Complete Collection of Presidential Biographies

One of my major hobbies is collecting (and reading) biographies, autobiographies, diaries, etc. of American Presidents. My collection of several hundred such books includes at least one biography of every president. I also have biographies of a number of the First Ladies. I would enjoy corresponding with anyone of you who share this passion.

It's a shame that this topic has not generated any response. It seems that a majority of LTers are fiction oriented but there should be enough of us non-fics. to make this viable. I have long had a desire to read one good bio. of each President and thought LT the perfect venue to find that one highly regarded volume for each. So far I have read Donald on Lincoln, McCullough on Truman, Adams and T.R., Morris on Reagan and an Eisenhower whose author I can't recall. Shortly it will be Ellis on Washington.

If anyone drifts by this, any recommendations would be great.

At last! Someone else interested in the American Presidency. Why are we so few in number or at least so silent? For starters, I have these recommendations:
Grover Cleveland: a Study in Courage by Allan Nevins.
Washington: The Indespensible Man by James Flexner This is old, 1974 I think, but is a scholarly classic.
Personal Memoirs: U.S. Grant by U.S. Grant Generally considered to be the best presidential memoir ever.
First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton by David Maraniss. It is difficult to write objectively about a living subject, but this author does it well.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. His biography of Reagan is a bomb, but he did a good job with Teddy.
The Life and Times of William Howard Taft by Henry Pringle.
The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times by Francis Russell.
American Presidents Series: Martin Van Buren by Ted Widmer. The volumes in this series are of uneven quality, but this one is a winner.

I hope you find something that will interest you in this list.

Quite a few LT members use the tag Presidents.

If you scroll down below the list of books, you will see a list of LT members who use that tag.

#3 Thanks for the ideas especially the 'minor' pres. (Cleveland, Harding etc). I have the Flexner set and am thinking of starting it but still may read Ellis first. I agree with you on Dutch. The real problem there was the way he told the story through a fictional character, strange treatment for an important bio.

#4 I have used tags to search and perused other libraries, that's what makes LT great. Here we have a forum to discuss the qualities of the volumes we find in other libraries and their worthiness of joining mine.

Thanks everyone!

Here are a few books that I've enjoyed and I will also second the Flexner Washington book, good selection.

Time and chance : Gerald Ford's appointment with history by James Cannon
Nixon, a life by Jonathan Aitken (one wonders what Shakespeare would have written about Tricky Dick...)
Polk : the man who transformed the presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman. (newly published, solid book on an overlooked President who accomplished what he set out to do.)

I have been reading about the Presidents since I was in elementary school. One year a teacher gave us the free booklet on the Presidents put out by John Hancock Insurance Company. Then came the Arrow Book of Presidents, American Heritage's 12 vol., The Glorious Burden, and eventually individual biographies. I have a couple of hundred books on the Presidents now and keep adding to it via library sales, Ebay, Abebooks, and the local bookstores.

Fiction is nice now and then, but the overwhelming majority of books that I have are on the Presidents, history, or politics.

My sister and I have created a new Challenge group you might be interested in... US Presidents Challenge. Maybe you'll join us.
Cheli

Hey! Started doing just that as well as collecting Presidential campaign period biographies about 30 years ago! GOOD FOR YOU!!! I can recommend my favorite bios and authors on nearly all of the US Presidents. Hit me up and i'd luv to share! Luv to hear bout what u have

Hey Gordon!! Started doing just that as well as collecting Presidential campaign period biographies about 30 years ago! GOOD FOR YOU!!! I can recommend my favorite bios and authors on nearly all of the US Presidents. Hit me up and i'd luv to share!

BYW My interest lies mainly with the "minor" Presidents. (I prefer to refer to them as "less heralded" LOL)

Even though this message thread has been dormant for 6 years, this seems to one of the places to post this.

We had a friend, a Political Science and American History professor, who passed away some months ago. He had been collecting presidential biographies for at least 20 years. As executors of his estate, we now have the solemn task of dispersing his possessions (since he left no immediate family).

The presidential collection consists of 8 beautiful solid wood bookcases, each 84" h x 30 7/8" w x 18" and all of them chock-a-block full of books on the presidency itself and on each of our 44 presidents, as well as vice presidents and even first ladies. He had a good eye for this stuff. Many of these books, especially with regard to pre-1900 presidents, are very hard to find in any condition (and in general, he bought them only when the condition was reasonable).

As of May, 2002, there were 935 biographies valued at $20,554, but he continued to seek out more (and even at a faster clip) right up until he entered the hospital in October, 2013. So far, I've spotted only 2 library copies. I would estimate that about 80% of them are first editions. Virtually all are in very good to excellent condition - he clearly handled his treasures with great care. There are copies signed by the author and copies signed by presidents. (He also collected autographs.)

It was his wish that this collection be kept together, if possible. As executors we will try our best to honor that request. If you are interested, or know anyone who might be interested, contact me at d e a c o n m a c (at) e a r t h l i n k . n e t (strip out the spaces), or leave a message here.

By the way, he also devoted the last 20 years of his life researching and writing a biography of the first 14 presidents BEFORE George Washington -- the presidents under the Articles of Confederation. It's titled "The First American Republic: 1774-1789," information about which can be found at http://www.firstamericanrepublic.com/

The First American Republic: 1774-1789
Thomas Patrick Chorlton

Were you able to find a good home for your friends Presidential Biography Collection? I am a school librarian and have started one of these collections for our high school library. I would be very interested to know what titles were housed in this collection. I am sure that this would give me a wealth of information with which to work with.

Thank you.