Jefferson's death (the implication being she didn't need to be freed or that he had told his daughter his wishes but did not desire to put them in writing).

If you have not read a biography of Jefferson, this is a good place to start. It is written in an engaging manner. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have not been following this thread too closely, so i don't know if this (Teddy R.) has been mentioned/read yetMornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt-but I would be interested in a buddy read if anyone else has it lined up

@JoAnne - Planning on reading it starting in August or September. If that works for you, I am up for a buddy read.

My library does not have it, so I will have to order through inter-library-give me a heads up 2 weeks or so prior and I am in