Reading Challenge 2018

For 2018, I've decided to forgo a quantitative-based reading challenge in favor of something more substantial. Inspired by Lillian Cunningham's Washington Post podcast, Presidential, I decided to read a biography of each United States President. Each of the selected titles is noted below the associated portrait. Once a title is complete, the portrait will be updated and appear in color. Twelve additional titles (also inspired by the podcast) have been added to the bottom of my list for a grand total of fifty-six titles on American political history.

Wish me luck!

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George Washington Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

John Adams John Adams by David McCullough

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham

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James Madison James Madison: A Biography  by Ralph Ketchem

James Monroe The Last Founding Father by Harlow Giles Unger

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan

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Andrew Jackson American Lion by Jon Meachem

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics by John Niven

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison by Gail Collins

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John Tyler John Tyler: Champion of the Old South by Oliver P. Chitwood

James Polk The Man Who Transformed the Presidency by Walter R. Borneman

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor by K. Jack Bauer

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Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Rayback

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce by Michael Holt

James Buchanan President James Buchanan by Philip S. Klein

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Abraham Lincoln Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson by Annette Gordon-Reed

Ulysses S. Grant Grant by Ron Chernow

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Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford B. Hayes by Hans Trefousse

James Garfield Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

Chester Arthur Chester Alan Arthur by Zachary Karabell

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Grover Cleveland Grover Cleveland by Henry F. Graff

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun

William McKinley Presidency of William McKinley by Lewis. L. Gould

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Theodore Roosevelt The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft by Jeffrey Rosen

Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper Jr.

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Warren G. Harding The Shadow of Blooming Grove by Francis Russell

Calvin Coolidge Coolidge, An American Enigma by Robert Sobel

Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover by William E. Leuchtenburg

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Franklin Roosevelt Traitor to His Class by H.W. Brands

Harry S. Truman Truman by David McCullough

Dwight Eisenhower Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith

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John F. Kennedy An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon: The Life by John Farrell

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Gerald Ford Write it When I'm Gone by Thomas M. DeFrank

Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter by Julian E. Zelizer

Ronald Reagan The Reagan Diaries by Ronald Reagan

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George H.W. Bush 41 by George W. Bush

Bill Clinton My Life by Bill Clinton

George W. Bush Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House by Peter Baker

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Barack Obama Obama: From Promise to Power by David Mendell

Donald Trump Understanding Trump by Newt Gingrich

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Supplemental Reading

• Monument Wars: Washington, DC, the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape by Kirk Savage
• Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson by Paul Finkelman
• The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine by Dave DeWitt
• Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack Rakove
• The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant
• The Day Freedom Died by Charles Lane
• The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
• Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham
• Giant in the Shadows by Jason Emerson
• To the Best of My Ability edited by James M. McPherson
• Jefferson Davis, American by William J. Cooper Jr.

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