Based on a decade of research and reporting, Author in Chief tells the story of America's presidents as authors--and offers a delightful new window into the public and private lives of our highest leaders. - (Baker & Taylor)

A journalist historian shares lesser-known insights into the public and private writing lives of America’s Presidents, from Lincoln’s secret speech anthology for the 1860 election to Teddy Roosevelt’s accounts of his life-risking safaris. 125,000 first printing. Illustrations. - (Baker & Taylor)

Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to influence a campaign, these books have cast fresh light on the private drives and self-doubts that fueled our nation's leaders. Fehrman shows that the story of America's presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography. From volumes lost to history to ones we know and love, Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works, delivering a feast for history lovers, book lovers, and everybody curious about our presidents. -- adapted from jacket - (Baker & Taylor)

“One of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years.” —Thomas Mallon, The Wall Street Journal

“Fun and fascinating…It’s witty, charming, and fantastically learned. I loved it.” —Rick Perlstein

Based on a decade of research and reporting, Author in Chief tells the story of America’s presidents as authors—and offers a delightful new window into the public and private lives of our highest leaders.

Most Americans are familiar with Abraham Lincoln’s famous words in the Gettysburg Address and the Eman­cipation Proclamation. Yet few can name the work that helped him win the presidency: his published collection of speeches entitled Political Debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln labored in secret to get his book ready for the 1860 election, tracking down newspaper transcripts, editing them carefully for fairness, and hunting for a printer who would meet his specifications. Political Debates sold fifty thousand copies—the rough equivalent of half a million books in today’s market—and it reveals something about Lincoln’s presidential ambitions. But it also reveals something about his heart and mind. When voters asked about his beliefs, Lincoln liked to point them to his book.

In Craig Fehrman’s groundbreaking work of history, Author in Chief, the story of America’s presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography. From volumes lost to history—Calvin Coolidge’s Autobiography, which was one of the most widely discussed titles of 1929—to ones we know and love—Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, which was very nearly never published—Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works.

Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to influence a campaign, and John Adams’s Autobiography, the first score-settling presiden­tial memoir, Author in Chief draws on newly uncovered information—including never-before-published letters from Andrew Jackson, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan—to cast fresh light on the private drives and self-doubts that fueled our nation’s leaders.

We see Teddy Roosevelt as a vulnerable first-time author, struggling to write the book that would become a classic of American history. We see Reagan painstakingly revising Where’s the Rest of Me?, a forgotten memoir in which he sharpened his sunny political image. We see Donald Trump negotiating the deal for The Art of the Deal, the volume that made him synonymous with business savvy. Alongside each of these authors, we also glimpse the everyday Americans who read them.

Combining the narrative felicity of a journalist with the rigorous scholarship of a historian, Fehrman delivers a feast for history lovers, book lovers, and everybody curious about a behind-the-scenes look at our presidents. - (Simon and Schuster)

'One of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years.' 'thomas Mallon, The Wall Street Journal

'Fun and fascinating'It's witty, charming, and fantastically learned. I loved it.' 'Rick Perlstein

Based on a decade of research and reporting, Author in Chief tells the story of America's presidents as authors'and offers a delightful new window into the public and private lives of our highest leaders.

Most Americans are familiar with Abraham Lincoln's famous words in the Gettysburg Address and the Eman­cipation Proclamation. Yet few can name the work that helped him win the presidency: his published collection of speeches entitled Political Debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln labored in secret to get his book ready for the 1860 election, tracking down newspaper transcripts, editing them carefully for fairness, and hunting for a printer who would meet his specifications. Political Debates sold fifty thousand copies'the rough equivalent of half a million books in today's market'and it reveals something about Lincoln's presidential ambitions. But it also reveals something about his heart and mind. When voters asked about his beliefs, Lincoln liked to point them to his book.

In Craig Fehrman's groundbreaking work of history, Author in Chief, the story of America's presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography. From volumes lost to history'Calvin Coolidge's Autobiography, which was one of the most widely discussed titles of 1929'to ones we know and love'Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, which was very nearly never published'Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works.

Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to influence a campaign, and John Adams's Autobiography, the first score-settling presiden­tial memoir, Author in Chief draws on newly uncovered information'including never-before-published letters from Andrew Jackson, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan'to cast fresh light on the private drives and self-doubts that fueled our nation's leaders.

We see Teddy Roosevelt as a vulnerable first-time author, struggling to write the book that would become a classic of American history. We see Reagan painstakingly revising Where's the Rest of Me?, a forgotten memoir in which he sharpened his sunny political image. We see Donald Trump negotiating the deal for The Art of the Deal, the volume that made him synonymous with business savvy. Alongside each of these authors, we also glimpse the everyday Americans who read them.

Combining the narrative felicity of a journalist with the rigorous scholarship of a historian, Fehrman delivers a feast for history lovers, book lovers, and everybody curious about a behind-the-scenes look at our presidents. - (Simon and Schuster)

Craig Fehrman is a journalist and historian who's written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He lives in Indiana with his wife and children. - (Simon and Schuster)

Craig Fehrman, a journalist and historian, spent more than a decade immersed in the presidents’ writings to produce his first book, Author in Chief, which was described by Thomas Mallon in The Wall Street Journal as “one of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years.” Fehrman lives in Indiana with his wife and children. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* From the very beginnings of America's experiment in republican government, its chief executives, both actual and aspiring, have put pen to paper (nowadays fingers to keyboard) in attempts to justify themselves and inspire others. Here, Fehrman records such literary efforts back to Jefferson and Adams. These presidential books fall into two categories: a memoir to rationalize one's actions in office, or a campaign broadside to introduce its self-promoting subject to the electorate or set a campaign objective. Occasionally delving into quirkier matters, such as John Adams' assurances that he bore no illegitimate offspring, most of these books reflect the deeply held political interests of their writers. Calvin Coolidge published a book that genuinely excited 1920s voters. John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage (1956) became required reading for students even if its authorship was challenged. As Fehrman sees it, what presidents read matters even more than what they wrote. Ronald Reagan read books about film, and Barack Obama, whose Dreams of My Father (1995) was central to his election triumphs, reads widely across genres. Illustrations grace the text, and extensive bibliographic notes brim with intriguing facts. Both history buffs and politics enthusiasts will relish this. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Journalist Fehrman offers a spritely, quote-filled selective survey of significant writings by those who have held the office of the presidency. Fehrman asserts that while texts by soon-to-be presidents were impactful in their time, the voting public later largely, but wrongly, forgot these revealing writings. The author considers the writings of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, and others in order to determine the leaders' inspirations, aspirations, and motivations. Important aspects here include an annotated appendix of particular publications attributed to presidents, and the author's essays at the beginning of the endnotes for each chapter citing relevant interviews and secondary works. VERDICT This narrative presents an engaging and enlightening perspective on the history of the presidency. Also suggest Seth Cotlar and Richard J. Ellis's Historian in Chief.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Washington, DC