(You can view the rest of our presidential Best Book lists by going to our Best US President Books page.)
If you are reading this before November 8th 2016 enjoy our countdown to election day with the best books to learn about every US President. If you are reading this on or after November 8th, enjoy a completed list of the best books and articles about every US president and ignore any of the now incorrect word tenses we may use.
We are starting this countdown 43 days before the election so we can go president by president, starting with George Washington and ending with Obama on November 7th. There have technically been 44 different presidents, but we aren’t going to do an article for each of Grover Cleveland’s non-consecutive terms.
This is probably as good a place as any to quickly go over how we arrived at the top books for every president. We do have a page that goes over how these articles are created (here). Essentially we look at other “Best Books about _____” lists that have been created online and give a point for every book that is mentioned on each list. The ranking of the books doesn’t matter, just that they appeared. After we have found at least 10 different lists (usually more), we rank the books by which ones appeared the most. It is an incredibly unscientific process, but at the end of the day it still provides a pretty great list of books to read on whatever subject we are covering. New books and lists are coming out all of the time, so consider these as more of a good starting point instead of a complete master list (as you should with any list of books).
Before we get to the top books and links to the articles with the full lists we thought we would take a quick look at some of the statistics. (The main takeaway from most of that data is that Lincoln is by far the most popular president.)
Alright, on to the best book(s) about every president!
President # 1 | George Washington |
| Top Book | Washington: A Life |
| Author | Ron Chernow |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 9 |
President # 2 | John Adams |
| Top Book | John Adams |
| Author | David McCullough |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 9 |
President # 3 | Thomas Jefferson |
| Top Book | Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |
| Author | Jon Meacham |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 9 |
President # 4 | James Madison |
| Top Book | James Madison: A Biography |
| Author | Ralph Ketcham |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 5 | James Monroe |
| Top Book | The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness |
| Author | Harlow Giles Unger |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 6 | John Quincy Adams |
| Top Book | John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life |
| Author | Paul C. Nagel |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 7 | Andrew Jackson |
| Top Book | American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House |
| Author | Jon Meacham |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 8 | Martin Van Buren |
| Top Book (Tie) | Martin Van Buren : The Romantic Age of American Politics |
| Author | John Niven |
| Top Book (Tie) | Martin Van Buren (The American Presidents Series) |
| Author | Ted Widmer |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 9 | William Henry Harrison |
| Top Book (Tie) | Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer: William Henry Harrison |
| Author | Robert Owens |
| Top Book (Tie) | Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time |
| Author | Freeman Cleaves |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 10 | John Tyler |
| Top Book | John Tyler |
| Author | Gary May |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 11 | James K. Polk |
| Top Book | A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk |
| Author | Robert Merry |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 12 | Zachary Taylor |
| Top Book | Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest |
| Author | K. Jack Bauer |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 8 |
President # 13 | Millard Fillmore |
| Top Book | Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President |
| Author | Robert J. Rayback |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 14 | Franklin Pierce |
| Top Book | Franklin Pierce (The American Presidents Series) |
| Author | Michael Holt |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 15 | James Buchanan |
| Top Book | President James Buchanan: A Biography |
| Author | Philip S. Klein |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 16 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Top Book | Lincoln |
| Author | David Herbert Donald |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 14 |
President # 17 | Andrew Johnson |
| Top Book | Impeached: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy |
| Author | David O. Stewart |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 18 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Top Book | Grant |
| Author | Jean Edward Smith |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 19 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Top Book | Rutherford B. Hayes (The American Presidents Series) |
| Author | Hans Trefousse |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 20 | James A. Garfield |
| Top Book | Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President |
| Author | Candice Millard |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 21 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Top Book | Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur |
| Author | Thomas C. Reeves |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 8 |
President # 22 & 24 | Grover Cleveland |
| Top Book (Tie) | An Honest President: The Life & Presidencies of Grover Cleveland |
| Author | H. Paul Jeffers |
| Top Book (Tie) | Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character |
| Author | Alyn Brodsky |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 23 | Benjamin Harrison |
| Top Book (Tie) | Benjamin Harrison (The American Presidents Series) |
| Author | Charles W. Calhoun |
| Top Book (Tie) | Benjamin Harrison: Hoosier Statesman (Vol 2) |
| Author | Harry J. Sievers |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 25 | William McKinley |
| Top Book | The Presidency of William McKinley |
| Author | Lewis. L. Gould |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 26 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Top Book (Tie) | The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt |
| Author | Edmund Morris |
| Top Book (Tie) | Theodore Rex |
| Author | Edmund Morris |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 10 |
President # 27 | William Howard Taft |
| Top Book | The Life & Times of William Howard Taft |
| Author | Harry F. Pringle |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 28 | Woodrow Wilson |
| Top Book | Wilson |
| Author | A. Scott Berg |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 29 | Warren G. Harding |
| Top Book | Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents Series) |
| Author | John W. Dean |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 30 | Calvin Coolidge |
| Top Book | Coolidge, An American Enigma |
| Author | Robert Sobel |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 31 | Herbert Hoover |
| Top Book (Tie) | An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover |
| Author | Richard Norton Smith |
| Top Book (Tie) | Herbert Hoover |
| Author | William E. Leuchtenburg |
| Top Book (Tie) | Herbert Hoover: A Public Life |
| Author | David Burner |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 4 |
President # 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Top Book | FDR |
| Author | Jean Edward Smith |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 8 |
President # 33 | Harry S. Truman |
| Top Book | Truman |
| Author | David McCullough |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Top Book | Eisenhower: Soldier and President |
| Author | Stephen E. Ambrose |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 35 | John F. Kennedy |
| Top Book | An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963 |
| Author | Robert Dallek |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 10 |
President # 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Top Book | The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Book One) |
| Author | Robert A. Caro |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 37 | Richard Nixon |
| Top Book (Tie) | Nixon, Vol. 3: Ruin and Recovery, 1973-1990 |
| Author | Stephen E. Ambrose |
| Top Book (Tie) | Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise of An American Politician |
| Author | Roger Morris |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 2 |
President # 38 | Gerald Ford |
| Top Book | Gerald R. Ford |
| Author | Douglas Brinkley |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 7 |
President # 39 | Jimmy Carter |
| Top Book | Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency |
| Author | Peter G. Bourne |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 4 |
President # 40 | Ronald Reagan |
| Top Book | President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime |
| Author | Lou Cannon |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 41 | George H. W. Bush |
| Top Book | Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush |
| Author | Jon Meacham |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 5 |
President # 42 | Bill Clinton |
| Top Book | First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton |
| Author | David Maraniss |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 6 |
President # 43 | George W. Bush |
| Top Book (Tie) | Bush |
| Author | Jean Edward Smith |
| Top Book (Tie) | Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House |
| Author | Peter Baker |
| Top Book (Tie) | Decision Points (Bush’s memoir) |
| Author | George Bush |
| Top Book (Tie) | First Son : George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty |
| Author | Bill Minutaglio |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 2 |
President # 44 | Barack Obama |
| Top Book | Barack Obama: The Story |
| Author | David Maraniss |
| Number Of Articles Book Appears on: | 4 |
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