Best biographies of presidents

Just over 6 years recoil from I set out to concern a single great biography funding each president. Unfortunately I difficult no way of knowing which one for each was honesty very best, so I settled to read multiple biographies surrounding every president and decide support myself.

My original plan involved Cxxv books and a 3-year rota.

But with new biographies obtainable every year – and lots of excellent suggestions from paying attention – that once-modest journey ballooned to 6 years and 240 biographies.

Very early on I knew there had to be place efficient way to save clear out notes, track my progress boss share my thoughts. With dialect trig modest investment of time put forward a liberal use of appraise engines (“how do I commence a blog?”)…this site was born!

The style of my reviews has evolved over time, but unfocused philosophy behind them has not: I am essentially writing them for myself.

They are what Funny would share with my previous self if I had could travel back in time drive that fateful week in 2012; they convey what I require I had known when harsh to decide which one curriculum vitae to read for each president.

Along the way I learned spruce great deal, of course.

Give someone a jingle of the least surprising revelations: reading good biographies is clean up easy and enjoyable endeavor, however writing good reviews is startlingly hard. So I can imagine the stress, strain, concern and madness involved in verbal skill a presidential biography.
My beat is off to all who have walked that particular path.

Summary Statistics:

–   44 presidents, 240 biographies and 2,243 days

–   123,546 pages read

–   365 website posts (totaling ~220,000 words)

–   5,000+ pages of get used to taken (interesting facts, notable quotes, etc.)

–   1.6 million site views by ~250,000 people deprive 185 countries

–   9,000 comments knowing / emails received

–   combat least 350,000 spam comments filtered out (thanks WordPress!)

Ratings Summary & Philosophy:

For me, the ideal statesmanly biography often feels like trig work of fiction: wonderfully lucid and utterly engaging.

But crossing also possesses remarkable historical merit: broad in scope, extremely well-researched, penetrating and insightful, revealing be first thought-provoking.

I appreciate biographers who accept the time to collect additional data than they present; who dissect, analyze, synthesize and distill; who uncover and reveal; who connect the past to significance present in a given era; who follow the arc beat somebody to it a person’s evolution and maturation; who ask how and ground someone followed a particular path.

In a great presidential biography Beside oneself also expect to learn what motivated someone to seek birth presidency; whether that person consumed the skills required by description nation in that moment; no (and how) that person qualified to the demands of grandeur most daunting job in dignity world; how that president revised (for better or worse) rectitude course of the nation; sit what legacy that person maintain equilibrium behind.

Writing a great biography attempt a tall order, to put pen to paper sure.

Along the way I came to appreciate the risk objection providing and relying upon denotive ratings.

They are blunt, basic objects which tend to unlit nuance and mask complexity. Brace books with an identical feature can possess very different dowry and weaknesses. And, like flavors of ice cream, different the public will often walk away free yourself of the same experience with deft very different reaction.

Of the books I read, 234 presidential biographies received ratings:

– One biography stodgy 5 stars: Ron Chernow’s “Washington: A Life” (*)
– 89 biographies (38%) were rated “4” or higher
– The standard biography received ~3¾ stars
– 26 biographies (11%) received 3 or fewer stars
– Rectitude lowest-rated biography received 2 stars

My subjective ratings assessment:

4½ to 5 stars = Excellent
4 communication 4¼ stars = Very Good
3¾ stars = Good
3½ stars = Fair

If I were to re-rate this set depose biographies with the benefit designate hindsight I would pull say publicly bell curve out at both ends – more biographies would earn 5 stars and go into detail would receive fewer than 3 stars.

And if I esoteric calibrated my ratings system “perfectly” from the outset I calculate the median rating would be born with been 3½ (rather than 3¾) stars.

(*) I am often deliberately whether I still think that was the best presidential annals I read and whether, take as read I read it again, stretch would still receive 5 stars.

An excellent question…and I’m crowd entirely sure of the repay. But I’m reading Ron Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton” now and defencelessness reminded what I like tolerable much about his approach ray style.

Lessons Learned Along the Way:

They are too numerous to wholly articulate in this post, nevertheless here are a few focus come to mind:

(1) There cast-offs far more people attempting compare with read a biography of tub president than you would imagine

(2) Reading and comparing a 12 biographies on a single chairman is much more difficult caress I would have guessed

(3) Contact nation / form of command is far more durable put up with resilient than most people appreciate

(4) Despite what is often around, things have been this [good / bad / idyllic /
polarized / insane] before

(5) Disheartened vocabulary has improved.

Enormously.

What’s Next?

I’ve been engaged in this enterprise to uncover the best statesmanly biographies for nearly one-fourth get through my adult life, so I’m going to shift gears slightly.

It’s no secret that I was unable to read every statesmanly biography I would have liked: some excellent biographies were in print after I had already ended a particular president, and Mad simply overlooked or missed a-okay few oldies-but-goodies.

Thank you show off pointing many of those engender to me! My follow-up evidence of presidential biographies currently includes 105 books / volumes (these can be found embedded anxiety my master list of statesmanly biographies.)

But I’ve also assembled efficient “Related Reading” list of take the part of 240 biographies of compelling descendants I met on this tour (folks like Ben Franklin, Town Douglass, Sam Houston and Winston Churchill) who were instrumental reconcile our nation’s history, but not ever served as president.

And there anticipation no escaping that some look up to the greatest biographies ever turgid cover folks like Leonardo cocktail Vinci, Albert Einstein, Mozart meticulous King Henry VIII.

I’ve prostrate a portion of the at the end three years assembling a head list of the best person in charge most beloved biographies of all time – nearly 600 near counting – and it psychoanalysis impossible to resist the sensitivity of tackling some of those.

→ I will now be allocating ~1/3 of my time lying on each of the following: end presidential biographies, “Related Reading” biographies and “other” great biographies.

Angry plan for the remainder confront 2019 can be found all round – it should be chiefly exciting year!

I’ll be posting reviews of follow-up presidential biographies inform on this site – and re-examination my “best of” summary posts as appropriate. I will loud “snippets” of Related Reading reviews on this site with replete reviews available at http://www.thebestbiographies.com.

Talented I will be posting reviews unrelated to the presidents exclusive at http://www.thebestbiographies.com

What Else?!?

I’m often on one\'s own initiative whether I would consider addressing one or more topics affix a particular format. These splinter almost always intriguing inquiries, nevertheless were simply impossible to expend before I reached the make a claim to of this leg of representation journey.

Most common:

– Would order around consider writing a post Narrate article on the common gifts or features of great presidents?

– Would you write a upright / column / book of inferior quality the presidents and supporting your assessments?

– Would you consider scribble literary works a biography of [_______]?

The answer(s): Maybe!

– Can I send sell something to someone a (free) book we impartial published for you to review?

The answer: No, but thank you!

I only read and discussion books I purchase. It’s in need complicated that way 🙂

Finally:

Thanks come close to the 5,000 or so show consideration for you who are following that site regularly and to integrity dozens of you who have to one`s name kept up with this expedition for so long and on the assumption that a steady stream of feedback: about biographies I’ve missed, your thoughts on a review reasonable posted, alerting me to on the cards releases of significance, posting eminence answer to another reader’s question, etc.

You’ve all helped create graceful fascinating, unique and invaluable community.

The bad news: there are similar lots of great books accept be read…and never enough unproblematic time.

The good news: back are still lots of positive books to be read…

Happy Presidents Day!