Bibliography

Once I hit my goal to read one book about every U.S. president, I couldn’t stop. To read more about most of these books (and/or judge them by their covers), visit my Bookshop.

NOTE: There’s a strict set of rules and amendments that governed whether a biography “counted” on my quest. For example, I could only select an autobiography if I knew enough about the president to know when he’s full of it. (Richard Nixon, I’m looking at you.)

**I don’t want to name names.**
Zachary Taylor

FEDERALIST / DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN / DEMOCRAT / WHIG / REPUBLICAN

1 // George Washington

Though a Federalist for his second term, he was not affiliated with a party for his first term

Washington: A Life
Ron Chernow

Penguin Publishing Group

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
Alexis Coe

Penguin Publishing Group

The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution
Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Harvard University Press

Travels With George: In Search of Washington and his Legacy
Nathaniel Philbrick

Penguin Publishing Group

The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington
Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

Flatiron Books

2 // John Adams

John Adams
David McCullough

Simon & Schuster

3 // Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Jon Meacham

Random House Publishing Group

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Joseph J. Ellis

Vintage

4 // James Madison

James Madison
Garry Wills

Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.

5 // James Monroe

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

Hachette Books

6 // John Quincy Adams

The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams
Phyllis Lee Levin

St. Martin's Publishing Group

This book forced an amendment to my “rules” of what “counts”. I was crushed when I got to the end of the book and there was only one sentence about his presidency.... blah blah blah and then he died. I’d never been so surprised by the death of a 17th century figure before.

John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life
Paul C. Nagel

Harvard

7 // Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times
H. W. Brands

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

8 // Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren
Ted Widmer

Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.

9 // William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison
Gail Collins

Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.

Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison's Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation
Peter Stark

Random House

10 // John Tyler

First term Whig, second term democrat. Because why not mess up my color coding?

John Tyler: The Accidental President
Edward P. Crapol

The University of North Carolina Press

11 // James K. Polk

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency
Walter R. Borneman

Random House

12 // Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old West
K. Jack Bauer

LSU Press

13 // Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore married his second wife, wealthy widow Caroline McIntosh, at her home… Schuyler Mansion. In the same room Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler. Guess where I learned that? In the room where it happened! (See what I did there?) And guess what else? I had a Millard Fillmore biography that I hadn’t started yet In My Bag. Bananas, right?? I bet I’m the only one to ever brag to the tour guide about that.

The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President
George Pendle

Crown

When I saw this on the shelf at the library, I was thrilled beyond belief. The cover was gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to read it. Turns out, it was misfiled in the biography section and belonged in the humor section. (The unicorn Fillmore sat upon should have been a clue. But I saw what I wanted to see. I thought it was a horse.) For balance (and fact-checking!) I also read the book referenced below. This proved more challenging than I anticipated since many of the most cockamamie and unbelievable things from the first book were actually true. (Example: Fillmore’s great-grandfather split a pirate’s head in two with an ax.)

Millard Fillmore
Paul Finkelman

Times Books