The Potus Geeks Reading List
I haven't had much time to read lately and my pile of books to read is getting larger and larger. These days I'm slowly working my way through Harold Holzer's excellent new book entitled Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion, which I hope to finish by the end of the month and do a review for this community. I'm about a quarter of the way through so far. In the meantime, new books keep arriving and I'm getting way behind in my 
potus_geeks readings. I yearn for some free time when I can just relax on the couch with my best friend beside me (partially shown in the photo below) and one of these good books. Here's what's in my "to read" pile at the moment:
1. 41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush: The 43rd President writes an affectionate biography of the life of the 41st President, who also happens to be his father. Imagine if John Quincy Adams had done this, what a rare piece of history it would have been. The Bush family doesn't miss this opportunity.
2. To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party by Heather Cox Richardson: A history of the Republican Party from its roots as an anti-slavery movement to its current position.
3. The Return of George Washington 1783-1789 by Edward J. Larson: Larson is an excellent historian of this era and this is an overlooked period of history. What was it that coaxed Washington out of retirement as a victorious general and led him to become the nation's first president?
4. Unreasonable Men: Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican Rebels Who Created Progressive Politics by Michael Wolraich: The golden age is an interesting time in politics, and especially interesting is the rise of the progressive movement. This is a period and a subject that I love to read about, and any story involving Theodore Roosevelt is never boring.
5. James Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War by John Quist and Michael J. Birkner: Over a century and a half later, post-mortems on James Buchanan are still interesting to me. What he did wrong, why, what he was possibly thinking and the various theories on his motivations are something I am fascinated by.
6. Eisenhower: A Life by Paul Johnson: I'm not sure what to expect from this book, since it's only 144 pages, but according to reviews I've read, brevity isn't necessarily a bad thing.
7. Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander-in-Chief by James M. McPherson: Anything that James McPherson writes about the Civil War is always excellent, and the topic of Jefferson Davis as chief executive is one that is rarely discussed. This is one book that I really regret not having gotten to yet.
8. After Lincoln: How the North Won the Civil War and Lost the Peace by A. J. Langguth: I look forward to a good read about the big picture of the topic of the reconstruction era, and this looks like it could be it.
9. and 10. are a pair of 2014 biographies of General William Tecumseh Sherman. Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert O'Connell has received excellent review. But the bio that has me even curious is American General: The Life and Times of William Tecumseh Sherman by the late John Eisenhower. This was Eisenhower's last book, published after his death. Eisenhower is such a masterful military historian that I imagine this would be an excellent read.
11. There's another book about Bush 41 in the pile entitled George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core by Curt Smith. I admire the elder President Bush for his many years of service, and don't mind reading a bit of fawning about him from an author. I figure that at this point in his life he's earned it.
Two other books on the pile that aren't new, but that I desperately want to read include two works of fiction: The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President by George Pendle. This is a humorous faux biography that is supposed to be side-splitting and almost Monty Pythonesque. The cover shows Fillmore riding a unicorn, if that's any indication. The second fiction is The Bloviator: Sex, Drugs, Fraud, Suicide, Murder, Scandal, Adultery, Quackery, Corruption, Superstition and President Warren G. Harding by Jim Yoakum. Warren Harding's life is zany enough without resorting to fiction, but Yoakum shows how absurdity can still have a bedrock of fact.
Also in that pile is The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill. It's another book that I've been meaning to read for a while, but it got lost in the shuffle.
The pile isn't getting any smaller, and tonight I'll probably only get to about 10 pages of Holzer's book. So what about you, what's in your "to-read" pile?
potus_geeks readings. I yearn for some free time when I can just relax on the couch with my best friend beside me (partially shown in the photo below) and one of these good books. Here's what's in my "to read" pile at the moment:1. 41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush: The 43rd President writes an affectionate biography of the life of the 41st President, who also happens to be his father. Imagine if John Quincy Adams had done this, what a rare piece of history it would have been. The Bush family doesn't miss this opportunity.
2. To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party by Heather Cox Richardson: A history of the Republican Party from its roots as an anti-slavery movement to its current position.
3. The Return of George Washington 1783-1789 by Edward J. Larson: Larson is an excellent historian of this era and this is an overlooked period of history. What was it that coaxed Washington out of retirement as a victorious general and led him to become the nation's first president?
4. Unreasonable Men: Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican Rebels Who Created Progressive Politics by Michael Wolraich: The golden age is an interesting time in politics, and especially interesting is the rise of the progressive movement. This is a period and a subject that I love to read about, and any story involving Theodore Roosevelt is never boring.
5. James Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War by John Quist and Michael J. Birkner: Over a century and a half later, post-mortems on James Buchanan are still interesting to me. What he did wrong, why, what he was possibly thinking and the various theories on his motivations are something I am fascinated by.
6. Eisenhower: A Life by Paul Johnson: I'm not sure what to expect from this book, since it's only 144 pages, but according to reviews I've read, brevity isn't necessarily a bad thing.
7. Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander-in-Chief by James M. McPherson: Anything that James McPherson writes about the Civil War is always excellent, and the topic of Jefferson Davis as chief executive is one that is rarely discussed. This is one book that I really regret not having gotten to yet.
8. After Lincoln: How the North Won the Civil War and Lost the Peace by A. J. Langguth: I look forward to a good read about the big picture of the topic of the reconstruction era, and this looks like it could be it.
9. and 10. are a pair of 2014 biographies of General William Tecumseh Sherman. Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert O'Connell has received excellent review. But the bio that has me even curious is American General: The Life and Times of William Tecumseh Sherman by the late John Eisenhower. This was Eisenhower's last book, published after his death. Eisenhower is such a masterful military historian that I imagine this would be an excellent read.
11. There's another book about Bush 41 in the pile entitled George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core by Curt Smith. I admire the elder President Bush for his many years of service, and don't mind reading a bit of fawning about him from an author. I figure that at this point in his life he's earned it.
Two other books on the pile that aren't new, but that I desperately want to read include two works of fiction: The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President by George Pendle. This is a humorous faux biography that is supposed to be side-splitting and almost Monty Pythonesque. The cover shows Fillmore riding a unicorn, if that's any indication. The second fiction is The Bloviator: Sex, Drugs, Fraud, Suicide, Murder, Scandal, Adultery, Quackery, Corruption, Superstition and President Warren G. Harding by Jim Yoakum. Warren Harding's life is zany enough without resorting to fiction, but Yoakum shows how absurdity can still have a bedrock of fact.
Also in that pile is The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill. It's another book that I've been meaning to read for a while, but it got lost in the shuffle.
The pile isn't getting any smaller, and tonight I'll probably only get to about 10 pages of Holzer's book. So what about you, what's in your "to-read" pile?