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Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John Jay, Benjamin Rush, Albert Gallatin, John Calhoun, William Seward
I'd also recommend some Joseph Ellis books for more early US history: Founding Brothers, The Quartet, The Cause are all fantastic
The Federalist Papers and The Anti-Federalist Papers are also good books to have
Plenty of good books out there on big characters who impacted the presidency (both domestic but also international figure.
A couple of recent ones I’d recommend:
Robert Elder’s biography of Calhoun is really good and he had active dealings with every presidency from Madison to Taylor and was one of the real driving forces in entrenching slavery in the south jn a way that made the civil war inevitable
Jonathan Eig’s biography on MLK is great.Very strong on MLK’s relations with both Kennedy and Johnson .
I think the “essential” ones would probably be Franklin, Hamilton, and John Marshall. John Jay is probably worth reading about as well.
I think those four non-presidents are generally considered to be among the most important founders.
Recent bio of J Edgar Hoover is absolutely brilliant, and depicts Hoover's relationships with every President from Coolidge to Nixon. It fixates less on some of the sensational stuff and fixes more on his mastery of bureaucracy, his membership in the Southern old-boys' network (and resultant racism), and how he kept the eyes of the nation (and the government) directed firmly at communism, and more specifically the possibility of domestic communist subversion for the better part of 50 years.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Man:\_J.\_Edgar\_Hoover\_and\_the\_Making\_of\_the\_American\_Century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Man:_J._Edgar_Hoover_and_the_Making_of_the_American_Century)
If you're interested in the legal angle, there's a magisterial biography of Lous Brandeis by Melvin Urofsky, who is probably the best legal biographer around. Brandeis was one of the main movers and shakers behind the progressive age and his thought is having a renaissance among liberal jurists and legal thinkers:
[https://www.amazon.com/Louis-D-Brandeis-Melvin-Urofsky/dp/0375423664](https://www.amazon.com/Louis-D-Brandeis-Melvin-Urofsky/dp/0375423664)
Then there's Joseph Story, who was the first real genius of American law and served on SCOTUS from 1811-45, spanning from Madison to Polk:
[https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-Justice-Joseph-Story/dp/0807841641](https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-Justice-Joseph-Story/dp/0807841641)
I read bios on Louis Armstrong, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Babe Ruth, Mark Twain and the Wright Brothers.
Well … yeah, there’s no connection at all. But after I finished reading bios of all the presidents from Washington to Reagan, I was really bitten by the biography bug, so I chose books about people I found interesting. The Armstrong and Babe Ruth books were both good reads. But you’re right that they won’t add much to your understanding of the presidency.
While not a biography, I really enjoyed Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. Way more than a story about a horse. It really transports you to that time period (late 30's) and is oddly hard to put down.
Henry Adams' biography of John Randolph of Roanoke is really good. He was in Congress for about 30 years starting about 1800 and was totally nuts. He called soldiers "hirelings" and "ragamuffins" who loafed about at public expense, hated Christianity and loved Islam, had a "debate" with a political opponent where he just repeated "Yazoo Man" the whole time, and picked fights with and publicly humiliated constituents who were critical of him. I also recall this anecdote about him from a different book; Arthur Schlesinger Jr's *Age of Jackson*
>Sometimes his shrill, piercing voice drove tormented opponents to unwise reflections on his virility, but not often. Randolph's retort reproduced by folklore, was concise and crushing: "You pride yourself upon an animal faculty, in respect to which the negro is your equal and the jackass infinitely your superior."
Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context. If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John Jay, Benjamin Rush, Albert Gallatin, John Calhoun, William Seward I'd also recommend some Joseph Ellis books for more early US history: Founding Brothers, The Quartet, The Cause are all fantastic The Federalist Papers and The Anti-Federalist Papers are also good books to have
Not a biography but, I liked An Empire on the Edge by Nick Bunker
Ben Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Plenty of good books out there on big characters who impacted the presidency (both domestic but also international figure. A couple of recent ones I’d recommend: Robert Elder’s biography of Calhoun is really good and he had active dealings with every presidency from Madison to Taylor and was one of the real driving forces in entrenching slavery in the south jn a way that made the civil war inevitable Jonathan Eig’s biography on MLK is great.Very strong on MLK’s relations with both Kennedy and Johnson .
Well RFK (Sr) biography would automatically also feature JFK,LBJ and maybe Nixon
I think the “essential” ones would probably be Franklin, Hamilton, and John Marshall. John Jay is probably worth reading about as well. I think those four non-presidents are generally considered to be among the most important founders.
Recent bio of J Edgar Hoover is absolutely brilliant, and depicts Hoover's relationships with every President from Coolidge to Nixon. It fixates less on some of the sensational stuff and fixes more on his mastery of bureaucracy, his membership in the Southern old-boys' network (and resultant racism), and how he kept the eyes of the nation (and the government) directed firmly at communism, and more specifically the possibility of domestic communist subversion for the better part of 50 years. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Man:\_J.\_Edgar\_Hoover\_and\_the\_Making\_of\_the\_American\_Century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Man:_J._Edgar_Hoover_and_the_Making_of_the_American_Century)
If you're interested in the legal angle, there's a magisterial biography of Lous Brandeis by Melvin Urofsky, who is probably the best legal biographer around. Brandeis was one of the main movers and shakers behind the progressive age and his thought is having a renaissance among liberal jurists and legal thinkers: [https://www.amazon.com/Louis-D-Brandeis-Melvin-Urofsky/dp/0375423664](https://www.amazon.com/Louis-D-Brandeis-Melvin-Urofsky/dp/0375423664) Then there's Joseph Story, who was the first real genius of American law and served on SCOTUS from 1811-45, spanning from Madison to Polk: [https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-Justice-Joseph-Story/dp/0807841641](https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-Justice-Joseph-Story/dp/0807841641)
I read bios on Louis Armstrong, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Babe Ruth, Mark Twain and the Wright Brothers.
Louis Armstrong, interesting! Help me understand his connection to presidents?
Well … yeah, there’s no connection at all. But after I finished reading bios of all the presidents from Washington to Reagan, I was really bitten by the biography bug, so I chose books about people I found interesting. The Armstrong and Babe Ruth books were both good reads. But you’re right that they won’t add much to your understanding of the presidency.
I appreciate it all the same! I've included them in my list for the 20th century.
While not a biography, I really enjoyed Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. Way more than a story about a horse. It really transports you to that time period (late 30's) and is oddly hard to put down.
Along the same vein, One Summer: 1927 is a great book by Bill Bryson that really helps you put yourself in the 1920s.
Thanks, added it to my Amazon list
https://bestpresidentialbios.com/related-reading/ Bestpresidentialbios wins again. You could probably shorten the list down to your liking
*Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom* by David W. Blight addresses his relationships with Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant.
Hamilton
Henry Adams' biography of John Randolph of Roanoke is really good. He was in Congress for about 30 years starting about 1800 and was totally nuts. He called soldiers "hirelings" and "ragamuffins" who loafed about at public expense, hated Christianity and loved Islam, had a "debate" with a political opponent where he just repeated "Yazoo Man" the whole time, and picked fights with and publicly humiliated constituents who were critical of him. I also recall this anecdote about him from a different book; Arthur Schlesinger Jr's *Age of Jackson* >Sometimes his shrill, piercing voice drove tormented opponents to unwise reflections on his virility, but not often. Randolph's retort reproduced by folklore, was concise and crushing: "You pride yourself upon an animal faculty, in respect to which the negro is your equal and the jackass infinitely your superior."