One of my favorite classic holiday movies is Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby. If you've watched the movie you know that they celebrated both Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday. In 1968, the Uniformed Monday Holiday Act moved many federal holidays to Mondays to create a three-day weekend. The third Monday, which fell between Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays, was chosen to celebrate both and became known as Presidents' Day. Now it celebrates the legacies of all presidents. As today is Presidents' Day in the U.S. here are a few books to read to learn more about U.S. history and the lives of these men who have led the country.
Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
 |
| October 2010; Penguin Press; 978-1594202667 audio, ebook, print (904 pages); biography |
You may recognize Chernow's name as he authored the wildly popular biography Alexandar Hamilton. But did you know that a few years later he penned a biography of the first president?
The celebrated Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of America. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life, he carries the reader through Washington's troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian Wars, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
Despite the reverence his name inspires Washington remains a waxwork to many readers, worthy but dull, a laconic man of remarkable self-control. But in this groundbreaking work Chernow revises forever the uninspiring stereotype. He portrays Washington as a strapping, celebrated horseman, elegant dancer and tireless hunter, who guarded his emotional life with intriguing ferocity. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, he orchestrated their actions to help realise his vision for the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency. (Goodreads)
Buy Washington: A Life at Amazon
Gettysburg Replies: The World Responds to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation
 |
| April 2015; Lyons Press; 978-1493009121 ebook, print (224 pages); essays |
In school, you may have studied Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address which he gave to dedicate the Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This sounds like a great book to see how one president's legacy impacts future generations.
Challenged to mark the enormity of the battle — which had turned the tide of the war, though neither side realized it yet — Lincoln used 272 words in ten sentences to rededicate the Union to the preservation of freedom. It remains the most important statement of our nation’s commitment to personal liberty since the Revolutionary War and has become one of the most important speeches in American history, a cornerstone of who we are as a country. A century and a half later, we still hold Lincoln’s message in our hearts.
For Gettysburg Replies, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum challenged presidents, judges, historians, filmmakers, poets, actors, and others to craft 272 words of their own to celebrate Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address, or a related topic that stirs their passions. President Jimmy Carter reveals how the Gettysburg Address helped bring Egypt and Israel closer at the Camp David Peace Accords. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor reflects on Lincoln’s dedication to the importance of civic education. General Colin Powell explains how Martin Luther King Jr. took up Lincoln’s mantle and carried it forward. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg touches on the benefits and perils of hero worship. Poet Laureate Billy Collins explores the dichotomy between the private man who wrote poetry (“My Childhood Home I See Again”) and the president who stood before all. Attorney Alan Dershowitz echoes Lincoln’s words to rally us to the freedom from weapons of mass destruction.
Gettysburg Replies features images of important Lincoln documents and artifacts, including the first copy of the address that Lincoln wrote out after delivering it, the program from the cemetery dedication, Lincoln’s presidential seal, and more. Together, these words and images create a lasting tribute not only to Lincoln himself but also the power of his devotion to freedom. (Goodreads)
Buy Gettysburg Replies at Amazon
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
 |
| September 2011; Doubleday; 978-0385526265 audio, ebook, print (368 pages); biography |
The title caught my attention and when I saw it was about James Garfield I had to add it to my list as I've been trying to read more about the late 1800s. I don't know much about the history of the time or his short (less than a year) presidency.
James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back.
But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his condition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. (Goodreads)
Buy Destiny of the Republic at Amazon
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin
 |
| October 1995; Simon & Schuster; 978-0684804484 audio, ebook, print (768 pages); biography |
With my love of WWII fiction, you know I had to include a book about the president at that time. A few books I've read recently have included FDR such as Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray. I also recently watched a few episodes of First Ladies on PBS and Eleanor is one of the First Ladies who is featured. I also feel like a lot of the same political discussions we are having now occurred then so I'm interested in learning more about FDR.
Winner of the Pulitzer for History, No Ordinary Time is a chronicle of one of the most vibrant & revolutionary periods in US history. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin weaves together a number of story lines—the Roosevelt’s marriage & partnership, Eleanor’s life as First Lady, & FDR’s White House & its impact on America as well as on a world at war. Goodwin melds these into an intimate portrait of Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt & of the time during which a new, modern America was born. (Goodreads)
Buy No Ordinary Time at Amazon
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter
 |
| July 2015; Simon & Schuster; 978-1501115639 audio, ebook, print (272 pages); memoir |
Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President, passed away at the end of 2024 at the age of 100. He is the longest-living president and the only president to live 100 years. He saw a lot of history in his lifetime. I watched most of his state funeral and after each speaker, all I could think was what a well-lived life.
Jimmy Carter, thirty-ninth President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, international humanitarian, fisherman, reflects on his full and happy life with pride, humor, and a few second thoughts.
At ninety, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming. He adds detail and emotion about his youth in rural Georgia that he described in his magnificent An Hour Before Daylight. He writes about racism and the isolation of the Carters. He describes the brutality of the hazing regimen at Annapolis, and how he nearly lost his life twice serving on submarines and his amazing interview with Admiral Rickover. He describes the profound influence his mother had on him, and how he admired his father even though he didn't emulate him. He admits that he decided to quit the Navy and later enter politics without consulting his wife, Rosalynn, and how appalled he is in retrospect.
In A Full Life, Carter tells what he is proud of and what he might do differently. He discusses his regret at losing his re-election, but how he and Rosalynn pushed on and made a new life and second and third rewarding careers. He is frank about the presidents who have succeeded him, world leaders, and his passions for the causes he cares most about, particularly the condition of women and the deprived people of the developing world.
This is a wise and moving look back from this remarkable man. Jimmy Carter has lived one of our great American lives -- from rural obscurity to world fame, universal respect, and contentment. A Full Life is an extraordinary read. (Goodreads)
Buy A Full Life at Amazon
(Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read the ebook for free)
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment