Alias Presidential book Challenge

[Alias Reader]

Thank you, Lisa. It's a lifetime challenge.

[madrano]

Lisa Ann, it's a lifetime commitment for me. Sometimes i wonder if i'll ever "want" to read some of them, particularly the ones whose administrations i experienced as a citizen. We'll see.

[Vance]

So I've read a fair amount on US Presidents. To share, would you suggest I create a "list" (was unaware of these, but looks possible from other comments on this thread), or create a list and paste in (w/links to titles)?

[Alias Reader]

Vance wrote: "So I've read a fair amount on US Presidents. To share, would you suggest I create a "list" (was unaware of these, but looks possible from other comments on this thread), or create a list and paste ..."

Hi Vance. Usually I don't allow members to create threads as it makes it easier for me to manage the board.

However, you are allowed to do so to create a Presidential list for a challenge and also for the yearly Determination list of books you wish to read.

As to the Presidential challenge list. Some of us are determined to read at least one book on each president. You can skip around or read from Washington forward. Your choice.

I look forward to reading your list !

title your thread: Vance's Presidential Determination List

[Vance]

I am hesitant to "challenge" others, though it might motivate me, lol.

I do some travel writing and recently penned a series on Presidential homes to tour. An eye opening experience...did you know that there are two grandsons of John Tyler (president in 1841) still alive! Here's the story: http://blog.sujatravel.com/?s=tyler&a...

Travels have me focused on other pursuits at the moment (will canoe the Rio Grande for four days through Boquillas Canyon the first week of April), but I could return to Presidents.

Bottom line is that I have no motivation to focus upon presidential biographies at the moment (despite great attraction)...are you okay if I begin a thread given that background?

Thank you,
Vance

[Alias Reader]

Vance wrote: "I am hesitant to "challenge" others, though it might motivate me, lol.

I do some travel writing and recently penned a series on Presidential homes to tour. An eye opening experience...did you know..."

The Determination book challenge is for yourself not others. It books you are challenging yourself to read.

We have two Folders where you can start your own thread.
1- Presidential challenge
2- Determination book challenge.

We have a general book challenge that would be for books you want to read during 2019.

Feel free to start a thread for that.
You will find it in the
Folder: Determination Lists & Challenges
start a Thread for your 2019 books (whatever way you choose the books and genre is totally up to you.)

If you want to discuss a book you wrote go to the
Folder: General Conversation
Write in the Thread: Author's Corner. No need to start a thread here, just post in the Author's Corner thread.

Thanks.

[Madrano]

Vance, I'm not a terrific one for moving quickly through my Determination Lists for the President's but seeing it reminds me of my goal. You can always give it a try.

A few years ago my husband & i were in Va. But Tyler's house was not open to the public because those two grandsons were alive. Apparently one was living there at the time. I was sorry to miss it, as we learned much from others in the state.

[Vance]

Yes, it is also the oldest (possibly only) presidential home remaining privately owned by the family. Do not think either brother lives there full time any longer, but only half of the home is open to the public (other family members "drop in" for short visits, but no ongoing residents).

[Madrano]

Elsewhere on this board Alias Reader mentioned Harry Truman and that he was an "accidental " President. Tyler was our first and he was actually called "His Accidency" by detractors. It's an amusing title but I'm sure he despised it. It's remarkable his grandsons are still alive!

[Vance]

lol, yes - Tyler was the original accidental. Named his homestead "Sherwood Forest" because he claimed everyone thought he was an outlaw!

[Madrano]

Funny! I wondered about that name.

[Alias Reader]

I need to select a bio of a president for my Determination List challenge. I already own quite a few. Now I just need to select one.

[Luffy Sempai]

Alias Reader wrote: "I need to select a bio of a president for my Determination List challenge. I already own quite a few. Now I just need to select one."

What are a couple of the high profile ones in your books, Alias?

[Alias Reader]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote:

What are a couple of the high profile ones in your books, Alias?..."

Some of these are big books. I don't want to tackle that now as I'm trying to finish up the various challenges I'm doing. Also with the really big books, I've also purchased audio to read along with. That slows me down.

I think I'm going to go with the John Quincy Adams book. It's going to feel odd as it's a paperback book. I've read eBooks almost exclusively since the pandemic started.

These are the ones I currently own that are unread.

The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth

John Quincy Adams

Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

Truman

The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960–1963

Richard Nixon: The Life

Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President

William Henry Harrison: The Life and Legacy of the First American President to Die in Office

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

[Alias Reader]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "I need to select a bio of a president for my Determination List challenge. I already own quite a few. Now I just need to select one."

What are a couple of the high profile one..."

I set up your Book Buddy Thread... Enjoy !

[Luffy Sempai]

Alias Reader wrote: "Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote:

What are a couple of the high profile ones in your books, Alias?..."

Some of these are big books. I don't want to tackle that now as I'm trying to finish up the vari..."

I have read Truman. It took me more than a month. I'm intrigued in that you are SLOWED down by audiobooks while many readers listen at x2 speed to finish their goals.

[Luffy Sempai]

Alias Reader wrote: "Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "I need to select a bio of a president for my Determination List challenge. I already own quite a few. Now I just need to select one."

What are a ..."

Yes, I know. It was set up very fast!

[Alias Reader]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: I'm intrigued in that you are SLOWED down by audiobooks while many readers listen at x2 speed to finish their goal.."

For certain books, mostly non fiction, that I want to retain the information, what I do is listen as I read along with the text. I'll also stop and take notes. So all that slows me down.

For some audiobooks that are light easy reads that I'm reading only for enjoyment, I sometimes will speed up the audio.

[madrano]

Alias, the only book from your list that i've read is the last, written by Jon Meacham. Yes, i learned much and liked it, given insights into D.C. in his years. However, as you know, their youth is important to me with these Presidential Bios, and this one was quite lacking.

Btw, if you ever read the first from this post, i'd like to know your thoughts. While the surgery was mentioned An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland--H. Paul Jeffers, i wouldn't have thought it was book-worthy. However, one must make note of the title Matthew Algeo title, The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth. It doesn't reflect well on the Jeffers bio, does it? LOL

ANYway, your post reminds me to check out my own Presidential DL. Thank you.

[Michele]

It seems to me that one is never finished with great man bios. Every year I end up reading half a dozen books about presidents or First Ladies or world leaders. I'm beginning to gravitate to the ones that take on a piece of the story, like Ted Widmer's book about getting Lincoln to Washington alive in 1861, or the one on my list this year about the last years of FDR (His Final Battle). Great project, Alias, and good luck.

[Alias Reader]

Thank you, Michele. Both Deb and I are doing this lifelong challenge.

[madrano]

Michele, i think those "piece of the story" books are fascinating. They can include the details a full bio edits away. And, usually, we learn much more about the era, as well. I recall really liking Dinner at Mr. Jefferson's: Three Men, Five Great Wines, and the Evening That Changed America--Charles A. Cerami. It zeroed in on working out a compromise for the post-Revolutionary War debt and the actual site for the country's capital. Jefferson concluded a nice dinner party would move the participants to an agreement.

[Julie]

Alias Reader wrote: "My goal is to read at least one book on each president.

The following don't fit the challenge but I want to keep track of them.

* books authored by a president that don't fit the challenge but I ..."

Good luck. I do like biographies and non-fiction!

[Alias Reader]

Thank you, Julie. It's a life long challenge.

[Alias Reader]

I checked off McKinley !

5/2025 The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century
20th Century

[madrano]

Hurrah! I hope the book covered his devotion to his wife, a fragile woman, after many family deaths in short order.

Well done.

[John]

Of the ones on your list, I'm a bit biased having read Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams to see your impressions of her husband.

[Alias Reader]

John wrote: "Of the ones on your list, I'm a bit biased having read Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams to see your impressions of her husband."

I did read Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage by Edith B. Gelles back in 2013. I see from my journal I gave it an above average rating of 4/5.

I will add the book you mentioned to my TBR. Thanks !

[madrano]

Same here. Thank you, John.

[Alias Reader]

I checked off a book for John Q. Adams. I'll review it in the Sept. Book Salon. I enjoyed it a lot.

9/2025
6. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams - Harlow Giles Unger

[madrano]

Well done! I'm glad to hear that you liked it, Alias. I liked Harlow Giles Unger's biography of James Madison in The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness.

He writes clearly and covers much of what i like to know. Upon completing my Presidential bio quest, i hope to begin either ones on First Ladies or, more likely, famous colonial & early US democracy figures. Unger has written about several, so i'd like to use his. Below are the ones i most want to read.

John Marshall: The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation

John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot

Dr. Benjamin Rush: The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote:

He writes clearly and covers much of what i like to know. Upon completing my Presidential bio quest, i hope to begin either ones on First Ladies or, more likely, famous colonial & early US democracy figures. Unger has written about several, so i'd like to use his. Below are the ones i most want to read."

I still have a ways to go to completing my Presidents list. The problem is I keep reading multiple books on presidents who lived in interesting times ! LOL I've mixed in some First Ladies to the list. They help me understand the man and the era too.

I own The Last Founding Father. I got the eBook last month for I think $2.

Even though I've read a few on Nixon, there are so many on my TBR list about him that I still want to read. I own Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America and that author has already come out with a second book. Once again, my never ending quest to catch up! It's never going to happen.

When you do get to reading the First Ladies bios and Martha Washington I can recommend a terrific book. Martha Washington: An American Life----Patricia Brady

[madrano]

I read & liked the Brady book on Martha. It appears she's written only one other about a Presidential spouse & that was a combo bio of Rachel & Andrew Jackson. She never made it to the White House, dying not long before he was inaugurated.

Unlike you, i try not to get distracted by the era in which these Presidents lived. It's tempting but i do so hope to be able to complete the list before i die. lol--this means No Distractions.

I look forward to reading your comments on the Monroe bio, when you read it, Alias.

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote:
"Unlike you, i try not to get distracted by the era in which these Presidents lived. It's tempting but i do so hope to be able to complete the list before i die. lol--this means No Distractions..."

I think this is why the presidents challenge appeals to me. I think it's a great way to get a historical timeline of events and people.

We have to hope for future presidents to serve two terms! :)

Speaking of First Ladies, I know we discussed this at some point, but C-Span had a wonderful weekly series on each first lady. It's a wonderful resource when looking for books on them as they often had the author on. You can access the info online.

https://firstladies.c-span.org/

[madrano]

Yes, i will be using that C-Span series as the basis for my reading, when the time comes.

Totally agree about 2-terms for Prez, fewer bios! lol