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The President Is Dead!: The Extraordinary Stories of Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond
A fun, anecdote-filled, encyclopedic look at the circumstances surrounding the deaths of every president and a few “almost presidents,” such as Jefferson Davis.Packed with fun facts and presidential trivia, The President Is Dead! tells you everything you could possibly want to know about how our presidents, from George Washington to Gerald Ford (who was the most recent president to die), met their ends, the circumstances of their deaths, the pomp of their funerals, and their public afterlives, including stories of attempted grave robbings, reinterments, vandalism, conspiracy theories surrounding their deaths, and much more.The President Is Dead! is filled with never-before-told stories, including a suggestion by one prominent physician to resurrect George Washington from death by transfusing his body with lamb’s blood. You may have heard of a plot to rob Abraham Lincoln’s body from its grave site, but did you know that there was also attempts to steal Benjamin Harrison's and Andrew Jackson’s remains? The book also includes “Critical Death Information,” which prefaces each chapter, and a complete visitor’s guide to each grave site and death-related historical landmark. An “Almost Presidents” section includes chapters on John Hanson (first president under the Articles of Confederation), Sam Houston (former president of the Republic of Texas), David Rice Atchison (president for a day), and Jefferson Davis. Exhaustively researched, The President Is Dead! is richly layered with colorful facts and entertaining stories about how the presidents have passed. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2016
123 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
Louis L. Picone
8 books26 followersLouis L. Picone is the award-winning author of "Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon", "The President Is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond" and "Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces."
Louis is a member of the Ulysses S. Grant Monument Association, Authors Guild and American Historical Association and is also a trustee on the board of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association in Caldwell, NJ. He holds a Masters in History and also teaches at William Paterson University
Louis has spoken widely on the topic of the presidents and the places we commemorate them, including Morristown National Historical Park, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, and the international conference "U.S. Presidents and Russian Rulers" at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. After the passing of President George H.W. Bush, Louis was interviewed by the BBC, NPR, Washington Post, and New York Times to discuss the former president's legacy and the history of presidential funerals. he has also appeared on C-SPAN & the television program "American Mystery" on the Travel Channel to discuss the mystery of JFK's missing brain
Louis is a member of the Ulysses S. Grant Monument Association, Authors Guild and American Historical Association and is also a trustee on the board of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association in Caldwell, NJ. He holds a Masters in History and also teaches at William Paterson University
Louis has spoken widely on the topic of the presidents and the places we commemorate them, including Morristown National Historical Park, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, and the international conference "U.S. Presidents and Russian Rulers" at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. After the passing of President George H.W. Bush, Louis was interviewed by the BBC, NPR, Washington Post, and New York Times to discuss the former president's legacy and the history of presidential funerals. he has also appeared on C-SPAN & the television program "American Mystery" on the Travel Channel to discuss the mystery of JFK's missing brain
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 28, 2025
A little side quest on my presidential reading project. This book was way more interesting than I thought it would be. I love that it included "almost presidents" and it had lots of new things to add to my useless trivia.
Such As:
-George Washington's burial site was once known as America's Mecca
- Jefferson and Adams near simultaneous deaths is known as "the most remarkable neurological coincidence in American history "
- Theodore Roosevelt formally named the Executive Mansion "The White House"
-Theodore Roosevelt had a cup of coffee that he referred to as "Good to the last drop" at a hotel named Maxwell House
-The 1840s were the deadliest decade for presidents. Four died.
- By the 1850s 8 presidents had died in either June or July
-When John Tyler died President Abraham Lincoln intentionally made no official statement
- Throughout most of American history presidents graves were not kept up or seen as special in anyway.
-3 Ohio-born Presidents died in office
-No presidents died in the 1950s
This book came out in 2016 so it obviously doesn't include Bush Sr or Jimmy Carter. I really enjoyed this book. I'm a morbid little freak so anything death-related fascinates me. So if you are like me a morbid little history lover, I think you'll enjoy it.
Such As:
-George Washington's burial site was once known as America's Mecca
- Jefferson and Adams near simultaneous deaths is known as "the most remarkable neurological coincidence in American history "
- Theodore Roosevelt formally named the Executive Mansion "The White House"
-Theodore Roosevelt had a cup of coffee that he referred to as "Good to the last drop" at a hotel named Maxwell House
-The 1840s were the deadliest decade for presidents. Four died.
- By the 1850s 8 presidents had died in either June or July
-When John Tyler died President Abraham Lincoln intentionally made no official statement
- Throughout most of American history presidents graves were not kept up or seen as special in anyway.
-3 Ohio-born Presidents died in office
-No presidents died in the 1950s
This book came out in 2016 so it obviously doesn't include Bush Sr or Jimmy Carter. I really enjoyed this book. I'm a morbid little freak so anything death-related fascinates me. So if you are like me a morbid little history lover, I think you'll enjoy it.
March 28, 2017
In this non fiction book, we examine the deaths of all of the presidents who have passed away so far. I will fully admit that I did not read this cover to cover; the stories of the deaths were all very interesting, but the sections about where they were buried and their funerals and who attended was less so. But some of the stories were truly fascinating, in particular how Garfield's death occurred (it wasn't the assassination that killed him!). Overall, this was a very well researched book that I appreciated and had an insurmountable level of detail.
October 3, 2020
A little depressing (no surprise considering the subject matter), but a good, off-beat history book.
March 23, 2017
Very interesting book how and when every American President died. A excellent reference book on the subject. Enjoy!
March 22, 2017
I enjoy this kind of book. Lots of fun facts.........interesting things about the deaths of presidents and 'almost' presidents. Another quick read from Book Bub while on vacation at the beach.
May 1, 2018
I was very disappointed in this book. While the information it does include is, for the most part, interesting, what’s notable is all that it leaves out.
For example, very little information is given on the presidents’ families, even though they are the ones who would feel the loss most keenly. I wanted to hear about the wives because they are frequently the ones interred in the same tombs. During the chapter on John Adams, the author mentions that he was eventually entombed with his wife Abigail, but gives no further information. I had to look up- was she alive at the time of his death? (No).
The books also made no mention of little Eddie Lincoln, the son who predeceased his father by 15 years and was later reinterred to the famous Lincoln tomb in Springfield. Most surprisingly, while the author offhandedly mentions that a picture of the Lincoln deathbed scene is factually inaccurate as Tad was not present at his father’s side, he doesn’t tell the sad yet interesting story of Tad on that night. Tad did not find out his father was assassinated from a friend or family member, but was rather at a performance of Aladdin at another theater and found out at the same time the rest of the audience did- when someone came out on stage with the announcement that the president had been shot. Tad was heard to scream, “They killed papa dead!” before being whisked away to the White House, where he spent the rest of the night alone. Tad was so much an afterthought in his father’s death that it strikes me as somewhat sad that he was less than an afterthought in this book.
There were many other family members who were interred with their presidential fathers or husbands who were given little or no time at all, including Calvin Coolidge’s son, who died suddenly as a teenager of a sports-related infection while Coolidge was actually in office! If you’re going to write a book about presidential deaths and burials, at least include all the interesting stories surrounding their tombs, including the people interred there with them.
Another large piece of family information left out of the book was anything to do with Sally Hemmings. DNA (as well as family history) has conclusively proven that Thomas Jefferson did have children with his slave and the book Dead Presidents by Brady Carlson (a better book on the same subject) delved into the Hemmings descendant struggle to be buried in the Jefferson plot with their other relatives. THAT is an interesting story that still has repercussions today- and yet they’re not mentioned as faily members at all.
There’s so much random information I’ve picked up over the years on presidential deaths and assassinations that I expected to be in this book, and just isn’t. The information that is presented, on the other hand, is often very dry and somewhat unnecessary. I’d rather hear about Tad Lincoln than about how many horses pulled the caisson with the casket and what color they were. I’m more interested in the Jefferson-Hemmings story than in the exact streets Grover Cleveland’s body took in his funeral procession throug Princeton, New Jersey.
At the end there’s a chapter on “Almost Presidents” which seemed promising and contained information I hadn’t read anywhere else, but this too was disappointing. Two of the men don’t really count as almost presidents (the first was acknowledged by the author as one of like 14 men who held that same position and the other was sort of president on a technicality for a day except that, as the author points out, his term hadn’t officially started yet either so even this designation isn’t quite true). The others include Sam Houston, President of Texas (whose chapter was interesting and who I admittedly know little about, and his status as president of a nation that soon became a state is certainly unique) and Jefferson Davis, whose status as the Traitor President makes it somehow offensive to end this book on American presidents with him. He was never an American president. He was president of a rebelling “nation” at war with a legitimate American president who didn’t have the luxury of a long life like Davis had.
What is disappointing is that this chapter could have had so much potential. If you’re including Sam Houston, leader of a sovereign nation that became a state, why not include Queen Lili’uokalani, last leader of a sovereign Hawaii before it became part of the United States? Sure, she’s not a president, but certainly she’s more deserving of her place in history than the two forgetable men included and the man who actively rebelled against his own nation because of how much he valued the right to own other people. Or what about presidential nominees who never lived to the election? I’d rather get more details on Robert Kennedy’s assassination and funeral (as well as the death of an American dream) than read about a man who was so forgotten they actually have no idea where his body currently rests.
The author also betrayed his own political leanings, calling the New York Times known for a liberal bent (he did this with no other newspaper and in fact offered no other media analysis than this) and acting as a Nixon apologist (something he did for no other president, including Buchanan or Harding). It detracted from any idea that he may be a neutral scholar when it came to the later presidential deaths and funerals. By this point I was already fed up with the book anyways so perhaps it was just another reason to be angry, but at this point I wasn’t in the mood to be forgiving when so much pertinent information was left out yet the author had time to be partisan.
Of course, the book wasn’t bad in itself. I did learn a lot, but couldn’t help but wonder if I was missing out on some major details he just didn’t include because he- I don’t know, didn’t feel like it?- based on the things I DID know were left out. There is certainly a focus on the minutiae of presidential funerals at the expense of personal relationships.
I DO recommend this book, however, for anyone interested in presidential deaths. There’s a lot of information here. But it should only be used as a supplemental source rather than a main one.
For example, very little information is given on the presidents’ families, even though they are the ones who would feel the loss most keenly. I wanted to hear about the wives because they are frequently the ones interred in the same tombs. During the chapter on John Adams, the author mentions that he was eventually entombed with his wife Abigail, but gives no further information. I had to look up- was she alive at the time of his death? (No).
The books also made no mention of little Eddie Lincoln, the son who predeceased his father by 15 years and was later reinterred to the famous Lincoln tomb in Springfield. Most surprisingly, while the author offhandedly mentions that a picture of the Lincoln deathbed scene is factually inaccurate as Tad was not present at his father’s side, he doesn’t tell the sad yet interesting story of Tad on that night. Tad did not find out his father was assassinated from a friend or family member, but was rather at a performance of Aladdin at another theater and found out at the same time the rest of the audience did- when someone came out on stage with the announcement that the president had been shot. Tad was heard to scream, “They killed papa dead!” before being whisked away to the White House, where he spent the rest of the night alone. Tad was so much an afterthought in his father’s death that it strikes me as somewhat sad that he was less than an afterthought in this book.
There were many other family members who were interred with their presidential fathers or husbands who were given little or no time at all, including Calvin Coolidge’s son, who died suddenly as a teenager of a sports-related infection while Coolidge was actually in office! If you’re going to write a book about presidential deaths and burials, at least include all the interesting stories surrounding their tombs, including the people interred there with them.
Another large piece of family information left out of the book was anything to do with Sally Hemmings. DNA (as well as family history) has conclusively proven that Thomas Jefferson did have children with his slave and the book Dead Presidents by Brady Carlson (a better book on the same subject) delved into the Hemmings descendant struggle to be buried in the Jefferson plot with their other relatives. THAT is an interesting story that still has repercussions today- and yet they’re not mentioned as faily members at all.
There’s so much random information I’ve picked up over the years on presidential deaths and assassinations that I expected to be in this book, and just isn’t. The information that is presented, on the other hand, is often very dry and somewhat unnecessary. I’d rather hear about Tad Lincoln than about how many horses pulled the caisson with the casket and what color they were. I’m more interested in the Jefferson-Hemmings story than in the exact streets Grover Cleveland’s body took in his funeral procession throug Princeton, New Jersey.
At the end there’s a chapter on “Almost Presidents” which seemed promising and contained information I hadn’t read anywhere else, but this too was disappointing. Two of the men don’t really count as almost presidents (the first was acknowledged by the author as one of like 14 men who held that same position and the other was sort of president on a technicality for a day except that, as the author points out, his term hadn’t officially started yet either so even this designation isn’t quite true). The others include Sam Houston, President of Texas (whose chapter was interesting and who I admittedly know little about, and his status as president of a nation that soon became a state is certainly unique) and Jefferson Davis, whose status as the Traitor President makes it somehow offensive to end this book on American presidents with him. He was never an American president. He was president of a rebelling “nation” at war with a legitimate American president who didn’t have the luxury of a long life like Davis had.
What is disappointing is that this chapter could have had so much potential. If you’re including Sam Houston, leader of a sovereign nation that became a state, why not include Queen Lili’uokalani, last leader of a sovereign Hawaii before it became part of the United States? Sure, she’s not a president, but certainly she’s more deserving of her place in history than the two forgetable men included and the man who actively rebelled against his own nation because of how much he valued the right to own other people. Or what about presidential nominees who never lived to the election? I’d rather get more details on Robert Kennedy’s assassination and funeral (as well as the death of an American dream) than read about a man who was so forgotten they actually have no idea where his body currently rests.
The author also betrayed his own political leanings, calling the New York Times known for a liberal bent (he did this with no other newspaper and in fact offered no other media analysis than this) and acting as a Nixon apologist (something he did for no other president, including Buchanan or Harding). It detracted from any idea that he may be a neutral scholar when it came to the later presidential deaths and funerals. By this point I was already fed up with the book anyways so perhaps it was just another reason to be angry, but at this point I wasn’t in the mood to be forgiving when so much pertinent information was left out yet the author had time to be partisan.
Of course, the book wasn’t bad in itself. I did learn a lot, but couldn’t help but wonder if I was missing out on some major details he just didn’t include because he- I don’t know, didn’t feel like it?- based on the things I DID know were left out. There is certainly a focus on the minutiae of presidential funerals at the expense of personal relationships.
I DO recommend this book, however, for anyone interested in presidential deaths. There’s a lot of information here. But it should only be used as a supplemental source rather than a main one.
January 17, 2017
First, while this looks like a tome to read, I actually waded through it in about the course of an afternoon. This mostly due to my own speedy reading and also to the skimming of some...excruciatingly long winded details about some of these funerals. Lincoln's in particular was far too long...
However, the overviews of the places of death (usually homes or short-term residences) and the graves themselves are interesting. Particularly those (like in the case of Lincoln) who have been several times re-interred or had updates to their final resting places. It is also interesting to see how many former presidents I can also visit while going to their Presidential Libraries. That seems, to me, a fine place to be buried; steps away from a library.
Over all, the book is an entertaining enough summation of the deaths and after-deaths of every president who has left us. The author is also kind enough to give us a "preview" of sorts of our still-living presidents and our "almost-kind-of-sort-of" presidents (such as Jefferson Davis).
However, the overviews of the places of death (usually homes or short-term residences) and the graves themselves are interesting. Particularly those (like in the case of Lincoln) who have been several times re-interred or had updates to their final resting places. It is also interesting to see how many former presidents I can also visit while going to their Presidential Libraries. That seems, to me, a fine place to be buried; steps away from a library.
Over all, the book is an entertaining enough summation of the deaths and after-deaths of every president who has left us. The author is also kind enough to give us a "preview" of sorts of our still-living presidents and our "almost-kind-of-sort-of" presidents (such as Jefferson Davis).
October 27, 2019
Very well written and highly knowledgable.
I am interested in presidential history and found this book very interesting and the details were accurate and thorough. I highly recommend it to history buffs. And anyone curious enough to wonder how our founding fathers died. Cheers to Louis Pick me for teaching me many facts on our presidents passings.
I am interested in presidential history and found this book very interesting and the details were accurate and thorough. I highly recommend it to history buffs. And anyone curious enough to wonder how our founding fathers died. Cheers to Louis Pick me for teaching me many facts on our presidents passings.
June 23, 2021
Louis Picone's "The President is Dead!: The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials and Beyond" is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in the deaths of the US Presidents as well as 4 individuals from history with that title for various reason. The book is organized in order by date of death ranging from George Washington to at the time Gerald Ford. Each piece explains the circumstances of the death & at times also the harrowing journey for these men to be buried as well as the upkeep of the graves some of which is also appalling. According to the author this book took 5 years to put together & with the amount of detail put into it we the reader can definitely appreciate what he did. This is definitely a book that I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in US & presidential history. If I have one minor wish though it is that as future US Presidents die (and one has since this books publication in 2016) that those stories would be included to keep this treasure of info up to date for readers in years to come.
October 17, 2024
Not what I was expecting, but I'm not totally mad about it.
I thought this was going to be just about the presidents who died in office, but it's actually about the death of every president from Washington to Bush 41. It was a little confusing in the middle, as the chapters are in order of death, not order of presidency, and overall it was a little dry - almost more of a travel guide than a history book.
However, there's a lot of interesting information in here - almost too much information - more trivia than one can easily absorb. Also, the morbid subject matter was appropriate for spooky season, and it has inspired me to add more presidential grave sites to by "To See" list.
I thought this was going to be just about the presidents who died in office, but it's actually about the death of every president from Washington to Bush 41. It was a little confusing in the middle, as the chapters are in order of death, not order of presidency, and overall it was a little dry - almost more of a travel guide than a history book.
However, there's a lot of interesting information in here - almost too much information - more trivia than one can easily absorb. Also, the morbid subject matter was appropriate for spooky season, and it has inspired me to add more presidential grave sites to by "To See" list.
November 8, 2020
This was thoroughly enjoyable! The author has amazing detail on each President, great photos and details for each site you can visit be it where a President died or where they are buried. Plus great stories, very readable.
July 10, 2022
Informative and delightful
August 14, 2022
What the Hell.
June 20, 2023
Grave Robbers??
Great book and very detailed in each story told.
Learned alot about important people in our past.
Mr. Picone does a masterful job to explain it all.
Great book and very detailed in each story told.
Learned alot about important people in our past.
Mr. Picone does a masterful job to explain it all.
September 27, 2023
Fantastic read on the death of every President. Great anecdotes throughout!
January 15, 2024
2.5. The stories of the deaths were often interesting, but I wasn't much interested in the burials.
August 31, 2024
I love these kinds of books. Picone provides a lot of trivia on presidential deaths without getting bogged down in the details.
February 16, 2021
Probably not for everyone, but I really found this fascinating!!!
November 17, 2016
For history fans, and I can't see anyone else being particularly drawn to this, the book is a treasure trove of facts. Exhaustively researched and informative without being too much of a textbook the detailed minutiae can become overwhelming after a while.
One unique aspect which adds the flow of history to the book is the decision of the author to place the president's stories in the sequence of their passings rather than a straight order in which they served. By doing so it provides some surprises for the reader, for instance that the first president to die after FDR was JFK nearly 20 years afterwards.
One unique aspect which adds the flow of history to the book is the decision of the author to place the president's stories in the sequence of their passings rather than a straight order in which they served. By doing so it provides some surprises for the reader, for instance that the first president to die after FDR was JFK nearly 20 years afterwards.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews