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The 10 Best Presidential Biographies That Celebrate America's Political History

From the Founding Fathers to Barack Obama's journey to the White House.

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Most of us have a working knowledge of American history , but the best presidential biographies offer us the chance to expand our comprehension. Since George Washington became the first-ever president in 1789, the presidency has been a much-coveted role that only a handful of Americans have held. Unsurprisingly, many biographies exist regarding the most famous presidents of the United States, exploring everything from their contrasting upbringings to the trials and tribulations faced while in office.

From examinations of tense presidential runs to the politicians unexpectedly ascending to the highest office in the land, these presidential biographies offer unmitigated access to some of the world's most powerful individuals. These celebrated books explore topics such as crucial civil rights movements, the instigation of new laws, foreign policies, fierce opponents, huge success stories, and shocking scandals. Here, we round up 10 of the best presidential biographies you should add to your reading list right now.

Random House 'JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956' by Fredrik Logevall

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Fredrik Logevall attempts to uncover the secrets of John F. Kennedy's life, from his early years as a member of an esteemed Bostonian family to his election to the presidency. As well as examining some of Kennedy's most important political offerings, Logevall's book also seeks to understand the man behind the icon.

From the impact of World War II and the Cold War to the widespread influence the television had on a nation and its politics, this biography is a celebration of a popular man who was also somewhat of an enigma.

Random House 'American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant' by Ronald C. White Jr.

This award-winning biography of America's 18th president revisits the sometimes forgotten impact of Ulysses S. Grant during his tenure. Deeply researched over several years by author Ronald C. White Jr., American Ulysses explores the transformation of the former battlefield commander into a president who prioritized equal rights and challenged the federal government on numerous occasions.

From standing up to the Ku Klux Klan to changing governmental attitudes towards the indigenous people of the United States, Grant's service may get overlooked, but this book encourages readers to revisit his life in deserved detail.

Crown 'A Promised Land' by Barack Obama

As a successful author in his own right, former president Barack Obama continues to share his inimitable insight with readers. A Promised Land serves as the first volume of Obama's presidential memoirs, detailing the formation of his political beliefs as a young man through to the start of his historic presidency.

As the first Black president of the United States, Obama faced tough opposition alongside immense support, making his election a life-changing moment in history. Taking readers behind the scenes of his time at the White House, Promised Land is a fascinating firsthand account of taking on the role of POTUS.

Penguin Books 'Washington: A Life' by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow's prize-winning biography of America's first president is a celebration of the accomplished politician, taking readers from George Washington's early life through to his presidency. A plethora of historic moments punctuate Washington's tenure, such as the creation of Mount Vernon and the hosting of the Constitutional Convention.

Washington's important rise to power, along with his close relationships with fellow politicians Alexander Hamilton , John Adams , and Thomas Jefferson , all contributed to his momentous presidency, which Chernow explores in depth.

Simon & Schuster 'Lincoln' by David Herbert Donald

Historian David Herbert Donald holds two Pulitzer Prizes for his writing, making his biography of 16th President Abraham Lincoln a must-read. Presiding over a country polarized by the Civil War, Lincoln's impactful tenure included the abolition of slavery.

However, Donald doesn't gloss over Lincoln's negative attributes, challenging the president's sometimes outdated and offensive views while establishing the politician's lasting legacy in the United States. While many biographies about Lincoln exist, Donald's tome is often cited as the best.

Vintage 'Richard Nixon: The Life' by John A. Farrell

This best-selling biography explores the unbelievable sway Richard Nixon had on the nation after becoming president in 1969. Rather than glossing over any of Nixon's less favorable moments, biographer John A. Farrell explains why the politician made the decisions he did and how he finally ascended to power.

From prolonging wars to creating a Communism scare campaign, Nixon's legacy is complicated, ending with the Watergate scandal and his eventual resignation. Farrell's book takes readers on a journey to understand how the United States changed forever under Nixon.

Mariner Books 'The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World' by A. J. Baime

Following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman became the president of the United Status in 1945. As a result, Truman oversaw a tumultuous time in American history, which included the end of World War II, the inception of NATO, and the creation of the Truman Doctrine , opposing authoritarian regimes around the world.

A. J. Baime's book traverses the early days of Truman's presidency, revealing how a normal man from small-town America ended up holding the most important role in office.

Harper Perennial 'Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime' by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's Game Change takes riders on a rollercoaster ride through the 2008 election, which saw Barack Obama triumph over Hillary Clinton , John McCain , and Sarah Palin . After defeating Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Obama went all the way to the White House despite facing fierce opposition from McCain and his unlikely partner Palin.

The book is both a celebration of Obama's unexpected rise to greatness and an examination of a highly publicized political era that dominated the news cycle.

Simon & Schuster 'John Adams' by David McCullough

David McCullough's celebrated biography of John Adams served as the basis for HBO's miniseries about the founding father, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. The book tracks Adams' incredible rise to power, from his impressive Harvard education to his run as vice president before he took on the mantle as America's second president.

This volume encompasses moments from all of Adams' life, including his enviable marriage to Abigail Adams to the important decisions he made as the leader of the United States.

Random House 'Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power' by Jon Meacham

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jon Meacham gives readers a glimpse of the real Thomas Jefferson , who was both an amazing politician and a lover of architecture, gardening, and science. Using unpublished transcripts and archival records from the United States and beyond, Meacham builds a captivating portrait of the popular president.

While tracking Jefferson's impact on the economy and his handling of external threats, Meacham's book is a celebration of the president's life, which changed the course of American history.

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The Best Presidential Biographies For History Buffs

Dig into 46 top-notch biographies—one for each American president.

• Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The office of the American presidency is one of the most storied in history, equaling that of older monarchies in both richness and scope. For nearly 250 years, the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have inspired admiration, provoked outrage—and everything in between—both at home and abroad.

In light of the current political climate, we're interested in our nation's leaders more than ever. In these uncertain times, perhaps the best way to understand our future is to first understand our past—and how we got here. Whether you're a history buff or simply a curious reader, you can find valuable insight in the best presidential biographies. With their comprehensiveness and readability, they'll be the literary torchlights for your journey through history.

Related: The Best Biographies and Memoirs for Every Kind of Reader  

1) George Washington

By James Thomas Flexner

Flexner’s award-winning multivolume series humanizes a man who has reached almost mythic status in the American psyche. His nimble and dramatic prose paints a complex portrait of a novice who set the standard, a conflicted man of unshakeable purpose, who made his mark in history as few ever have.

2) John Adams

By David McCullough

McCullough has made a name for himself as an epic chronicler of great lives, and he lives up to his reputation in this magisterial biography of Adams, the Founding Father who could never quite escape the shadow of the man who preceded him. From his surprising role in the Boston Massacre to inaugurating the vice presidency, America’s second president had a first row seat to its birth and trial by fire, here told by McCullough with all the depth and sweep befitting.

3) Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

By Jon Meacham

Remembered as much for his philosophy as his politics, Jefferson is a fitting subject for the cerebrally-minded Meacham, who here weaves the story of a complicated polymath who Declared Independence and Purchased Louisiana, shaping his country in ways literal and figurative.

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4) James Madison

James Madison: A Life Reconsidered

By Lynne Cheney

The wife of former wartime VP Dick Cheney, Lynne observes the life of the first wartime president of what was now officially the United States of America. Briskly-paced and heavily researched, the author nimbly guides readers through Madison’s tumults and triumphs, from authoring the Constitution to seeing the White House burned down.

5) James Monroe

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness

By Harlow Giles Unger

As Monroe shepherded the United States through a period where it began to assert itself as a regional power, Unger shepherds his audience through this riveting account of a transitional phase in American history and the key founding figure who charted its new course.

6) John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams: American Visionary,

The son of John and Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams’ presidency might be of particular interest given our most recent election, as he was both America’s first Commander-in-Chief to run as part of a familial dynasty, and its first to win an election despite losing the popular vote. In this illuminating biography, Fred Kaplan reevaluates the life of this son of American royalty, making a case for why he was a more consequential president than often given credit for.

7) Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times

By H.W. Brands

Praised and reviled, but never ignored, Jackson was an American original, and Brands does him due service in this meticulously researched recounting of his life. From an orphanage to the Oval Office, from his battles with bankers to the Trail of Tears, Jackson and his outsized persona of a “tough guy” fighting on behalf of the common man against a “corrupt establishment” are as relevant today as they have ever been.

8) Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

By Ted Widmer

An early sign of Americans’ tendency to follow up two-term presidents with their opposites, Martin Van Buren was everything Andrew Jackson was not: polished, deliberate, multilingual and politically groomed. Clinton White House veteran Ted Widmer is an appropriate choice to look back on the life and career of this most accomplished of figures, who nonetheless found himself under siege from all sides once he reached the peak.

9) William Henry Harrison

Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time

By Freeman Cleaves

America’s shortest-serving president had a nonetheless fascinating life, done justice here by Freeman Cleaves. Running apolitically on his credentials as a war hero, Harrison helped set the modern template for a personally popular “non-ideological” figure to campaign for high office as a “problem solver.” His untimely death only a month into his term has rendered him somewhat of an enigma among presidents, and Cleaves explores this fertile ground with a historian’s eye and a writer’s flourish.

10) John Tyler

By Gary May

Dubbed “His Accidency” by his detractors in Congress, then-Vice President John Tyler became the first American to assume the presidency without ever being elected to that office, quickly seizing power amidst constitutional uncertainty. Noted secret government historian Gary May plumbs the depths of history to detail the hushed negotiations and go-it-alone diplomacy of this renegade president who circumvented congress in an effort to bring Texas into the Union.

11) James K. Polk

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America

By Walter R. Borneman

Few presidents have seen their political careers careen from low to high as often as Polk, who went from Speaker of the House to a twice-defeated gubernatorial candidate before ending up in the highest office in the land. Not often remembered in accordance with his impact, Borneman leaves no stone unturned in this revealing portrait of a man whose work culminated in sweeping victory in the Mexican-American War.

12) Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest

By K. Jack Bauer

Bauer delves deep into the mind of the enigmatic 12th president, who could confound those around him with positions that defied his origins. An anti-slavery southerner who nonetheless himself held slaves, Taylor vied to use the force of his war hero status to hold the Union together in a time of impending civil war, only be to felled by disease in the second year of his presidency.

13) Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President

By Robert J. Rayback

Fillmore was the last president to come out of the Whig Party, which, while having long since faded into history, was a major force in American politics for decades. Rayback deftly weaves together the life of President Fillmore, the party’s last contribution to America’s highest office, with the looming theme of political upheaval that gripped the country in the years before the Civil War.

14) Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire’s Favorite Son and Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union

By Peter A. Wallner

Even the worst of presidents can make for fascinating subject matter, and Pierce is frequently ranked near the bottom by presidential historians. In his two-volume biography Peter Wallner gamely makes an effort to rehabilitate his subject’s military career from longtime charges of cowardice, and he starkly illuminates the political circumstances and personal failures that Pierce struggled with as the nation drifted ever-further toward a rupture point.

15) James Buchanan

President James Buchanan: A Biography

By Philip S. Klein

Another poorly-ranked president is given his day in Philip Klein’s account of backroom dealings and proverbial smoke-filled rooms as he illustrates that Buchanan’s “political animal” nature blinded him to the necessity of turning down the heat in a culture war that was rapidly reaching a boil. Supporting the expansion of slave territory and the infamous Dredd Scott decision because he believed they helped his political brand, Buchanan’s quest for personal glory in his single term would visit fateful consequences upon his nation for decades to come.

16) Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln Reconsidered

By David Herbert Donald

From humble beginnings to Mount Rushmore, few lives are as quintessentially American as that of the 16th president. Amongst the countless books on Lincoln’s life, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Herbert Donald’s stands out for its sheer sweep – this is at once a grand historical epic and a personal tale of inspiration and tragedy. Readers will come away with an appreciation not just for Lincoln’s wartime leadership but for the struggles he endured at home, even as the very idea of the United States itself hung in the balance.

RELATED: 10 Civil War Books That Inform and Entertain  

17) Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

By Hans L. Trefousse

It is no coincidence that some of the worst-remembered presidents are those who immediately preceded and followed Honest Abe; standing next to a giant, anyone could look small. But Johnson holds the distinction of being one of only two American presidents to ever be impeached, andstep-by-step, Hans Trefousse lays out how the out-of-his-element Johnson was both overridden by Congress and overwhelmed by the job.

18) Ulysses S. Grant

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

By Ulysses Grant

A military memoir is a proper vehicle for a figure revered less for his presidency and more for his battlefield heroics. With this account of his time in the Mexican-American War and his successful leadership of the Union Army to victory in the Civil War, Grant shows himself to be a compelling writer in his own right. Crisp and to-the-point prose offers an inside look at battle strategy like few other sources, and Grant’s personal insights into each wars’ merits make for an intriguing read.

RELATED: True Stories About America's Military Heroes  

19) Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President

By Ari Hoogenboom

Hayes reasserted presidential power after Congress had taken charge during the two prior presidencies, and for this Ari Hoogenboom makes his case to reassert Hayes’ position in the presidential canon. Though often seen as ineffectual, Hoogenboom recontextualizes his subject’s accomplishments in light of how far the powers of the presidency had fallen, and compellingly relates Hayes’ personal push for progressive policies on a host of issues from public education to prison reform.

20) James A. Garfield

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

By Candice Millard

The title of this account of Garfield’s life conjures images of plot and intrigue in the mind of the reader. So it should, for Candice Millard has written a biography that often reads like a thriller, breathless as it is in retelling the story of a man who rose from poverty to prominence, only to be felled by an assassin’s bullet less than a year after his election. But the bullet itself is only part of the plot–Millard then leads us through a whirlwind of experimental treatments and medical malpractice, as the last days of the president’s life play out like an episode of ER.

21) Chester A. Arthur

Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur

By Thomas C. Reeves

Arthur’s presidency was memorable for its quiet confidence, and Arthur himself for vastly surpassing expectations. Thomas Reeves charts the court of a man of limited ambition who was suddenly thrust into power and had to sink or swim. Under his steady leadership the United States suffered no major crises, and upon his retirement he was lauded in a bipartisan way that is almost impossible to imagine today.

22) Grover Cleveland

The Forgotten Conservative: Rediscovering Grover Cleveland

By John Pafford

Most famous for being the only president to be elected on non-consecutive occasions, John Pafford’s work reminds us that Grover Cleveland was much more than a historical anomaly. Cleveland felt a strong calling to “try to do right,” and in his first term he took on political corruption and nepotism in a way many would say is sorely needed in modern America.

23) Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

By Charles W. Calhoun

Interrupting the presidencies of the popular Grover Cleveland (who actually defeated him in the popular vote), Benjamin Harrison was a political savant. Calhoun skillfully lays out how this grandson of America’s 9th president played the system like a fiddle, ousting the more popular Cleveland in an electoral college landslide, and then worked with congress to accomplish much in their limited time with Republican control, including passing the crucial Sherman Antitrust Act that established the baseline with which we break-up monopolies to this day.

24) Grover Cleveland

An Honest President: The Life and Times of Grover Cleveland

By H.P. Jeffers

Everything old was new again as Grover Cleveland reassumed the presidency after a four year absence. He picked up where he left off in his crusade for justice and honesty in political life, and it is this quality of integrity that H.P. Jeffers returns to again and again in this biography, which takes the more personal path of examining how Cleveland’s character shaped his presidency.

25) William McKinley

The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century

By Scott Miller

Miller’s expansive account of the 25th president’s life reads almost like a romance-era thriller. McKinley is both a swashbuckling figure, instigating and achieving sweeping victory for America in the Spanish American War, and a tragic one, cut down shortly after winning reelection. Miller weaves into this epic the story of his assassin, Leon Czolgosz, a large figure in his own right in anarchist history.

26) Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Series

By Edmund Morris

Selected in its entirety by the Modern Library as one of the Best 100 Nonfiction Books of All Time, Morris’ three-volume look at “Teddy’s” life is, like its subject, the stuff of legend. Combining the accuracy of a historical detective with the literary verve of a master dramatist, Morris cruises through the extraordinary life of this politician, progressive, adventurer, explorer and, of course, president.

27) William Howard Taft

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism

By Doris Kearns Goodwin

In the crowded field of presidential historians, Doris Kearns Goodwin is in a category all her own. Here she sets her subject’s presidency on not just his own terms, but as part of a titanic battle for the very soul of America, as Taft wages a brutal political war against his one-time friend Theodore Roosevelt. At issue was the widening wealth gap, corporate resistance to regulation, and a muckraking press. Readers need not be forgiven for seeing resemblances to their own time.

28) Woodrow Wilson

By A. Scott Berg

For this comprehensive look at one of the most consequential presidents America has ever seen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Berg was the first to gain access to many primary source documents related to Wilson’s life. Those documents help Berg take readers on a breathless ride through the birth of America as an international power, as Wilson guides the nation through the pivotal role it played in what was a war unlike any seen in human history to that point in time.

29) Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding

By John W. Dean and Arthur M. Schlesinger

This unique writing pair (Schlesinger a revered historian and public intellectual, Dean an infamous figure from the Watergate-era Nixon White House) combine to offer a clear and concise look at the breakdown of a president’s public image. Popular upon his death, Warren Harding’s reputation took a posthumous plummet when the tawdry details of both his political and private activities became public. Few know about such things at the presidential level as well as Dean.

30) Calvin Coolidge

By Amity Shlaes

Shlaes gives us an even-handed look at the controversial Coolidge. Viewed by some as an upstanding champion of up-by-your-bootstraps Americanism, and by others as a cold-hearted worshipper of capital; whichever side of the debate you may fall on (or if this is your first forage into it) Coolidge remains an intriguing figure, as Shlaes’ New York Times bestseller here proves.

31) Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency

By Charles Rappleye

A successful businessman who presided over the worst economic crisis in American history, Hoover is somewhat of an enigma. Charles Rappleye gamely dives into the life and mind of this complicated figure, who was both ambitious and timid, personally optimistic and publicly dour, and dismissed as “CEO” by American shareholders after only a single term.

32) Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox

By James MacGregor Burns

An epic presidency (Roosevelt remains the only man ever elected to the office more than twice; he won it four times) gets the epic treatment it deserves from James MacGregor Burns in this Pulitzer Prize-winning two-volume biography. 

From his beginnings on the New York political scene to his becoming the most consequential figure on earth during World War II, Burns paints an endlessly captivating portrait of Roosevelt the intellectual, inspirer, warrior and even humorist.

Related: 10 Thought-Provoking Books About Leadership

33) Harry S. Truman

A man as underestimated as perhaps any in American history, “Give ‘em Hell” Harry today gets his due from one of the foremost historians of our time. McCullough thrills his readers with all the trials and tribulations of a bookish man who found himself at the heart of so many epochal events it boggles the mind. The end of World War II, the decision to use the atomic bomb, McCarthyism, the Korean War – McCullough conducts this concert of history with the expertise of a true maestro.

34) Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower: A Life

By Paul Johnson

“I like Ike” was Dwight Eisenhower’s election slogan, and it remains an apt one for a president who has remained popular in the public mind over a half century after leaving office. In this succinct biography Paul Johnson hits all the major beats of Ike’s life, from his modest Kansas upbringing to the shores of Normandy Beach, all the way up to the gates of the White House itself.

35) John F. Kennedy

John Kennedy

First published before his election to the presidency, James MacGregor Burns’ biography of the ‘up and coming’ congressman from Massachusetts gets its spot on this list because of the uniquely personal relation of the author to his subject. Burns and Kennedy were close friends, and the president-to-be granted him unprecedented interviews and access to both himself and the entire Kennedy clan. JFK was and remains a celebritized figure in our national consciousness, and so it is worthy to look at the more personal side of him revealed to Burns here.

36) Lyndon Baines Johnson

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream

Goodwin makes a return to this list to chronicle the peaks and valleys of LBJ, to whom she was both a confidante and White House employee. She mines this relationship to offer frank insights into and eyewitness play-by-play of the life of a man whose domestic achievements of Medicare and the Civil/Votings Rights Acts were ultimately overshadowed by his failure in the Vietnam War, resulting in the almost unfathomable fall from winning one of the greatest landslide victories in presidential history to being drummed out of his own party’s primary race just four years later.

Being Nixon: A Man Divided

By Evan Thomas

This was the age of upheaval, and the political career of Richard Nixon waxed and waned with the times in true rollercoaster fashion. Thomas expertly guides us through Nixon’s early triumphs as Ike’s vice president through his nail-biting loss to JFK, from the misery of his defeat in a California gubernatorial bid to his shocking comeback to the presidency and landslide reelection, and finally, of course, to the most infamous moment of this remarkable life, as he becomes the first, and only president to ever resign from office.

RELATED: 8 Revealing Books About Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal  

38) Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life

By James Cannon and Scott Cannon

The stunning series of events that led Gerald Ford’s elevation to the presidency (the resignations of Vice President Agnew and then President Nixon) sets the stage for the Cannons’ attempt to rehabilitate the image of an “accidental president” often mocked for being in over his head. The authors make a compelling case that the humble and honest Ford was exactly the figure America needed to follow the deception and corruption of the Nixon years, even if Americans did not at the time realize it.

39) James Earl Carter

The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White House

By Douglas Brinkley

Renowned historian Douglas Brinkley gives a unique take on a unique figure. While most anyone would consider the American presidency the pinnacle of personal achievement, Brinkley makes the case that for Jimmy Carter the highest office in his country was but a stepping stone to his later work on behalf of causes and peoples all over the world. Utilizing the relationships he’d built in office allowed Carter to travel the world as a statesman and humanitarian in his long post-presidential life, advocating with faithful zeal on behalf of the many disenfranchised.

40) Ronald Wilson Reagan

Reagan: The Life

In both life and death Ronald Reagan was as much an avatar of his political movement as perhaps any president; to this day Republican presidential candidates go out of their way to compare themselves to “The Gipper” in all ways possible. Revered by many for his infectious optimism and Cold War warrior’s zeal, reviled by others for his administration’s multiple scandals and controversial economic practices, the actor-turned-president was a true American original, and Brands’ expansive account of his life will give interested readers all they could hope for.

RELATED: Step Inside the White House With These Entertaining Reads  

41) George H.W. Bush

Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush

For the man who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, and in the sands of Iraq, the first President Bush is today considered by many to be a historical footnote. Jon Meacham here makes the forceful case for a reevaluation of that conventional wisdom, as he draws on Bush’s personal diaries to paint a picture of a cerebral man who guided the nation through tumultuous times according to what he thought best for the country, even as it took its toll on his personal popularity.

42) William Jefferson Clinton

The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House

By John F. Harris

An apt title for the young man who found himself perpetually under siege from the day his presidency began, Harris’ appraisal of Bill Clinton’s life continually returns to the theme of survival. From losing the Arkansas governor’s mansion only to return, from his disastrous national debut at the 1988 DNC to his triumphant ascent to the presidency, from the ignominy of impeachment to leaving office with the highest approval ratings on record, Harris’ work offers an up close and personal view of a man who has inspired, frustrated and beguiled on his way to becoming one of the foremost figures of the modern era.

43) George W. Bush

Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House

By Peter Baker

Baker’s choice to feature Dick Cheney so prominently in both his title and his book on the years of “Dubya” is a fitting one, for few presidents have been so inextricably tied to their junior partners. However, Baker goes far beyond the simple explanation of Bush as Cheney’s puppet; rather, through hundreds of interviews and previously unreleased memos, he arrests our attention with the story of a friendship gone awry, from the president’s admiration of Cheney’s hard-nosed tactics that helped him eke out the closest election in American history to his disgust in their final years as one of the most disliked White House tandems the country has ever seen.

44) Barack Obama

The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama

By David Remnick

Any biography of the nation’s first African American president must address not only the life of its endlessly fascinating subject, but perform on-the-fly contextualization of the historical significance of something so fresh in our minds. Remnick clearly relishes the challenge, and his bestselling account of Obama’s life and task dovetails beautifully with an exploration of how America’s disgraceful past on the issue of race explosively gave way to its crowning achievement.

Related: The Barack Obama Reading List  

45) Donald Trump

TrumpNation

By Timothy L. O'Brien

How prescient O’Brien’s title was, as we found ourselves at this strange point in history where it was indeed Donald Trump’s America. True to form, after granting the author dozens of hours of interviews and traveling privileges, Trump then turned around and unsuccessfully sued O’Brien, claiming the author misrepresented his wealth as smaller than it “bigly” was. (Years later, Trump's leaked tax reforms would vindicate O'Brien's depiction of Trump's finances.) 

Likewise true to form, the president himself makes perhaps the best case for reading O’Brien’s book: he doesn’t want you to read it.

46) Joseph Biden

Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now

By Evan Osnos

National Book Award-winner Evan Osnos published this biography of President Joe Biden less than a week before Election Day 2020. At just 193 pages, the biography is surprisingly concise. But by blending interviews with both Biden and contemporary figures who know him best, including Barack Obama, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg, Osnos paints a picture of what the Biden presidency might look like—and why he may be exactly who this country needs right now.

Related: What Are Joe Biden's Favorite Books?

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44 Presidential Biographies to Add to Your Reading List

Ready to dive into history and learn more about the forty-four men who have ruled over these United (and sometimes not-so-united) States? Check out these definitive presidential biographies.

Kate Scott is a bookstagrammer and strategic web designer serving women business owners and creative entrepreneurs. Follow her on Instagram @ parchmentgirl and visit her website at katescott.co/books .

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Ready to dive into history and learn more about the forty-four men who led these United (and sometimes not-so-united) States? Check out these definitive presidential biographies!

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow— Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, this nearly one thousand–page tome is the definitive biography of America’s first president.

John Adams by David McCullough— Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, this is one of my favorite presidential biographies because it has the rare combination of stellar historical research and beautiful, evocative writing.

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham— This #1 New York Times bestseller explores Jefferson’s life through a political lens and offers a balanced view of the founding father’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger— At four hundred pages, this book offers an approachable introduction to America’s last—and oft-overlooked—founding father.

The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics by William J. Cooper— This new biography argues that John Adams’s less famous son has been sidelined by history and should be honored as a founding father alongside his predecessors.

Martin Van Buren and the American Political System by Donald B. Cole — This book provides an excellent introduction to the president you’d never heard of until that funny Google commercial came along.

Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy by Robert M. Owens— This book focuses on Harrison’s role in shaping America’s westward expansion and federal Indian policy in the Old Northwest.

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman— This book offers a fascinating overview of Polk’s role in the westward expansion of America: wresting control of California and much of the southwest from Mexico, bringing Texas into the Union, and liberating most of Oregon from Britain’s grasp.

Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest by K. Jack Bauer— This biography explores the contradictory nature of America’s twelfth president.

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt— This book offers a concise overview of the troubled presidency of Franklin Pierce and posits that the fourteenth president placed party over politics to the detriment of the nation.

President James Buchanan: A Biography by Philip S. Klein— This short biography explores the life of the man who all but ensured the ignition of the Civil War and has been consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents in American history.

Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy by David O. Stewart— This book details the impeachment of Lincoln’s successor and the chaos of post-Civil War politics.

Grant by Ron Chernow— This outstanding #1 New York Times bestselling biography argues that Grant has been unfairly judged by history and was far more complex than we give him credit for.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard— This book chronicles James Garfield’s rise from poverty to the presidency and details the dramatic history of his assassination and legacy.

Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur by Thomas C. Reeves— This book recounts the life, early career as a lawyer and civil servant, and administration of the twenty-first president.

Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun— This succinct biography offers an overview of the younger Harrison’s life as a leading Indiana lawyer, Lincoln campaigner, senator, and president.

President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry— This book contends that McKinley’s considerable achievements were overshadowed by his successor, Theodore Roosevelt, and seeks to restore his place in the presidential pantheon.

The William Howard Taft Presidency by Lewis L. Gould— This book offers a provocative analysis of Taft’s successes and failures in office and presents a compelling picture of the only president to later serve as a chief justice.

Wilson by A. Scott Berg— This compelling biography offers one of the most personal portraits of Woodrow Wilson, thanks to the author’s access to two recently-discovered caches of papers written by people close to the president.

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes— This New York Times bestselling biography chronicles the unlikely ascent of a small town New England youth to the presidency and offers a compelling portrait of the man who restored trust in Washington following the disastrous Harding administration.

Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency by Charles Rappleye— The result of detailed research, this this book argues that Hoover is not quite the passive president he is often portrayed as.

Truman by David McCullough— Another of David McCullough’s renowned presidential biographies, this book offers a nuanced portrait of the president who oversaw the conclusion of World War II and the Korean War.

Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith— In this definitive biography, Smith provides new insight into Ike’s apprenticeship under General MacArthur, his wartime affair with Kay Summersby, and the 1952 Republican convention that catapulted him into the White house.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President by Robert Dallek— Originally a two-volume biography, this book has been condensed into a more readable four hundred pages of insightful analysis of Johnson’s presidency.

Richard Nixon: A Life by John A. Farrell— This uncompromising biography of America’s darkest president explores the many twists and turns that found Nixon at the point of impeachment.

Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter by Randall Balmer— This fascinating book places Carter’s politics in the context of his faith and documents how he challenged the conventional marriage of Evangelical Christianity with conservative politics.

Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power by Lou Cannon— This is the first in a two-volume biography. The second volume is President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime .

The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House by John F. Harris— The author of this biography covered Clinton for the Washington Post for six of his eight years in office, giving him unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the Clinton White House.

Bush by Jean Edward Smith— This book offers a well-rounded look at the younger Bush’s presidency and documents how the president’s tendency to ignore his advisers led to some disastrous decisions.

The Making of Donald Trump by David Cay Johnston— This biography by a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist starts with Trump’s family origins and takes readers all the way up to the White House, detailing his long history of racism, mafia ties, shady business dealings, and ties to Russia.

Tell me about the best presidential biographies you’ve read in the comments!

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Jeremy Anderberg • February 14, 2021 • Last updated: June 4, 2021

The 10 Best Biographies of American Presidents

In 2017, I embarked on a project of reading a biography of every American president. Forty-five men and over 25,000 pages later, I finally finished just before Joe Biden assumed the helm. It wasn’t an easy task, and certainly sometimes dull (especially through long parts of the 1800s), but always intriguing and unendingly fascinating. 

As with all biographies, the books were full of life lessons. Though these presidents attained the highest office in the land, they also dealt with obstacles and issues that are universal to the human condition — upbringings that were more or less loving, weighty decisions and crossroads, death and sickness, love and betrayal. They all had personal idiosyncrasies that aided or hindered their rise, and allowed them to do better and worse jobs while in office. The power they held really only amplified and brought into relief the potential and pitfalls we all share, and I found plenty of takeaways from their lives (and highlighted one in particular for each president on my Instagram page ).

At the same time, the biographies also, of course, broadened and enriched my understanding of the course of American history in general, and of the ups, downs, and evolution of this country’s politics in particular. Because of my reading, I’m better able to place the crazy political climate of today into context . 

Though I personally found my reading project a real boon, I doubt there are many who have quite the same appetite for presidential biographies. And that’s quite alright, as you can garner much of the same benefit by reading just a fraction of these books. If you’re interested in reading about the presidency and the remarkable characters who’ve held the office — if you’d like to gain a deeper understanding of our nation and how we got to here — below I present my 10 favorite POTUS biographies. 

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

There have been thousands of books published about George Washington, the first appearing nearly right away after his passing in 1799. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of award-worthy titles and series, including Douglas Southall Freeman’s 7-volume set from the 1950s and James Flexner’s 4-volume treatment which came about a decade later. (Each also has a single-volume abridgement!) So where do you possibly start with the man who set the most important precedents for the office of President of the United States? 

For the modern reader, there’s no doubt that Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life is where to turn. While Chernow’s books are long and admittedly intimidating (and aren’t exactly easy reads), he’s indisputably a master storyteller who has a knack for cracking the inner psyche of his characters better than nearly any biographer I’ve encountered. Washington inevitably retains some of his stone-like stature, but Chernow chips away at it better than most in order to reveal the human being inside. Washington: A Life is an incredibly rewarding read which will leave you certain that George Washignton was the perfect man to be America’s first president.  

American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis  

Thomas Jefferson has become the poster boy of public opinion’s changing tides in regards to the Founding Fathers. For nearly 200 years he was revered without reservation; but as his relationship with his slaves came to light in the last couple decades, Jefferson has swung the other way almost towards villainy. So which is it, hero or scoundrel? To read any biography of our third president is to understand what an enigma he was; even historians who have spent their careers studying the man have ultimately found him to be, as Merrill Peterson puts it, “impenetrable.” 

Suffice it to say, modern readers have no shortage of options for digging into Thomas Jefferson’s life. I began with Jon Meacham’s The Art of Power , which was a very good place to start. I also found our third president “impenetrable,” though, and so continued on to Joseph Ellis’ fascinating and enlightening American Sphinx . Less a cradle-to-grave biography than a series of essay-like chapters on Jefferson’s life, this book gets at the heart of what has made the man so appealing and, as of late, so pilloried. Inside its pages, you’ll find treasures about character, independence, and America’s contradictory founding legacy. 

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald 

How does someone possibly pick a single book to study up on the most written about man in American history? It’s a tall task, to be sure. Estimates put the number of published books about him at around 16,000, with more and more hitting shelves each year. From dual biographies (of, say, Lincoln and John Brown , or Lincoln and Frederick Douglass ), to his frontier boyhood, to his parenting, and even to his specific speeches, you can find books on just about any aspect of Lincoln’s life and presidency. 

The job of picking a biography among this trove is actually made a little easier when you focus on cradle-to-grave biographies and not those that narrow in on a single element. If you’re looking for a one-volume option, there’s a general consensus among both readers and historians that David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln or Ronald White’s A. Lincoln are where to turn. I read Donald’s work and immensely enjoyed it. Given the enormity of the man, the book’s 600 pages seemed to go by in a flash, and every period of Lincoln’s life is given the proper space — some give too much time to his youth; some give too much to the war years; Donald nailed a perfect balance. 

If a really deep dive is what you’re after, Michael Burlingame’s two-volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life will keep you busy for a while, as will Sidney Blumenthal’s series — of which three of a proposed five volumes are currently done. 

Grant by Ron Chernow

Though ignored and written off for a long time as a bad president, Civil War general-turned-politician Ulysses S. Grant has been re-invigorated in a handful of major biographies in the last decade or so. While there are a number of quality options, Ron Chernow’s epic, 1,000-page Grant is impossible to beat. The best biographies are those that not only reveal their subject, for both good and bad, but also provide a moving and even inspiring reading experience. Grant does that in spades. 

The psychological penetration that Chernow achieves is eye-opening and often rousing. A number of biographers have captured the war years quite well — it was a dramatic period that just isn’t too hard to make exciting and evocative. The real trick is to capture Grant’s eight years as president with the same verve, which the master historian undoubtedly does. As with the other Chernow title on this list, it will take some dedication, but the effort is well worth it. Grant , in my opinion, is Chernow’s best book.  

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris  

America’s most charismatic president has been written about extensively and unendingly since the day he died. It takes a talented writer to fully capture Roosevelt’s energy and vitality — something that only a handful of historians have really done. For the complete picture, you simply cannot beat Edmund Morris’ epic and stirring trilogy: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and Colonel Roosevelt . 

In a Top 10 article, however, I didn’t want to officially take up three spots with the trilogy, so I picked the first volume, which details Roosevelt’s path up until the day he became president (a shorter path than any other president; he remains our youngest POTUS). From the very beginning, Morris captures the reader’s attention and brings us breathlessly along from TR’s aristocratic upbringing and meteoric rise in politics, to the heartbreaking loss of his first wife and subsequent time in the literal wilderness, and back again to Washington, DC as a politician with some serious life experience. You could read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on its own and get a fuller picture of the man than a lot of one-volume cradle-to-grave bios would offer. And I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be sucked in enough to read the other two volumes.   

It’s worth noting that Candice Millard also captures the strenuosity of Roosevelt in documenting his post-presidency travels to South America in her thrilling book, River of Doubt .   

Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin  

I came to have quite a soft spot for our 27th president, William Howard Taft, after reading about him in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit . Theodore Roosevelt actually gets top billing in the subtitle of this book, but I imagine that has more to do with the publishing marketing machine than the content of the book, which is more about Taft and his relationship with TR. It certainly functions quite well as a biography of Big Bill. 

As Doris Kearns Goodwin often does, she weaves in a number of tangential plot threads, but always comes back to the tender-turned-fraught relationship between TR and Taft. It’s a wonderful read with a compelling narrative and a number of inspiring takeaways. I’m glad Goodwin chose to give William Howard Taft the spotlight here; hardly any other biographers or historians have. 

The Accidental President by AJ Baime

Though David McCullough’s Truman is often cited as one of the great presidential biographies (which it is!), AJ Baime’s more efficient volume is actually the POTUS bio I recommend most to average readers. Distilled into 360 jam-packed pages of inspiring leadership and unbreakable character, Baime shows us that Truman was one of the truly decent men to have held the office of President of the United States. 

Spending the entire first chapter on April 12, 1945 — the day FDR died and Truman became president — Baime sets the scene for how out of his depth the Missouran really was. The reader then gets a bit about Truman’s beginnings, before embarking on the bulk of the book, which focuses on the spring and summer months of 1945 as WWII approached its end on both the European and Pacific fronts. You’ll most certainly come away from The Accidental President with a greater appreciation of who Harry S. Truman really was. 

An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek

With John Fitzgerald at the center of the Kennedy universe, nearly every member of the family has been studied and written about a number of times — grandparents, parents, children, and all eight of his siblings. The books about them could fill entire shops. Perhaps surprisingly, though, comprehensive biographies of John himself are somewhat of a rarity. A number have been started and abandoned due to uncooperative surviving family members (Jean Kennedy, the final living sibling, died just last year), unclassified top secret documents (much of his presidency, and especially his death, was shrouded in secrecy), and his famously impenetrable inner psyche. 

Robert Dallek penned what I believe to be by far the best treatment of JFK with An Unfinished Life . While unsparing in detailing the flaws of Kennedy’s personal life, Dallek unveiled for the first time the depth of his debilitating medical problems and also offered a well-balanced and dramatic account of his 1,000 days as president. 

One more book worth mentioning in regard to JFK: William Manchester, famed biographer of Winston Churchill, wrote an oft-overlooked account of his death in 1967’s The Death of a President . It doesn’t get the same attention as Manchester’s other books, but is just as expertly written.  

Master of the Senate by Robert Caro

When it comes to the art of presidential biography, there is Robert Caro and there is everyone else. After writing his first (and now classic) biography on New Yorker Robert Moses 50 years ago, Caro has dedicated the decades since to studying the mechanics of power through the inimitable character of Lyndon B. Johnson. 

Through four volumes and more than a few thousand pages , Caro profiles not only Johnson, but also the major characters who surrounded his life and political rise, and even the hardscrabble Texas landscape itself. The best of the series (so far) is a title that can be read on its own: Master of the Senate . This third volume details the years between 1948 and 1957, when Johnson displayed a mastery of the United States Senate not seen before or since. It’s not an easy book to get through, but the prose is often jaw-droppingly good and I can guarantee it’ll be among the more memorable reading experiences of your lifetime. 

Amazingly, Caro has yet to finish his epic series. He’s hard at work on the fifth and final volume, which means that readers only get through Johnson’s first year or so of the presidency. To get the full life in a single volume, Randall Woods’ LBJ is very good. 

Richard Nixon: The Life by John Farrell  

Humans love to not only study and learn from failure, but gawk at it too. Given Nixon’s place in the pantheon of disgraced presidents, there’s been a lot of books about the man. The true task of any Nixon biographer goes beyond presenting the unflinching truth (and uncovering the question of why he did what he did), but also in providing context from his boyhood, innate personality, and learned behaviors to not necessarily inspire sympathy, but at least understanding. No man is one-dimensional, Richard Nixon included. 

The biographer who unveils the true man best, in my opinion, is John Farrell in Richard Nixon: The Life . The narrative is remarkably readable and penetrative; there were, no doubt, clues throughout Nixon’s life that he would be a gifted politician but also a nefarious one, willing to do just about anything in order to win. Farrell certainly doesn’t explain away Nixon’s failures, but he does provide the nuance needed to come away from the book with a more complete picture of our 37th president. Plus, the Watergate drama makes for flat-out gripping reading. 

Keep up with all my presidential reading (and other reading, too) by subscribing to my weekly books newsletter . Coming soon is a roundup of all the bios I read for this project over the last few years. 

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What To Read

11 best presidential biographies to read in 2023.

Between Presidents' Day and the news of former president Jimmy Carter entering hospice care at age 98, this has been a week for reflection on the legacies of some of the most impactful leaders in U.S. history. Here are 11 of the best presidential biographies that stand the test of time.

1. His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life

By jonathan alter.

While Carter has long been cast as an ineffective president, he has inspired admiration for decades for his public service after leaving office. Jonathan Alter's 2020 biography of the enigmatic former president shines light on a complicated and often poorly understood man and his legacy.

The book has received endorsements from noted journalists such as Dan Rather, who declared it "the definitive biography" on Carter, and the New York Times ' Peter Baker, who called it "a vivid three-dimensional portrait that explores his virtues and flaws with great insight." Book critic Michael Schaub praised the book for reflecting Carter "as a real person, as flawed as anyone else, and not as a saint," and said: "It's a book that's bound to fascinate anyone with an interest in American history."

by David McCullough

This 1992 biography of the 33rd president won the celebrated popular historian his first of two Pulitzer Prizes. (The second came less than a decade later for his biography of John Adams.) Harvard professor Robert N. Stavins called Truman "a remarkable book about an ordinary man who did great things."

3. First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton

By david maraniss.

Almost everything you need to know about the Clinton presidency can be found in this 1995 title by journalist David Maraniss, according to NPR's Kitty Eisele, who called it "a character study par excellence." A true authority on #42, Maraniss won a Pulitzer for his reporting on then-presidential candidate Clinton only three years earlier.

4. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

By joseph j. ellis.

In his 1997 review for The New York Times , Brent Staples described American Sphinx as "fresh and uncluttered but rich in historical context" and praised Ellis for his clear, nuanced, and hyperbole-free writing. The judging panel of the National Book Foundation agreed, and the book eventually took home the highly coveted award in the nonfiction category.

5. Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson III

By robert a. caro.

Book three in this colossal four-part biography of the 36th president won Caro both a Pulitzer and the National Book Award. Journalist Ronald Brownstein, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist himself for his reporting on presidential campaigns, called Caro's classic "the best non-fiction book about modern U.S. politics." At age 87, the author is still working on the last volume of his Johnson biography.

6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

By doris kearns goodwin.

Bill Gates named this one of his five favorite books, calling it "the best guide to leading a country." The book "feels especially relevant now, when our country is once again facing violent insurrection, difficult questions about race, and deep ideological divides," he said. "Goodwin is one of America’s best biographers, and Team of Rivals is arguably her masterpiece."

7. Washington: A Life

By ron chernow.

Another prolific biographer of American historical figures, Chernow won the National Book Award in 1990 for his book on the Morgan financial dynasty and has also written acclaimed biographies of John D. Rockefeller , Alexander Hamilton and Ulysses S. Grant , among others. But it is the author's 2010 biography of the nation's first president, which won him both a Pulitzer and the American History Book Prize, that stands out.

Writing for Esquire , literary critic Adam Morgan named it one of the 50 best biographies of all time and said : "Chernow will change your impression of Washington from a boring, frowning statesman to something like an 18th-century punk rocker who liked to dance with women and hunt foxes, all while pulling no punches when it comes to Washington’s military failures and ownership of slaves."

8. John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit

By james traub.

As the son of John and Abigail Adams, John Quincy was born a son of the revolution. With that distinction also came the expectation that he would one day follow in his father's footsteps and ascend to the presidency. Lucky for author James Traub (and all lovers of American history), Adams kept a journal for nearly all his life, and the 14,000-page document serves as the backbone of this unique biography. The journal naturally provides a fascinating glimpse into Adams' political career, but perhaps more notably it provides readers with one of the most intimate portraits of a president's inner life.

Critic Thomas Filbin praised the author for taking full advantage of the terrific source, writing : "Traub has admirably captured the man inside the public figure, giving us a view of a typical New England grandee, puritanical at his core, molded as a traditionalist republican with no love for pure democracy."

9. Richard Nixon: The Life

By john a. farrell.

Farrell's 2017 biography of the disgraced 37th president was a finalist for the Pulitzer and the winner of several prizes in history writing. In a review for NPR, author Jason Heller praised the book for bringing the "dichotomy between brooding schemer and extroverted leader [that] has long defined the Nixon dynamic... into the most vivid — and the most startling — relief to date." Journalist John Harwood provided glowing praise on Twitter , writing: "It's hard to say emphatically enough how good Jack Farrell's Nixon biography is - in its literary style, scholarship, and analytical acuity... just terrific."

10. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle

By jon meacham.

Another Lincoln book? We know, but we would be remiss not to include this latest effort by one of the great presidential biographers of recent decades. Meacham has previously published biographies on Thomas Jefferson , Franklin D. Roosevelt , Andrew Jackson (for which he won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize) and George H.W. Bush , but his latest book on the 16th, and arguably most consequential American president looks to be at least as good as anything he's written up to this point.

Retired general and current political commentator Barry R. McCaffrey offered this praise : "Just finished Jon Meacham’s magnificent biography of President Lincoln. A brilliant work of great importance. The most important figure in American history. Great wisdom. A political unifier. A man of enormous personal moral courage. The kindest of all men."

11. Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

By maggie haberman.

For those with a penchant for masochism, journalist Caspar Henderson says that reading this book "brings all the joy of reliving one of your worst nightmares in painstaking and excruciating detail." We know, we are tired of the Trump books, too. But if you do feel the need to pick up one book about our most recent former president, this is the one that will go down in history, given the author's front-row seat to the action during the Trump era.

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What are some recommended biographies of US Presidents?

After the recent election I decided to set myself a personal goal to try and read a biography on each of the US Presidents and am looking for recommendations on authors/books to check out.

Currently I'm reading Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington. I'm only 100 pages in but it is definitely thorough and would like to find other biographies that tell not only of their time as President, but also their life leading up to the Presidency.

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10 Best Presidential Biographies

Presidential biographies are a fascinating way to learn about the people who have held the highest office in the United States. From the struggles they faced to the decisions they made, presidential biographies offer insights into the minds of some of the most influential figures in American history. With so many biographies available, it can be challenging to know where to start. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the best presidential biographies to help you begin your journey.

1. “Washington: A Life” by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow’s “Washington: A Life” is a comprehensive biography of the nation’s first president. In this book, Chernow offers readers an in-depth look at Washington’s life, from his childhood in Virginia to his role as commander-in-chief during the Revolutionary War to his presidency. The book is well-researched and beautifully written, making it a must-read for anyone interested in American history.

2. “John Adams” by David McCullough

David McCullough’s “John Adams” is another excellent presidential biography. The book offers readers an inside look at the life of the second president of the United States, including his role in the American Revolution and his presidency. McCullough’s writing is engaging and informative, making “John Adams” an enjoyable read for anyone interested in American history.

3. “Truman” by David McCullough

David McCullough’s “Truman” is a comprehensive biography of the 33rd president of the United States. The book offers readers a detailed look at Truman’s life, including his role in World War II and his presidency. McCullough’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “Truman” a must-read for anyone interested in American history.

4. “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” by Edmund Morris

Edmund Morris’s “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” is a fascinating look at the life of the 26th president of the United States. The book offers readers an inside look at Roosevelt’s childhood, his time as a rancher in the West, and his political career. Morris’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

5. “Theodore Rex” by Edmund Morris

Edmund Morris’s “Theodore Rex” is a continuation of his biography of Roosevelt, covering his time as president. The book offers readers an inside look at Roosevelt’s presidency, including his role in the Panama Canal and his conservation efforts. Morris’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “Theodore Rex” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

6. “Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life” by Robert Dallek

Robert Dallek’s “Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life” is a comprehensive biography of the 32nd president of the United States. The book offers readers an inside look at Roosevelt’s life, including his role in the New Deal and his presidency during World War II. Dallek’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

7.”No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II” by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “No Ordinary Time” offers readers an inside look at the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II. The book offers insights into the couple’s relationship, their roles in the war effort, and the challenges they faced during this time. Goodwin’s writing is engaging and informative, making “No Ordinary Time” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

8. “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” by Jon Me

Jon Meacham’s “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” is a comprehensive biography of the third president of the United States. The book offers readers an in-depth look at Jefferson’s life, including his role in the American Revolution, his presidency, and his personal life. Meacham’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

9. “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals” offers readers an inside look at the life of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The book focuses on Lincoln’s leadership style and his ability to bring together a team of political rivals to work together during the Civil War. Goodwin’s writing is engaging and informative, making “Team of Rivals” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

10. “Grant” by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow’s “Grant” is a comprehensive biography of the 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. The book offers readers an in-depth look at Grant’s life, including his role in the Civil War and his presidency. Chernow’s writing style is engaging and informative, making “Grant” an excellent read for anyone interested in American history.

In conclusion, presidential biographies offer readers a fascinating look at the lives of some of the most influential figures in American history. From Washington to Lincoln to Roosevelt, these biographies offer insights into the challenges these leaders faced and the decisions they made. Whether you’re a history buff or just looking for a good read, these presidential biographies are sure to captivate and inform.

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The 10 Best Books on President George Washington

Essential books on george washington.

There are countless books on George Washington, and it comes with good reason, beyond serving as America’s first President (1789-1797), he was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

“There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature,” he believed. “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”

In order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of history’s most consequential figures to the heights of societal contribution, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best books on George Washington.

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation and the first president of the United States. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume biography of George Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his adventurous early years, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America’s first president.

Washington’s Revolution: The Making of America’s First Leader by Robert Middlekauff

Focusing on Washington’s early years, Bancroft Prize winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Middlekauff penetrates his mystique, revealing his all-too-human fears, values, and passions. Rich in psychological detail regarding Washington’s temperament, idiosyncrasies, and experiences, this book shows a self-conscious Washington who grew in confidence and experience as a young soldier, businessman, and Virginia gentleman, and who was transformed into a patriot by the revolutionary ferment of the 1760s and ’70s.

Middlekauff makes clear that Washington was at the heart of not just the revolution’s course and outcome but also the success of the nation it produced. This vivid, insightful new account of the formative years that shaped a callow George Washington into an extraordinary leader is an indispensable book for truly understanding one of America’s great figures.

The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789 by Edward Larson

After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked the world: he retired. In December 1783, General Washington, the most powerful man in the country, stepped down as Commander in Chief and returned to private life at Mount Vernon. Yet as Washington contentedly grew his estate, the fledgling American experiment floundered. Under the Articles of Confederation, the weak central government was unable to raise revenue to pay its debts or reach a consensus on national policy.

The states bickered and grew apart. When a Constitutional Convention was established to address these problems, its chances of success were slim. Jefferson, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers realized that only one man could unite the fractious states: George Washington. Reluctant, but duty-bound, Washington rode to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to preside over the Convention.

Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the period, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward J. Larson brilliantly uncovers Washington’s vital role in shaping the Convention – and shows how it was only with Washington’s support and his willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country.

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis

To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premier historians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimes seems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washington as a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies and emotions.

Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president who tried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet.

Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer

Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia.

Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington and many other Americans refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor’easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days.

The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis’s best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington’s men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined.

This gem among books on George Washington reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides.

Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Flexner

After more than two decades, this dramatic and concise single-volume distillation of James Thomas Flexner’s definitive four-volume biography of George Washington, which received a Pulitzer Prize citation and a National Book Award for the fourth volume, has itself become an American classic.

The author unflinchingly paints a portrait of Washington: slave owner, brave leader, man of passion, reluctant politician, and fierce general. His complex character and career are neither glorified nor vilified here; rather, Flexner sets up a brilliant counterpoint between Washington’s public and private lives and gives us a challenging look at the man who has become as much a national symbol as the American flag.

An Imperfect God  by Henry Wiencek

When George Washington wrote his will, he made the startling decision to set his slaves free; earlier he had said that holding slaves was his “only unavoidable subject of regret.” In this groundbreaking work, Henry Wiencek explores the founding father’s engagement with slavery at every stage of his life – as a Virginia planter, soldier, politician, president and statesman.

Washington was born and raised among blacks and mixed-race people; he and his wife had blood ties to the slave community. Yet as a young man he bought and sold slaves without scruple, even raffled off children to collect debts (an incident ignored by earlier biographers). Then, on the Revolutionary battlefields where he commanded both black and white troops, Washington’s attitudes began to change. He and the other framers enshrined slavery in the Constitution, but, Wiencek shows, even before he became president Washington had begun to see the system’s evil.

Wiencek’s revelatory narrative, based on a meticulous examination of private papers, court records, and the voluminous Washington archives, documents for the first time the moral transformation culminating in Washington’s determination to emancipate his slaves. He acted too late to keep the new republic from perpetuating slavery, but his repentance was genuine.

George Washington’s heroic stature as Father of Our Country is not diminished in this superb, nuanced portrait: now we see Washington in full as a man of his time and ahead of his time.

George Washington: A Biography by Washington Irving

Washington Irving’s  Life of George Washington (published in five volumes in 1856-59) was the product of his last years and remains his most personal work. Christened with the name of the great general, Irving was blessed by Washington while still a boy of seven, and later came to know many of the prominent figures of the Revolution. In these pages he describes them using firsthand source material and observation. The result is a book which is fascinating not only for its subject (the American Revolution), but also for how it reveals in illuminating detail the personality and humanity of a now remote, towering icon.

But one cannot read Irving’s  Life  without marveling at the supreme art behind it, for his biography is foremost a work of literature. Charles Neider’s abridgment and editing of Irving’s long out-of-print classic has created a literary work comparable in importance and elegance to the original.   George Washington, A Biography , Neider’s title for his edition of Irving’s  Life , makes the work accessible to modern audiences.

Founding Friendship by Stuart Eric Leibiger

Although the friendship between George Washington and James Madison was eclipsed in the early 1790s by the alliances of Madison with Jefferson and Washington with Hamilton, their collaboration remains central to the constitutional revolution that launched the American experiment in republican government. Washington relied heavily on Madison’s advice, pen, and legislative skill, while Madison found Washington’s prestige indispensable for achieving his goals for the new nation.

Observing these two founding fathers in light of their special relationship, this gem among books on George Washington argues against a series of misconceptions about the men. Madison emerges as neither a strong nationalist of the Hamiltonian variety nor a political consolidationist; he did not retreat from nationalism to states’ rights in the 1790s, as other historians have charged. Washington, far from being a majestic figurehead, exhibits a strong constitutional vision and firm control of his administration.

1776 by David McCullough

In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence – when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

Based on extensive research in both American and British archives,  1776  is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

If you enjoyed this guide to books on George Washington, be sure to check out our list of The 10 Best Books on President John Adams !

My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies

I’m an investment banker, private pilot and avid fan of American history. I also enjoy Thai food, camping, Robert Ludlum novels and anything containing chocolate. And somehow I’ve ended up with a flower farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains…

Three decades ago I left Texas to attend Brown University and experience all four seasons. A few years later I left Rhode Island with a Chemical Engineering degree and the understanding that snow is seriously overrated.

Given my fascination with the presidency and love of great writing, in 2010 I began collecting the best biographies of each of the presidents. In late 2012 I embarked on a quest to read them all – beginning with George Washington.

This site was initially created to log my journey and organize my thoughts. But 260 presidential biographies later it has evolved into something a bit larger…

I finished my first pass through the presidents on Presidents’ Day 2019 – after six fascinating years. Now I’m reading presidential biographies from my follow-up list as well as great biographies of non -presidents.

That journey is being documented at http://www.thebestbiographies.com .

447 thoughts on “About”

August 7, 2024 at 5:25 am

As a frequent visitor, I was curious if you are still posting and sharing your wealth of knowledge with your readers? Regards, BTP

August 7, 2024 at 5:42 am

Steve…is the Longevall JFK now 3 volumes? Any news from Thomas Knock on George McGovern?

August 7, 2024 at 6:55 am

Frank, the Logevall series looks to be 3 volumes when complete. Volume 2 should be out next year. Timing of volume 3 is only theoretical at this point (much like the last installment of Robert Caro’s series on LBJ…)

August 7, 2024 at 6:52 am

After more than a decade focused on biographies (most of which was directed at the presidents) I’m taking a few months “off” – catching up on some fiction, learning a foreign language and building up a backlog of presidential bios to read when I’m refreshed. Shouldn’t be too much longer as I only have the Harry Potter series left to get through before I get “serious” again 🙂

August 15, 2024 at 6:11 pm

Steve – just a note of thanks for this site. I’m a frequent visitor as I continue my journey through the presidents. I’m at 30/46 (counting GC twice). I sincerely appreciate the work you have put into this site.

August 16, 2024 at 5:51 am

Bill, thanks! I’m curious if you have an unexpectedly favorite president so far…or a biography that really impressed you?!?

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