Presidential biography books

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham—Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, this book lays bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Jackson administration and is definitely one of the most interesting presidential biographies on this list.

Martin Van Buren and the American Political System by Donald B.

Cole—This book provides an excellent introduction to the president you’d never heard of until that funny Google commercial came along.

Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy by Robert M.

Owens—This book focuses on Harrison’s role in shaping America’s westward expansion and federal Indian policy in the Old Northwest.

John Tyler by Gary May—At little more than two hundred pages, this book offers a concise introduction to this controversial (dare I say treasonous?) president.

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R.

Bornema