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Presidential Biographies


capnamerca

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I want to read at least one biography about each of our presidents; I've come to realize that I don't know NEARLY enough about our own history here in America. Also, I'm going to keep them and build a library for my kids (which I'm certain that they'll never read, but a man can dream). Anyone have a favorite that I should start with?

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Read anything by (H.W.) Bill Brands.  I'm biased since he's a Longhorn, but he is an absolutely riveting storyteller.  He's written on Grant, Reagan, Truman, Lincoln, Jackson, Wilson, LBJ, and Eisenhower.  He typically sets the narrative inside the second biggest test/tribulation of that President and then through kind of a "middle-out" approach, fleshes out the rest of what happened in America during that era.  Although he's got two Pulitzer finalist nominations, he remains one of the most underrated writers in America.  

I have a hard time getting through biographies, even ones that do a great job of giving you historical insights into a country.  But Brands is just such a gifted storyteller.  He could have written fiction and been just as successful.  

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3 hours ago, Lobo said:

Read anything by (H.W.) Bill Brands.  I'm biased since he's a Longhorn, but he is an absolutely riveting storyteller.  He's written on Grant, Reagan, Truman, Lincoln, Jackson, Wilson, LBJ, and Eisenhower.  He typically sets the narrative inside the second biggest test/tribulation of that President and then through kind of a "middle-out" approach, fleshes out the rest of what happened in America during that era.  Although he's got two Pulitzer finalist nominations, he remains one of the most underrated writers in America.  

I have a hard time getting through biographies, even ones that do a great job of giving you historical insights into a country.  But Brands is just such a gifted storyteller.  He could have written fiction and been just as successful.  

Just finished his The Zealot and the Emancipator about John Brown and Lincoln.  He reads very easy. Will have to read more of his.

Edited by abuelo gringo
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On 12/23/2020 at 8:57 AM, Lobo said:

Read anything by (H.W.) Bill Brands.  I'm biased since he's a Longhorn, but he is an absolutely riveting storyteller.  He's written on Grant, Reagan, Truman, Lincoln, Jackson, Wilson, LBJ, and Eisenhower.  He typically sets the narrative inside the second biggest test/tribulation of that President and then through kind of a "middle-out" approach, fleshes out the rest of what happened in America during that era.  Although he's got two Pulitzer finalist nominations, he remains one of the most underrated writers in America.  

I have a hard time getting through biographies, even ones that do a great job of giving you historical insights into a country.  But Brands is just such a gifted storyteller.  He could have written fiction and been just as successful.  

Great rec; appreciate it.

 

I'm ~100 pages into Washington. Holy fuck was he a shitty young General. I had no idea that he quite literally started the French and Indian (or Seven Years' War). Yeah, it war would undoubtedly broken out eventually anyway, but he straight up bull-in-a-china-shopped his negotiations and got a couple hundred Virginians killed in the process. But no doubt dude understood people, the value of land, and the value of sucking up to one's social superiors.

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