The Presidential Bio Project

In 1999, I began a reading project - to read biographies on all of the US Presidents, in order. Yes, I am a history geek! I've read quite a bit of history, US and otherwise, but felt that the best way to really understand the history of our country is to understand the men that achieved the highest office in the land. It's been a fun project. To date, I am up to Gerald Ford (he will be the next President I read about). I will probably stop after Ronald Reagan for some period of time, so I can wait for some perspective and books to come out on Bush #41 and on. Ok, so it's really a ploy to put off reading about Clinton as long as possible! But in actuallity, I don't believe there are any good books out on Bush yet, and as far as Clinton is concerned, the only books out there are either fawning tributes or right-wing drivel - no middle ground yet. And frankly, he's young enough that he could still do something decent with his life ;-) And who knows what sort of job Obama will give him (in charge of hiring White House interns?). So his life remains to be seen.

Okay, so when I tell people that I am doing this little project, after they stop the 'We are not worthy' chants, they typically ask me several questions, some of which I can repeat here (this IS a family blog, ya know).....

1) What have you learned?

2) Who is your favorite President?

3) Who is your least favorite President?

In no particular order (strange, since I numbered them!), and across several posts, I'll provide answers!

My favorite President is John Adams. He had an amazing career - being both 'present at the Creation' and very involved in foreign affairs in the early years of the country, so he had a chance to see the new country both through the eyes of new Americans but also from the vantage point of England and France, the two dominant powers in the world at the time. He also left an amazing amount of correspondance behind, as he constantly wrote to his wife Abigail. They had a very close relationship and she provided him with a lot of political advice and news from home. They also both had great humor and were constantly displaying it in their letters. Adams was also one of the first to try to separate himself, as President, from political parties (which sunk his attempt for a second term). He could also be quite tart with people and, in the way of the times, was very good at insulting people while seeming to compliment them. He was also very attached to his home in Braintree (which is now in Quincy) and his farm. He was very much a man of the earth and the people.

Second place would have to be a tie between Lincoln and Truman. Lincoln probably has a slight edge, probably because he had a wonderful sense of humor (mostly self-deprecating) and he used it to great effect during the Civil War. He obviously had one of, if not THE most, difficult Presidencies of any of the 43 men (to date) that have held the job. Talk about the right guy at the right time (more about that later).

Truman is 2A probably because he again, had a great - if coarse - sense of humor and also had a very difficult job - following someone who was an icon, FDR, President for 12 years, who was so entrenched in the White House. Truman also had about zero preparation. FDR, in one of the most amazing - and selfish - acts ever seen in the White House, told Truman basically nothng about how the war was going and the existence of the Manhattan Project, the effort to build the atomic bomb. FDR knew he was dying yet purposefully chose to spend almost no time with Truman, prepping him for the job. Amazing. Truman had his ups and downs in the Presidency, but is one of my favorites because of the hurdles he successfully overcame and his 'Buck Stops Here' attitude towards the job.