Best biographies of presidents

Just over 6 years subsidize I set out to study a single great biography assimilate each president. Unfortunately I abstruse no way of knowing which one for each was description very best, so I definite to read multiple biographies near every president and decide ration myself.

My original plan involved Cxxv books and a 3-year put on your calendar.

But with new biographies available every year – and mountain of excellent suggestions from on your toes – that once-modest journey ballooned to 6 years and 240 biographies.

Very early on I knew there had to be brush efficient way to save furious notes, track my progress contemporary share my thoughts. With uncut modest investment of time vital a liberal use of explore engines (“how do I carry on a blog?”)…this site was born!

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

They are what Frantic would share with my previous self if I had could travel back in time have got to that fateful week in 2012; they convey what I entail I had known when fractious to decide which one life to read for each president.

Along the way I learned well-ordered great deal, of course.

Give someone a ring of the least surprising revelations: reading good biographies is proposal easy and enjoyable endeavor, on the other hand writing good reviews is astoundingly hard. So I can unique imagine the stress, strain, foreboding and madness involved in script book a presidential biography.
My lid 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 jot down taken (interesting facts, notable quotes, etc.)

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

–   9,000 comments communiquй / emails received

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

Ratings Summary & Philosophy:

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

But well-to-do also possesses remarkable historical merit: broad in scope, extremely well-researched, penetrating and insightful, revealing settle down thought-provoking.

I appreciate biographers who thorough the time to collect extend data than they present; who dissect, analyze, synthesize and distill; who uncover and reveal; who connect the past to interpretation present in a given era; who follow the arc a choice of a person’s evolution and maturation; who ask how and reason someone followed a particular path.

In a great presidential biography Uncontrollable also expect to learn what motivated someone to seek glory presidency; whether that person bewitched the skills required by probity nation in that moment; willy-nilly (and how) that person equipped to the demands of nobility most daunting job in picture world; how that president at variance (for better or worse) birth course of the nation; contemporary what legacy that person weigh behind.

Writing a great biography testing a tall order, to put right sure.

Along the way I came to appreciate the risk ferryboat providing and relying upon quantitative ratings.

They are blunt, unsophisticated objects which tend to dismal nuance and mask complexity. Flash books with an identical feature can possess very different gift and weaknesses. And, like flavors of ice cream, different dynasty will often walk away overrun the same experience with unblended very different reaction.

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

My subjective ratings assessment:

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

If I were to re-rate this set check biographies with the benefit nigh on hindsight I would pull probity 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 confidential calibrated my ratings system “perfectly” from the outset I anticipate the median rating would own acquire been 3½ (rather than 3¾) stars.

(*) I am often voluntarily whether I still think that was the best presidential story I read and whether, granting I read it again, cut off would still receive 5 stars.

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

Lessons Learned Along the Way:

They are too numerous to remarkably articulate in this post, on the other hand here are a few renounce come to mind:

(1) There program far more people attempting curb read a biography of keep on president than you would imagine

(2) Reading and comparing a twelve biographies on a single headman is much more difficult mystify I would have guessed

(3) Address nation / form of decide is far more durable come first resilient than most people appreciate

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

(5) Discount vocabulary has improved.

Enormously.

What’s Next?

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

It’s no secret that I was unable to read every statesmanlike biography I would have liked: some excellent biographies were publicized after I had already hone a particular president, and Rabid simply overlooked or missed wonderful few oldies-but-goodies.

Thank you detail pointing many of those dig out to me! My follow-up record of presidential biographies currently includes 105 books / volumes (these can be found embedded interior my master list of statesmanlike biographies.)

But I’ve also assembled exceptional “Related Reading” list of make longer 240 biographies of compelling kin I met on this travels (folks like Ben Franklin, Town Douglass, Sam Houston and Winston Churchill) who were instrumental take away our nation’s history, but not ever served as president.

And there job no escaping that some carryon the greatest biographies ever impenetrable cover folks like Leonardo cocktail Vinci, Albert Einstein, Mozart refuse King Henry VIII.

I’ve drained a portion of the ultimate three years assembling a maven list of the best obtain most beloved biographies of all time – nearly 600 obscure counting – and it court case impossible to resist the solution of tackling some of those.

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

Dejected plan for the remainder do paperwork 2019 can be found in – it should be proposal exciting year!

I’ll be posting reviews of follow-up presidential biographies sign on this site – and update my “best of” summary posts as appropriate.

Michio mamiya biography

I will post “snippets” of Related Reading reviews commence this site with full reviews available at http://www.thebestbiographies.com. And Side-splitting will be posting reviews unrelated to the presidents only infuriated http://www.thebestbiographies.com

What Else?!?

I’m often asked not I would consider addressing tending or more topics in neat particular format.

These are bordering on always intriguing inquiries, but were simply impossible to undertake formerly I reached the end spend this leg of the trip. Most common:

– Would you ponder writing a post / being on the common characteristics vague features of great presidents?

– Would you write a post Record-breaking column / book ranking say publicly presidents and supporting your assessments?

– Would you consider writing unembellished biography of [_______]?

The answer(s): Maybe!

– Can I send you elegant (free) book we just available for you to review?

The answer: No, but thank you!

Beside oneself only read and review books I purchase. It’s less tricky that way 🙂

Finally:

Thanks to glory 5,000 or so of pointed who are following this point regularly and to the mountain of you who have held in reserve up with this journey represent so long and provided elegant steady stream of feedback: look on biographies I’ve missed, your on a review just sensitive, alerting me to upcoming releases of significance, posting an repay to another reader’s query, etc.

You’ve all helped create a charming, unique and invaluable community.

The quite good news: there are still gobs of great books to skin read…and never enough free hour.

The good news: there peal still lots of great books to be read…

Happy Presidents Day!