ITT submit yore votes for the most definitive biographies of US Presidents--"definitive" here meaning both historically comprehensive and enjoyable to read. For the purposes of this discussion, I'm also eliminating either autobiographies or biographies penned by family members or close friends. I'm shoring up my off-season reading list and would appreciate some recommendations. Here are the ones commended to me thus far. If a president isn't listed here, it's because nobody's recommended to me a really killer biography as yet. I'm making the cutoff here the Reagan Administration; with Bush 41 so recently deceased and the remaining presidents still living, we're not likely to have anything like a truly "definitive" biography just yet. There are quite a few history buffs on this board--looking forward to everyone's recommendations!
Washington - Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life
Adams - David McCullough, John Adams
Jefferson - Jon Meacham, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Jackson - Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Lincoln - David Herbert Donald, Lincoln
Grant - Ronald C. White, American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
T. Roosevelt - Edmund Morris, 3-volume biography
Wilson - A. Scott Berg, Wilson
Coolidge - Amity Shlaes, Coolidge
FDR - Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
Truman - David McCullough, Truman
Eisenhower - Jean Edward Smith, Eisenhower in War and Peace
Kennedy - Robert Dallek, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
LBJ - Robert Caro, 5-volume biography (4 volumes published thus far)
Nixon - John A. Farrell, Richard Nixon: The Life
Reagan - Bob Spitz, Reagan: An American Journey
Washington - Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life
Adams - David McCullough, John Adams
Jefferson - Jon Meacham, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Jackson - Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Lincoln - David Herbert Donald, Lincoln
Grant - Ronald C. White, American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
T. Roosevelt - Edmund Morris, 3-volume biography
Wilson - A. Scott Berg, Wilson
Coolidge - Amity Shlaes, Coolidge
FDR - Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
Truman - David McCullough, Truman
Eisenhower - Jean Edward Smith, Eisenhower in War and Peace
Kennedy - Robert Dallek, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
LBJ - Robert Caro, 5-volume biography (4 volumes published thus far)
Nixon - John A. Farrell, Richard Nixon: The Life
Reagan - Bob Spitz, Reagan: An American Journey
