Joe Biden. Finally, we have reached the end of this project. Judging by the current political environment it seems likely I will not be reading a bio on a new president for at least four years. This book is bad. Biden is interesting, but read What it Takes by Richard Ben Cramer for that story.

Donald Trump. You already have an opinion on him. We all do. This book wasn’t very good, and I don’t think there are any good books on him. Not yet, at least.

Barack Obama. The first president I voted for and, I worry, the last I will truly believe in.

This is a good book about a bad president and his worse vice president. George W. Bush.

Bill was nothing if not memorable. The presidency (and politics in general) changed irrevocably during his tenure in office. Tabloid journalism, the 24/7 news cycle, and the internet marked his presidency and no one since has been able to hold the office without contending with those forces.

Seen by many as the most forgettable of our recent (can we still call him recent?) presidents, Meacham’s masterful biography shows otherwise. A compelling figure and a brilliant book by one of the great biographers of our time.

Reagan. In many ways the polar opposite of his predecessor Carter. He leaves behind a substantial legacy and is beloved by many, but so much of what plagues this nation can be traced to his eight years in office. This is a wonderful biography that encompasses not only his presidency but his fascinating life.

Jimmy Carter. Not a great president, but a good man. This biography is just ok.

The book’s ok. Gerry was pretty mid. But Betty Ford was cool.

Tricky Dick Nixon. A name he more than lived up to. An insecure, fragile, angry, paranoid, ambitious man who shaped the nation we now live in as much as anyone. This is a wonderful biography of a fascinating, troubling man.

This is it. These are the books that launched my journey to read a biography of every president. They are still the best. Engrossing, exhaustively researched, and endlessly fascinating. They’re long, and it’s a big project, but if you like biographies, you need to read them at some point.

A hero? A villain? A symbol for a generation? A spoiled rich kid? In the end, maybe a little bit of all of those things. Frederick Logevall’s sublime first volume on JFK’s early life introduces us to a man we know so much and so little about.

Dwight D. Eisenhower. The bland representation of the imagined utopia of the fifties. A brilliant military mind who was forced into politics. Or, that’s what they tell you. The truth is quite the opposite.

Harry Truman. This is one of the best biographies I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Truman is a fascinating figure and president. He was flawed and made mistakes, but don’t we all?

FDR was president for twelve years. Some hate him, some love him. This week, I take a look at his legacy and how, after him, the presidency would never be the same (for better or worse).

Herbert Hoover. Below average president. Not the greatest guy. But a fascinating individual, and Whyte’s biography of him is excellent.

Calvin Coolidge. I did not like this book. I found it flat and dull, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read my post about it!

Warren G. Harding. Not, as many claim, the worst president of all time, but far from good.

Woodrow Wilson. Visionary, progressive, icon, and racist, sexist, failure. History is full of complex individuals who do not fit neatly into a box. Wilson is foremost among them.

William Howard Taft, the man whose legacy is an apocryphal story of getting stuck in a bathtub. But he was so much more than that, and his story is one of ambition, betrayal, and the perils of living in the shadow of a man so large as Teddy Roosevelt.