A select shelf of books by our writerly presidents
Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday on the third Monday of February. The original celebration was in honor of George Washington, whose actual birthday was Feb. 22. Abraham Lincoln, who was born Feb. 12, was added to the mix. In the late 1980s, Presidents’ Day became the official name of the holiday, which honors the men who have occupied the most powerful office in the world.
Many of these men have loved to write. Ulysses S. Grant claimed to smoke 7 to 10 cigars a day. When word got out of the president’s love of stogies, people sent him more than 10,000 boxes of cigars. Grant finished his 200,000-word Personal Memoirs only a few days before his death from throat cancer, so he never saw the work published. Grant’s cancer and the forfeiture of his military pension when he became president bankrupted him, but his popular autobiography ultimately brought in $450,000 for his family.
Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant remains one of the finest accounts of the Civil War ever written. The book was published with the help of his friend Mark Twain in 1885, the same year that Twain came out with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Herbert Hoover wrote 16 books, including one called Fishing for Fun and to Wash Your Soul.
John F. Kennedy is the only president to have received a Pulitzer Prize, for his book Profiles in Courage.
But it is Jimmy Carter who is our most writerly president, having authored about 20 books, many of which have been best-sellers. Carter is our longest-lived president and the chief executive who has lived more years than any other after being president. He wrote most of his works after his presidency and some with his wife, Rosalynn, as co-author.
In 2003, Carter authored the novel The Hornet’s Nest, a fictional story of the Revolutionary War in the South. He was the only president to have published a novel, until Bill Clinton teamed with mega-selling James Patterson to author The President Is Missing.
Using the hints provided, name the presidents who wrote each of the following books.
1. Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company & Conversation (1748)
Rule 1 might be “Don’t lie about chopping down cherry trees.”
2. Letters on Freemasonry (1833)
This author’s dad was also a president and author.
3. The Rough Riders (1899)
Best-selling memoir before the author became a popular president.
4. Fireside Chats
Radio broadcasts that aired from 1933 to 1944.
5. Crusade in Europe (1948)
World War II experiences.
6. The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969 (1971)
The author was the fourth president to assume office after the assassination of his president.
7. In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal (1990)
A president who resigned looks back on his long career in the political arena.
8. A Time to Heal (1979)
Healing after the resignation of the author’s predecessor.
9. An American Life (1991)
Opening line: “If I’d gotten the job I wanted at Montgomery Ward, I suppose I would never have left Illinois.”
10. My Life (2005)
More than 1,000 pages, this is the heftiest of presidential memoirs.
11. The Audacity of Hope (2006)
This book helped a freshman senator to ascend to the presidency for two terms.
12. The Art of the Deal (1987)
The author is the quintessential wheeler-dealer.
1. George Washington; 2. John Quincy Adams; 3. Theodore Roosevelt; 4. Franklin D. Roosevelt; 5. Dwight D. Eisenhower; 6. Lyndon B. Johnson
7. Richard Nixon; 8. Gerald Ford; 9. Ronald Reagan; 10. Bill Clinton; 11. Barack Obama; 12. Donald Trump
On Friday evening, Feb. 21, starting at 6:30 p.m., I’ll be offering “A Celebration of Books and Libraries” at the Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave., (619) 522-7390. This event (free and worth every penny) will kick off Coronado’s Community Read.
Please send your questions and comments
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