43 Books for 43 Presidents
Editor's Note: The following is a list of select books and biographies on each of our nation’s 43 unique presidents. This list is neither definitive nor comprehensive, but it is chronological.
1. George Washington (1789-1797) -- Washington: A Life (2010) by Ron Chernow
2. John Adams (1797-1801) -- John Adams (2008) by David McCullough
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1817) -- Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012) by Jon Meacham
4. James Madison (1809-1817) -- James Madison: A Life Reconsidered (2015) by Lynne Cheney
5. James Monroe (1817-1825) -- The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness (2009) by Harlow Giles Unger
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) -- John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life (1999) by Paul C. Nagel
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) -- American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (2009) by Jon Meacham
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) -- Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series (2004) by Ted Widmer and Arthur Schlesinger
9. William Henry Harrison (1841) -- Mr. Jefferson's Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy (2011) by Robert M. Owens
10. John Tyler (1841-1845) -- John Tyler: The American Presidents Series (2008) by Gary May, Arthur Schlesinger and Sean Wilentz
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849) -- Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (2009) by Walter Borneman
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) -- Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series (2008) by John D. Eisenhower, Arthur Schlesinger and Sean Wilentz
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) -- Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President (1992) by Robert Rayback
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) -- Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire's Favorite Son (2004) by Peter Wallner
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861) -- President James Buchanan: A Biography (1995) by Philip Klein
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) -- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2006) by Doris Kearns Goodwin
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) -- Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy (2009) by David Stewart
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) -- Grant (2002) by Jean Edward Smith
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) -- Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President (1995) by Ari Hoogenboom
20. James A. Garfield (1881) -- Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (2012) by Candice Millard
21. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) -- Chester Alan Arthur: The American Presidents Series (2004) by Zachary Karabell and Arthur Schlesinger
22. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) -- Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character (2001) by Alyn Brodsky
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) -- Benjamin Harrison: The American Presidents Series (2005) by Charles Calhoun and Arthur Schlesinger
24. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) -- Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character (2001) by Alyn Brodsky
25. William McKinley (1897-1901) -- The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century (2013) by Scott Miller
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) -- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (2010) by Edmund Morris
27. William H. Taft (1909-1913) -- The Life and Times of William Howard Taft (1986) by Henry Pringle
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) -- Woodrow Wilson: A Biography (2011) by John Milton Cooper Jr.
29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) -- The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times (1968) by Francis Russell
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) -- Coolidge, An American Enigma (2000) by Robert Sobel
31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) -- Herbert Hoover: The American Presidents Series (2009) by William Leuchtenburg, Arthur Schlesinger and Sean Wilentz
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) -- No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (1995) by Doris Kearns Goodwin
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) -- Truman (1993) by David McCullough
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) -- Eisenhower in War and Peace (2012) by Jean Edward Smith
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) -- A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (2002) by Arthur Schlesinger
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) -- The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (2012) by Robert Caro
37. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) -- Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (2009) by Rick Perlstein
38. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) -- Gerald R. Ford: The American Presidents Series (2007) by Douglas Brinkley and Arthur Schlesinger
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) -- The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Quest for Global Peace (1998) by Douglas Brinkley
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) -- President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (2000) by Lou Cannon
41. George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) -- George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series by Timothy Naftali, Arthur Schlesinger and Sean Wilentz
42. William J. Clinton (1993-2001) -- First in His Class: A Biography Of Bill Clinton (1996) by David Maraniss
43. George W. Bush (2001-2009) -- Decision Points (Memoir, 2011) by George W. Bush
44. Barack Obama (2009-) -- The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama (2010) by David Remnick
