32 | SUNRAYS FEBRUARY 2014
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
Nancy is the representative for the
Sun City Texas Library. Questions?
Email
with “Library Column” in the sub-
ject line.
News from the SC Stacks
By Nancy Davis
To help this President’s Day be more
than a commercialized holiday, read a
book about a president! Our Sun City
Texas Library has many biographies
of presidents, first ladies, and wannabe
presidents; listed below are some titles
that I have found.
Mrs. Ike: Memories and Reflections on
the Life of Mamie Eisenhower
by Susan
Eisenhower, granddaughter of President
Eisenhower, includes previously unpub-
lished letters; and
Eisenhower 1956: the
President’s Year of Crisis: Suez and the
Brink of War
by Davis A. Nichols.
In
First Family: Abigail and John Ad-
ams
by Joseph J. Ellis, the author uses
many letters exchanged by the couple,
helping us understand their relationship
during the momentous events of the
country’s beginnings. Another excellent
biography,
John Adams
by David Mc-
Cullough, is much longer, but very read-
able and worthwhile.
An actual day-by-day synopsis of Rea-
gan’s presidency is
The Reagan Diaries
edited by Douglas Brinkley—be sure to
read the introduction! A similar book is
Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan
by
Edmund Morris. A book that is more
interviews than biography is
Write It
When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Re-
cord Conversations with Gerald R. Ford
by ThomasM. DeFrank, a candid view of
events, history and Ford’s life.
The two Roosevelt presidents greatly in-
fluenced the country before and during
their time in office. David McCullough’s
Mornings on Horseback
chronicles Theo-
dore’s childhood and youth in an extraor-
dinary family.
Lion in the White House:
a Life of Theodore Roosevelt
by Aida
D. Donald is a more thorough account,
and
Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s
Quest to Clean Up Sin-loving New York
by Richard Zacks spans Roosevelt’s time
as New York City’s Police Commission-
er. There are many books written about
Franklin Roosevelt, but
The Defining
Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the
Triumph of Hope
,
by Jonathan Alter,
and
Traitor to His Class: the Privileged
Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt
,
by H.W. Brands are
the books I found in our library.
Numerous books have been written by
and about the Bush family, including:
Spoken from the Heart
by Laura Bush
and
Reflections
by Barbara Bush are
insightful memoirs;
George and Lau-
ra: Portrait of an American Marriage
by Christopher Andersen,
and
George
Bush: the Life of a Lone Star Yankee
by
Herbert S. Parmet.
Of our recent presidents, books have
been written pro and con about the per-
son and his policies, and most of these
can be found in the political and cur-
rent events section. Barack Obama’s
pre-presidential books—
The Audacity of
Hope: Thoughts onReclaiming the Amer-
ican Dream
and
Dreams from My Fa-
ther: a Story of Race and Inheritance—
are thoughtful
. Living History
by Hillary
Rodham Clinton is an intimate account
of personal and historical events.
One excellent book is
The Presidential
Difference: Leadership Style fromFDR to
Clinton
by Fred I. Greenstein (copyright
2000). This book outlines the qualities
of each of these presidents and how well
or poorly they functioned. I hope a new
edition including George W. Bush and
Barack Obama will be forthcoming.
In
The Case of Abraham Lincoln: a story
of Adultery, Murder, and the Making of a
Great President
, author Julie M. Fenster
All the
Best
by
George
Bush
Andrew
Jackson
by
HW
Brands
writes about a small part of Lincoln’s
life when he saw his law career change
course with the new political party
formed to block the expansion of slav-
ery
. A. Lincoln
by Ronald C. White, Jr.
is well researched and includes recently
discovered letters and photos.
Blood on
the Moon: the Assassination of Abraham
Lincoln
by Edward Steers Jr. is a recent
book with many historical photos and
details of the assassination plot.
His Ex-
cellency George Washington
by Joseph
J. Ellis and
Washington: a Life
by Ron
Chernow are written by Pulitzer Prize-
winning biographers.
Most of these books are in the biography
section (Dewey 920). Others are classi-
fied as American History (Dewey 970) or
Political/Current Events (Dewey 320).
Many of these books are thick and re-
quire thoughtful reading, but are well
worth the effort.
Garfield
by
Allan
Peskin
The
Remarkable
Millard
Fillmore
by
George
Pendle
