The Fix<\/em><\/a>\u2018s Chris\u00a0Natalie Jennings and Sean Sullivan made a call to readers to submit their favorite presidential biography. Then they compiled a list containing the best one or two biographies on all 43 U.S. presidents<\/a>. How fun would it be to start with Washington and read one biography on each president through Obama? I think it would be such a more effective way to read presidential biographies instead of picking and choosing here and there (Although you\u2019d have to suffer through 272 pages on Millard Fillmore). And you\u2019d have to slog through some really long books. For instance Ambrose\u2019s book on Eisenhower is a mother-long book. It says only 650 pages, but it\u2019s small writing on packed pages \u2013 still a great read. Here\u2019s their list. Anything you would change? How about a biography of Josiah Bartlett or Andrew Shepherd?<\/p>\n * George Washington:<\/strong>\u00a0Washington: A Life<\/a>, by Ron Chernow;\u00a0His Excellency: George Washington<\/a>, by Joseph J. Ellis.<\/p>\n * John Adams:<\/strong>\u00a0John Adams<\/a>, by David McCullough;\u00a0Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams<\/a>, by Joseph J. Ellis.<\/p>\n * Thomas Jefferson:<\/strong>\u00a0Jefferson and His Time<\/a>, by Dumas Malone;\u00a0American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson<\/a>, by Joseph J. Ellis;\u00a0Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power<\/a>, by Jon Meacham.<\/p>\n * James Madison:<\/strong>\u00a0James Madison: A Biography<\/a>, by Ralph Ketchem.<\/p>\n * James Monroe:\u00a0<\/strong>The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation\u2019s Call to Greatness<\/a>, by Harlow Giles Unger.<\/p>\n * John Quincy Adams:<\/strong>\u00a0John Quincy Adams (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Robert V. Remini.<\/p>\n * Andrew Jackson:<\/strong>\u00a0American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House<\/a>, by Jon Meacham;\u00a0The Life of Andrew Jackson<\/a>, by Robert V. Remini.<\/p>\n * Martin Van Buren:\u00a0<\/strong>Martin Van Buren (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Ted Widmer;\u00a0Martin Van Buren : The Romantic Age of American Politics<\/a>, by John Niven.<\/p>\n *\u00a0William Henry Harrison:\u00a0<\/strong>William Henry Harrison (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>\u00a0by Gail Collins;\u00a0Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Times<\/a>, by Freeman Cleaves.<\/p>\n * John Tyler:\u00a0<\/strong>John Tyler (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Gary May;\u00a0John Tyler:\u00a0Champion of the Old South<\/a>, by Oliver P. Chitwood.<\/p>\n * James K. Polk:<\/strong>\u00a0The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America<\/a>, by\u00a0Walter R. Borneman.<\/p>\n *\u00a0Zachary Taylor:<\/strong>\u00a0Zachary Taylor:\u00a0Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest<\/a>, by K. Jack Bauer.<\/p>\n * Millard Fillmore:\u00a0<\/strong>The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President<\/a>, by George Pendle.<\/p>\n * Franklin Pierce:\u00a0<\/strong>Franklin Pierce (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Michael Holt.<\/p>\n * James Buchanan:\u00a0<\/strong>President James Buchanan: A Biography<\/a>, by Philip S. Klein.<\/p>\n * Abraham Lincoln:\u00a0<\/strong>Lincoln<\/a>, by David Herbert Donald;\u00a0Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln<\/a>, by Doris Kearns Goodwin;\u00a0With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln<\/a>, by Stephen B. Oates;\u00a0Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years<\/a>, by Carl Sandburg;\u00a0Abraham Lincoln<\/a>, by Lord Charnwood.<\/p>\n * Andrew Johnson:<\/strong>\u00a0Andrew Johnson (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Annette Gordon-Reed.<\/p>\n *\u00a0Ulysses S. Grant:\u00a0<\/strong>Grant<\/a>, by Jean Edward Smith;\u00a0Grant: A Biography<\/a>, by William S. McFeeley.<\/p>\n *\u00a0Rutherford B. Hayes:<\/strong>\u00a0Rutherford B. Hayes<\/a>, by\u00a0Hans Trefousse (The American Presidents Series);\u00a0Rutherford B. Hayes, and his America<\/a>, by Harry Barnard.<\/p>\n * James Garfield:<\/strong>\u00a0Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President<\/a>, by Candice Millard.<\/p>\n *Chester Arthur:\u00a0<\/strong>Chester Alan Arthur (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by\u00a0Zachary Karabell;\u00a0Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur<\/a>, by Thomas C. Reeves.<\/p>\n * Grover Cleveland (the 22nd and 24th president):\u00a0<\/strong>Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character<\/a>, by\u00a0Alyn Brodsky;\u00a0Grover Cleveland (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Henry F. Graff.<\/p>\n * Benjamin Harrison:\u00a0<\/strong>Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Charles W. Calhoun;\u00a0Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier statesman<\/a>, by\u00a0Harry Joseph Sievers.<\/p>\n * William McKinley:\u00a0<\/strong>Presidency of William McKinley<\/a>, by Lewis. L. Gould.<\/p>\n * Theodore Roosevelt:\u00a0<\/strong>Edmund Morris\u2019s Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy<\/a>;\u00a0Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt<\/a>, by\u00a0David McCullough.<\/p>\n * William Howard Taft:\u00a0<\/strong>The Life & Times of William Howard Taft<\/a>, by Harry F. Pringle.<\/p>\n * Woodrow Wilson:\u00a0<\/strong>Woodrow Wilson: A Biography<\/a>, by John Milton Cooper Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n * Warren G. Harding:<\/strong>\u00a0The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times<\/a>, by Francis Russell;\u00a0Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by John W. Dean.<\/strong><\/p>\n * Calvin Coolidge:\u00a0<\/strong>Coolidge, An American Enigma<\/a>, by Robert Sobel.<\/strong><\/p>\n * Herbert Hoover:\u00a0<\/strong>Herbert Hoover (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by William E. Leuchtenburg.<\/p>\n *Franklin Roosevelt:<\/strong>\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom<\/a>, by Conrad Black;\u00a0No Ordinary Time<\/a>, by Doris Kearns Goodwin.<\/p>\n *Harry S. Truman:<\/strong>\u00a0Truman<\/a>, by David McCullough;\u00a0Harry S. Truman (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Robert Dallek.<\/p>\n *Dwight D. Eisenhower:<\/strong>\u00a0Eisenhower: Soldier and President<\/a>, by Stephen E. Ambrose;\u00a0Eisenhower in War and Peace<\/a>, by Jean Edward Smith.<\/p>\n *John F. Kennedy:<\/strong>\u00a0A Thousand Days<\/a>, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.;\u00a0An Unfinished Life<\/a>, by Robert Dallek.<\/p>\n *Lyndon B. Johnson:<\/strong>\u00a0Robert Caro<\/a>\u2018s multi-volume set;\u00a0Robert Dallek<\/a>\u2018s two-volume set.<\/p>\n *Richard Nixon:<\/strong>\u00a0The three-volume set\u00a0<\/a>by Steven Ambrose;\u00a0Nixonland<\/a>, by Richard Perlstein.<\/p>\n *Gerald Ford:<\/strong>\u00a0Gerald R. Ford (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>\u00a0by Douglas Brinkley.<\/p>\n *Jimmy Carter:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jimmy Carter,<\/a>\u00a0by Julian E. Zelizer (The American Presidents Series).<\/p>\n *Ronald Reagan:<\/strong>\u00a0President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime<\/a>, by Lou Cannon;\u00a0My Father at 100<\/a>, by Ron Reagan, Jr.<\/p>\n *George H.W. Bush:<\/strong>\u00a0George H.W. Bush (The American Presidents Series)<\/a>, by Timothy Naftali.<\/p>\n *Bill Clinton:<\/strong>\u00a0First in His Class<\/a>, by David Maraniss;\u00a0The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House<\/a>, by John F. Harris.<\/p>\n *George W. Bush:<\/strong>\u00a0Decision Points (Bush\u2019s memoir)<\/a>; Peter Baker\u2019s forthcoming Bush book. *Barack Obama:<\/strong>\u00a0Barack Obama: The Story<\/a>, by David Maraniss;\u00a0The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama<\/a>, by David Remnick.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Fix\u2018s Chris\u00a0Natalie Jennings and Sean Sullivan made a call to readers to submit their favorite presidential biography. Then they compiled a list containing the best one or two biographies on all 43 U.S. presidents. How fun would it be to start with Washington and read one biography on each president through Obama? I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[115,260,257,258,259,255,254,256],"class_list":["post-1175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barack-obama","tag-biographies","tag-chris-cillizza","tag-natalie-jennings","tag-sean-sullivan","tag-the-fix","tag-the-washington-post","tag-washington"],"yoast_head":"\n
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