Here is the roadmap for my journey through the best presidential biographies (for more detail see my site: www.bestpresidentialbios.com).

Ratings are on a scale of 0 to 5 stars, with equal weight given to my subjective assessment of: (1) how enjoyable the biography was to read and (2) the biography’s historical value (including its comprehensive coverage and critical analysis of its subject).

Blue titles indicate Pulitzer Prize WINNERS. Blue italicized titles indicate Pulitzer Prize finalists.

This list was most recently updated October 9, 2016. If I’m missing a great presidential biography that you’ve read, please let me know!

George Washington:
Washington: A Life (2010) by Ron Chernow	REVIEW (5 stars)
Washington: The Indispensable Man (1974) by James Flexner	REVIEW (4 stars)
His Excellency: George Washington (2004) by Joseph Ellis	REVIEW (4 stars)
The Ascent of George Washington (2009) by John Ferling	REVIEW (3 stars)
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation (1993) by Richard Norton Smith	REVIEW (3 stars)
James Flexner’s four-volume series:
George Washington: The Forge of Experience 1732-1775 (1965)	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
George Washington in the American Revolution 1775-1783 (1967)	REVIEW (4½ stars)
George Washington and the New Nation 1783-1793 (1970)	REVIEW (4½ stars)
George Washington: Anguish and Farewell 1793-1799 (1972)	REVIEW (4½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of George Washington ***
Follow-Up:
Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman (Richard Harwell’s 1968 abridgment of Pulitzer Prize-winning 7-volume series)
George Washington: A Biography by Washington Irving (Charles Neider’s 1994 abridgment of 5-volume series)
John Adams:
John Adams: A Life (1992) by John Ferling	REVIEW (4¾ stars)
John Adams (2001) by David McCullough	REVIEW (4½ stars)
John Adams (1735-1826) (2 volumes) (1962) by Page Smith	REVIEW (4½ stars)
First Family: Abigail and John Adams (2010) by Joseph Ellis	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (2004) by John Ferling	REVIEW (4 stars)
Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams (1993) by Joseph Ellis	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
John Adams: Party of One (2005) by James Grant	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of John Adams ***
Thomas Jefferson:
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012) by Jon Meacham	REVIEW (4½ stars)
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (1996) by Joseph Ellis	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson (2008) by Alan Pell Crawford	REVIEW (4 stars)
Thomas Jefferson & The New Nation (1970) by Merrill Peterson	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Dumas Malone’s six-volume series:
Jefferson the Virginian (Vol 1) (1948)	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Jefferson and the Rights of Man (Vol 2) (1951)	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty (Vol 3) (1962)	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Jefferson the President: 1st Term (Vol 4) (1970)	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Jefferson the President: 2nd Term (Vol 5) (1974)	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Jefferson and His Time; The Sage of Monticello (Vol 6) (1977)	REVIEW (4 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Thomas Jefferson ***
Follow-Up:
Thomas Jefferson (2004) by R. B. Bernstein
Thomas Jefferson: A Life (1993) by Willard Sterne Randall
James Madison:
James Madison (2011) by Richard Brookhiser	REVIEW (4 stars)
Madison and Jefferson (2010) by Andrew Burstein	REVIEW (4 stars)
James Madison: A Biography (1971) by Ralph Ketcham	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
James Madison and the Making of America (2012) by Kevin Gutzman	REVIEW (3½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of James Madison ***
Follow-Up:
James Madison (author’s 1970 abridgment of his 6-volume series) by Irving Brant
Becoming Madison: The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father (2015) by Michael Signer
James Madison: A Life Reconsidered (2014) by Lynne Cheney
James Monroe:
James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (1971) by Harry Ammon	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe (2009) by Harlow Unger	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of James Monroe ***
John Quincy Adams:
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life (1997) by Paul Nagel	REVIEW (4 stars)
Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade (2008) by Joseph Wheelan	REVIEW (4 stars)
John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man (1972) by Marie Hecht	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
John Quincy Adams (2012) by Harlow Unger	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of John Quincy Adams ***
Follow-Up:
Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams (1849) by William H Seward
The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams (1986) by Leonard L. Richards
John Quincy Adams (1949/1956) by Samuel Flagg Bemis (2 volumes)
John Quincy Adams: American Visionary (2014) by Fred Kaplan
John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit (2016) by James Traub
Andrew Jackson:
The Life of Andrew Jackson (1988) by Robert Remini	REVIEW (4 stars)
The Life of Andrew Jackson (1938) by Marquis James	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (2008) by Jon Meacham	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (2005) by H.W. Brands	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Age of Jackson (1945) by Arthur Schlesinger	REVIEW (3 stars)
Robert Remini’s three-volume series:
Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire (Vol I) (1977)	REVIEW (4½ stars)
Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Freedom (Vol II) (1981)	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Democracy (Vol III) (1984)	REVIEW (4 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Andrew Jackson ***
Martin Van Buren:
Martin Van Buren and the American Political System (2004) by Donald Cole	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics (1983) by John Niven	REVIEW (2¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Martin Van Buren ***
William Henry Harrison:
Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer: William Henry Harrison (2007) by Robert Owens	REVIEW (4 stars)
Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time (1939) by Freeman Cleaves	REVIEW (3 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of William Henry Harrison ***
John Tyler:
John Tyler (2008) by Gary May	REVIEW (4 stars)
John Tyler: Champion of the Old South (1939) by Oliver Chitwood	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
John Tyler: The Accidental President (2006) by Edward Crapol	REVIEW (3½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of John Tyler ***
James Polk:
Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (2008) by Walter Borneman	REVIEW (4 stars)
A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk (2009) by Robert Merry	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse (1996) by Sam Haynes	REVIEW (3½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of James Polk ***
Follow-Up:
James K. Polk: A Political Biography (2 volumes) (1922) by Eugene McCormac
Zachary Taylor:
Zachary Taylor (2008) by John S. D. Eisenhower	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest (1985) by Jack Bauer	REVIEW (3 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Zachary Taylor ***
Follow-Up:
Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic (Vol 1) and Zachary Taylor: Soldier in the White House (Vol 2) (1951) by Holman Hamilton
Millard Fillmore:
Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President (1959) by Robert Rayback	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Millard Fillmore (2011) by Paul Finkelman	REVIEW (2½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Millard Fillmore ***
Follow-Up:
Millard Fillmore (2001) by Robert J. Scarry
Franklin Pierce:
Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire’s Favorite Son (2004) by Peter Wallner	REVIEW (4 stars)
Franklin Pierce (2010) by Michael Holt	REVIEW (4 stars)
Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union (2007) by Peter Wallner	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Franklin Pierce: Young Hickory of the Granite Hills (1931) by Roy Nichols	REVIEW (3½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Franklin Pierce ***
James Buchanan:
President James Buchanan: A Biography (1962) by Philip Klein	REVIEW (4 stars)
James Buchanan (2004) by Jean Baker	REVIEW (3½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of James Buchanan ***
Abraham Lincoln:
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005) by Doris Kearns Goodwin	REVIEW (4½ stars)
Abraham Lincoln: A Life (2 vols) (2008) by Michael Burlingame	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
A. Lincoln: A Biography (2009) by Ronald C. White Jr.	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Lincoln (1995) by David Herbert Donald	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (1952) by Benjamin Thomas	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
With Malice Toward None (1977) by Stephen Oates	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (1999) by Allen Guelzo	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief (2008) by James McPherson	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Abraham Lincoln (1916) by Lord Charnwood	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years (2 Vols) (1926) by Carl Sandburg	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years (4 Vols) (1939) by Carl Sandburg	REVIEW (3 stars)
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (2010) by Eric Foner	REVIEW (not rated)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Abraham Lincoln ***
Follow-Up:
Abraham Lincoln: A History (10 volumes) (1890) by John Hay and John Nicolay
Herndon’s Life of Lincoln (1888) by William Herndon, edited by Paul Angle
Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln (2014) by Richard Brookhiser
Father Lincoln: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and His Boys (2016) by Alan Manning
Andrew Johnson:
Impeached: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy (2009) by David Stewart	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Andrew Johnson: A Biography (1989) by Hans Trefousse	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Avenger Take His Place: Andrew Johnson and the 45 Days that Changed the Nation (2006) by Howard Means	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction (1960) by Eric McKitrick	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Andrew Johnson ***
Ulysses S. Grant:
Grant (2001) by Jean Edward Smith	REVIEW (4½ stars)
The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant In War and Peace (2012) by H.W. Brands	REVIEW (4 stars)
Ulysses S. Grant: Soldier & President (1997) by Geoffrey Perret	REVIEW (4 stars)
Ulysses S. Grant (2004) by Josiah Bunting	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Grant: A Biography (1981) by William McFeely	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity 1822-1865 (2000) by Brooks Simpson	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Ulysses S. Grant ***
Follow-Up:
“Lewis/Catton” series: Captain Sam Grant (1950) (Vol 1) by Lloyd Lewis, Grant Moves South (1960) by Bruce Catton, and Grant Takes Command (1969) by Bruce Catton
U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (2009) by Joan Waugh
American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant (2016) by Ronald C. White, Jr.
Rutherford B. Hayes:
Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President (1995) by Ari Hoogenboom	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Rutherford B. Hayes (2002) by Hans Trefousse	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Rutherford B. Hayes ***
Follow-Up:
Rutherford B. Hayes: And His America (1954) by Harry Barnard
Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876 (2003) by Roy Morris Jr.
James Garfield:
Garfield: A Biography (1978) by Allan Peskin	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Dark Horse: the Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield (2003) by Kenneth Ackerman	REVIEW (4 stars)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (2011) by Candice Millard	REVIEW (4 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of James Garfield ***
Follow-Up:
The Garfield Orbit (1978) by Margaret Leech
Chester Arthur:
Gentleman Boss: The Life and Times of Chester Alan Arthur (1975) by Thomas Reeves	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Chester Alan Arthur (2004) by Zachary Karabell	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Chester Arthur ***
Grover Cleveland:
Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character (2000) by Alyn Brodsky	REVIEW (4 stars)
An Honest President: The Life & Presidencies of Grover Cleveland (2000) by H. Paul Jeffers	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland (1988) by Richard E. Welch, Jr.	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage (1932) by Allan Nevins	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Bourbon Leader: Grover Cleveland and the Democratic Party (1957) by Horace Samuel Merrill	REVIEW (2¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Grover Cleveland ***
Benjamin Harrison:
The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison (1987) by Homer Socolofsky	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Benjamin Harrison (2005) by Charles Calhoun	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Harry J. Sievers’s three-volume series:
Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Warrior (Vol 1) (1952)	REVIEW (4 stars)
Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Statesman (Vol 2) (1959)	REVIEW (4 stars)
Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier President (Vol 3) (1968)	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Benjamin Harrison ***
William McKinley:
William McKinley and His America (1963) by H. Wayne Morgan	REVIEW (4 stars)
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror and Empire (2011) by Scott Miller	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
In the Days of McKinley (1959) by Margaret Leech	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
The Presidency of William McKinley (1980) by Lewis Gould	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of William McKinley ***
Theodore Roosevelt:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey (2005) by Candice Millard	REVIEW (4½ stars)
Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt (1961) by William Harbaugh	REVIEW (4 stars)
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism (2013) by Doris Kearns Goodwin	REVIEW (4 stars)
Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition by Jean Yarbrough (2012)	REVIEW (4 stars)
Mornings on Horseback (1981) by David McCullough	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
TR: The Last Romantic (1997) by H.W. Brands	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House (2005) by Patricia O’Toole	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Theodore Roosevelt: A Life (1992) by Nathan Miller	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (2002) by Kathleen Dalton	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography (1931) by Henry Pringle	REVIEW (3 stars)
The Republican Roosevelt (1954) by John Blum	REVIEW (not rated)
Edmund Morris’s three-volume series:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Vol I) (1979)	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Theodore Rex (Vol II) (2001)	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Colonel Roosevelt (Vol III) (2010)	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Theodore Roosevelt ***
William Taft:
The William Howard Taft Presidency (2009) by Lewis Gould	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
The Life and Times of William Howard Taft (2 vols) (1939) by Henry Pringle	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of William H. Taft ***
Woodrow Wilson:
Woodrow Wilson: A Biography (1991) by August Heckscher	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Wilson (2013) by A. Scott Berg	REVIEW (4 stars)
The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt (1983) by John Milton Cooper	REVIEW (4 stars)
Woodrow Wilson: A Biography (2009) by John Milton Cooper	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Woodrow Wilson: World Statesman (1987) by Kendrick Clements	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Woodrow Wilson (American Prophet and World Prophet) (1958) by Arthur Walworth	REVIEW (3 stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Woodrow Wilson ***
Follow-Up:
Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters (7 vols) (1927-39) by Ray Stannard Baker
Warren Harding:
Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series (2004) by John W. Dean	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration (1969) by Robert Murray	REVIEW (2¾ stars)
The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G Harding in His Times (1968) by Francis Russell	REVIEW (2¾ stars)
The Available Man: The Life Behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1965) by Andrew Sinclair	REVIEW (2½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Warren Harding ***
Follow-Up:
Incredible Era: The Life and Times of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1939) by Samuel H. Adams
Calvin Coolidge:
Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967) by Donald McCoy	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Calvin Coolidge: The Man From Vermont (1939) by Claude M. Fuess	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998) by Robert Sobel	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
Coolidge (2013) by Amity Shlaes	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Life of Calvin Coolidge (1924) by Horace Green	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
The Preparation of Calvin Coolidge (1924) by Robert A. Woods	REVIEW (3 stars)
A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938) by William Allen White	REVIEW (2¾ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Calvin Coolidge ***
Herbert Hoover:
Herbert Hoover: A Biography (1947) by Eugene Lyons	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
The Presidency of Herbert Hoover (1984) by Martin Fausold	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Herbert Hoover (2009) by William Leuchtenburg	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Herbert Hoover: A Public Life (1979) by David Burner	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Herbert Hoover ***
Follow-Up:
“An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover” (1984) by Richard Norton Smith
“Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency” (2016) by Charles Rappleye
“Herbert Hoover: A Life” (2016) by Glen Jeansonne
Six-volume “George Nash” series:
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914” (Vol 1) (1983) by George Nash
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Humanitarian, 1914-1917” (Vol 2) (1988) by G. Nash
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: Master of Emergencies, 1917-1918” (Vol 3) (1996) by G. Nash
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: Imperfect Visionary,1918-1928” (Vol 4) (2011) by K Clements
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: Fighting Quaker, 1928-1933” (Vol 5) (2012) by G. Jeansonne
“The Life of Herbert Hoover: Keeper of the Torch, 1933-1964” (Vol 6) (2013) by Gary Best
Franklin D. Roosevelt:
FDR (2007) by Jean Edward Smith	REVIEW (4½ stars)
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of FDR (2008) by H. W. Brands	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt (1994) by Doris Kearns Goodwin	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court (2010) by Jeff Shesol	REVIEW (4 stars)
Nothing to Fear: FDR’s Inner Circle and the 100 Days that Created Modern America (2009) by Adam Cohen	REVIEW (3¾ stars)
FDR: Champion of Freedom (2003) by Conrad Black	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (2006) by Jonathan Alter	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Eleanor & Franklin (1971) by Joseph Lash	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History (1948) by Robert Sherwood	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezvous with Destiny (1990) by Frank Freidel	REVIEW (3¼ stars)
FDR: A Biography (1985) by Ted Morgan	REVIEW (3 stars)
The Roosevelts: An American Saga (1994) by Peter Collier	REVIEW (3 stars)
James MacGregor Burns’s two-volume series:
Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox 1882-1940 (Vol 1) (1956)	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945 (Vol 2) (1970)	REVIEW (3½ stars)
Geoffrey Ward’s two-volume series:
Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt 1882-1905 (Vol 1) (1985)	REVIEW (4 stars)
A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, 1905-1928 (Vol 2) (1989)	REVIEW (4¼ stars)
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.’s three-volume series:
The Crisis of the Old Order (1919-1933) (Vol 1) (1957)	REVIEW (3 stars)
The Coming of the New Deal (1933-1935) (Vol 2) (1958)	REVIEW (3½ stars)
The Politics of Upheaval (1935-1936) (Vol 3) (1960)	REVIEW (2½ stars)
***SUMMARY REVIEW: The Best Biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt ***
Follow-Up:
“Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century” (2015) by Alonzo Hamby
“Franklin D. Roosevelt: Road to the New Deal, 1882-1939” (Vol 1) (2015) by Roger Daniels
“Franklin D. Roosevelt: The War Years, 1939-1945” (Vol 2) (2016) by Roger Daniels
Harry Truman:
Truman by David McCullough
Harry S. Truman by Robert Dallek
Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman by Alonzo Hamby
Harry S. Truman: A Life by Robert Ferrell
Dwight Eisenhower:
Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen Ambrose
Eisenhower In War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World by Evan Thomas
Ike & Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage by Jeffrey Frank
Eisenhower: Portrait of the Hero by Peter Lyon
Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton
Stephen Ambrose’s two-volume series:
Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect 1890-1952 (Vol 1)
Eisenhower: The President (Vol 2)
John F. Kennedy:
An Unfinished Life: JFK 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen
John F. Kennedy: A Biography by Michael O’Brien
A Thousand Days: JFK in the White House by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
President Kennedy: Profile of Power by Richard Reeves
JFK: Reckless Youth by Nigel Hamilton
Jack: A Life Like No Other by Geoffrey Perret
JFK’s Last Hundred Days by Thurston Clarke
A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy by Thomas C. Reeves
Kennedy: The Classic Biography by Theodore Sorensen
Herbert Parmet’s two-volume series:
Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy
JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson:
Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson by Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President by Robert Dallek
Robert Dallek’s two-volume series:
Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908-1960
Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1961-1973
Robert Caro’s Ongoing Series:
The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume I)
Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume II)
Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III)
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume IV)
Richard Nixon:
Richard Nixon: A Life in Full by Conrad Black
President Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves
Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise of An American Politician by Roger Morris
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein
One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream by Tom Wicker
Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas
Richard Nixon and His America by Herbert Parmet
Stephen Ambrose’s three-volume series:
Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 (Vol 1)
Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972 (Vol 2)
Nixon: Ruin & Recovery 1973-1990 (Vol 3)
Gerald Ford:
Time and Chance: Gerald Ford’s Appointment with History by James Cannon
Gerald R. Ford by Douglas Brinkley
Write it When I’m Gone by Thomas DeFrank
The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by John Robert Greene
Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life by James Cannon
James E. Carter:
The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Quest for Global Peace by Douglas Brinkley
Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency by Peter Bourne
Ronald Reagan:
Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader by Dinesh D’Souza
When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan by Peggy Noonan
Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan by Edmund Morris
The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism by Paul Kengor
Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years by Haynes Johnson
Reagan: The Life by H. W. Brands
Lou Cannon’s two-volume series:
Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power by Lou Cannon
President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime by Lou Cannon
Steven Hayward’s two-volume series:
The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order: 1964-1980 by Steven Hayward
The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 by Steven Hayward
George H. W. Bush:
Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham
George Bush: Life of a Lone Star Yankee by Herbert Parmet
William J. Clinton:
First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton by David Maraniss
Bill Clinton: New Gilded Age President by Patrick Maney
George W. Bush:
Bush by Jean Edward Smith
Barack Obama:
[pending]

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