Being the president of the United States is a serious state of affairs, especially in the current state of affairs. But ever since George Washington reluctantly moved to the capitol at the time, in New York City not Washington, D.C., the man leading our great nation had his work cut out for him. (Hopefully one day, we will edit this article to say “man or woman,” but alas, now is not that day.) From wars to economic crises to social turmoil, it’s never an easy task. In fact, it’s often a thankless task with the president getting the great honor of being the scapegoat for everything going wrong in the country, whether he deserves it or not.
We get so caught up in the gravity of the position that we often forget that the captain of this ship is just a regular human being like the rest of us. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was disabled, after all, and one might wonder if Grover Cleveland was as miffed as the rest of us when he became president for a second time. Yes, they had their glorious burden, but they also had occasional head colds or, I’m sure, lost their other sock.
To bring a little levity to this topic, which often gets bogged down with enormous biographies that could put even the most dedicated historian to sleep, we decided to approach the presidency from another angle. Take a look at these seven books to see something you haven’t seen before about the men you thought you knew.
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You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
by Alexis Coe
“In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book … Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor… [You Never Forget Your First] is an accessible look at a president who always finishes in the first ranks of our leaders,” says the very reputable Boston Globe. Alexis Coe ingeniously weaves all the necessary factual details with all the unnecessary but entirely entertaining insights that will open your eyes to everything you never knew about Mr. George Washington.
So, it turns out that our very first president wasn’t very boring or entirely straight-laced after all! Rebekah Brenner Graham of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History reports that the book “has the potential to reshape national identity for massive audiences. So far, the book has been doing exactly that.” High praise indeed, but this New York Times bestseller is delighting the nation for very good reason.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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The Great Book of Crazy President Trivia: Interesting Stories of American Presidents by Bill O’Neill
Usually, when the words “President” and “Crazy” are jumbled together in the same sentence, the conclusion isn’t exactly favorable. But after reading this book, you can stop “crazy” political arguments between your overly zealous friends by whipping out a fun trivia fact instead. Everybody wins, and you’ll be so much fun at parties!
Okay okay, we can’t promise to make you suddenly a social butterfly, but if you love history, behind-the-scenes knowledge and facts that humanize the leaders normally seen in bland, imposing black-and-white images, this is the book for you. It goes into much more than just the red-letter accomplishments, revealing the funny and eyebrow-raising, lesser-known facts and features of many U.S. presidents.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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Laughing with Old Abe: Abraham Lincoln’s Jokes by A.T. Kabambay
Everyone knows at least a few major facts about this major president, Abraham Lincoln. But it’s a little strange that two very important facets of his presidency and personhood are typically left in the dark. Lincoln was, believe it or not, a tremendously funny guy with jokes to spare that would still land today. On the flip side, he was also deeply religious; after all, he’s the one we credit with none other than the United States motto, “In God We Trust.” Learn all the best things you never knew about our most beloved president!
Author A.T. Kamambay is a passionate historian and researcher who specializes in American history, especially on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. The background makes for a useful biography, but the writing skill makes for an entertaining one. For a glimpse of the lighter side of the man who navigated the nation through some horribly dark days, pick up this book and enjoy a good joke. Read the review here.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years by D. L. Hughley
Dive into the New York Times Bestseller in Humor all about recent president Barack Obama. It’s “The book everyone is laughing about!” claims Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe. These days, we could certainly all use a good laugh, right? This is a book by a black man and about a black man, and it’s the changeup that’s not only hilarious but offers some great representation missing from that previously-entirely white litany of leaders.
D.L. Hughley is a widely popular and very successful stand-up comedian who has also written books, one of which is How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People. He tackles a different project in this satirical, smart and spoofy take on the inner workings of the Obama administration. After just a few pages, you’ll see that he was on to something. One amazon reviewer was in the same boat and discovered, “Who knew D.L. Hughley could write? I purchased this book after seeing the author talking about it on Tavis Smiley. It is irreverent, and extremely funny.”
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents by Robert Strauss
Is pondering the peculiarities of the presidency becoming a competitive sport? Because while the aforementioned author might be deemed the most hilarious, Mr. Kai Bird, Pulitzer-prize winning historian, says this next guy is “The Funniest. Presidential. Biographer. Ever.” Game on.
What do you know about James Buchanan? Probably as much as I do, meaning not much at all. Apparently, however, we’re really missing out. The author goes on to argue his case that Buchanan seriously messed up at just about every possible turn, replete with both historical fact and hysterical faux-pas. Read BookTrib’s review of Strauss’ more traditional take on biography, this time of the supreme court justice John Marshall, here.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents: Strange Stories and Shocking Trivia from Inside the White House by Cormac O’Brien
What actually goes on inside the White House? That’s a very good question, and author Cormac O’Brien set out to answer it by getting into the weeds. Remember, these presidents are only human, so it’s only natural that they’d get into weird predicaments, have odd quirks and make questionable choices every so often. More often than not? We’ll see about that.
Are you aware that Teddy Roosevelt was blinded in a White House boxing match? No? Okay, what about that John Quincy Adams loved to skinny-dip in the Potomac River? (As someone who’s seen the Potomac River, I cannot condone this action.) Most of us know that Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor before becoming president, but would you believe that Gerald Ford once worked as a Cosmopolitan magazine cover model? Find out all this and much, much more in this surprising compendium.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
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UFOs and The White House: What Did Our Presidents Know and When Did They Know It? by William J. Birnes and Joel Martin
And finally, the presidency goes out of this world … literally. These leaders had access to top-secret information and all the latest findings, but how much of that did they share with the general public? What sorts of things did they hide, and why? How did this acute knowledge influence and impact their decisions, and therefore, the course of American politics?
As it turns out, multiple presidents and those closest to them may have had brushes with the supernatural. Start with George Washington’s uncanny and little-acknowledged UFO sighting during the traumatic winter at Valley Forge; move on from there to curious case studies involving Marilyn Monroe and the Air Force. Says former U.K. Ministry of Defense employee Nick Pope, who specialized in investigating UFO phenomena, “This fascinating history … is told through the clever mechanism of breaking events down by presidency, and then analyzing not just the sightings themselves, but the intriguing question of what various presidents believed or knew about UFOs. Meticulously researched and data-rich, Birnes and Martin have produced a work that is both scholarly and eminently readable.”
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe
by Alexis Coe
“In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book … Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor… [You Never Forget Your First] is an accessible look at a president who always finishes in the first ranks of our leaders,” says the very reputable Boston Globe. Alexis Coe ingeniously weaves all the necessary factual details with all the unnecessary but entirely entertaining insights that will open your eyes to everything you never knew about Mr. George Washington.
So, it turns out that our very first president wasn’t very boring or entirely straight-laced after all! Rebekah Brenner Graham of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History reports that the book “has the potential to reshape national identity for massive audiences. So far, the book has been doing exactly that.” High praise indeed, but this New York Times bestseller is delighting the nation for very good reason.
The Great Book of Crazy President Trivia: Interesting Stories of American Presidents by Bill O’Neill
Usually, when the words “President” and “Crazy” are jumbled together in the same sentence, the conclusion isn’t exactly favorable. But after reading this book, you can stop “crazy” political arguments between your overly zealous friends by whipping out a fun trivia fact instead. Everybody wins, and you’ll be so much fun at parties!
Okay okay, we can’t promise to make you suddenly a social butterfly, but if you love history, behind-the-scenes knowledge and facts that humanize the leaders normally seen in bland, imposing black-and-white images, this is the book for you. It goes into much more than just the red-letter accomplishments, revealing the funny and eyebrow-raising, lesser-known facts and features of many U.S. presidents.
Laughing with Old Abe: Abraham Lincoln’s Jokes by A.T. Kabambay
Everyone knows at least a few major facts about this major president, Abraham Lincoln. But it’s a little strange that two very important facets of his presidency and personhood are typically left in the dark. Lincoln was, believe it or not, a tremendously funny guy with jokes to spare that would still land today. On the flip side, he was also deeply religious; after all, he’s the one we credit with none other than the United States motto, “In God We Trust.” Learn all the best things you never knew about our most beloved president!
Author A.T. Kamambay is a passionate historian and researcher who specializes in American history, especially on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. The background makes for a useful biography, but the writing skill makes for an entertaining one. For a glimpse of the lighter side of the man who navigated the nation through some horribly dark days, pick up this book and enjoy a good joke. Read the review here.
Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years by D. L. Hughley
Dive into the New York Times Bestseller in Humor all about recent president Barack Obama. It’s “The book everyone is laughing about!” claims Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe. These days, we could certainly all use a good laugh, right? This is a book by a black man and about a black man, and it’s the changeup that’s not only hilarious but offers some great representation missing from that previously-entirely white litany of leaders.
D.L. Hughley is a widely popular and very successful stand-up comedian who has also written books, one of which is How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People. He tackles a different project in this satirical, smart and spoofy take on the inner workings of the Obama administration. After just a few pages, you’ll see that he was on to something. One amazon reviewer was in the same boat and discovered, “Who knew D.L. Hughley could write? I purchased this book after seeing the author talking about it on Tavis Smiley. It is irreverent, and extremely funny.”
Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents by Robert Strauss
Is pondering the peculiarities of the presidency becoming a competitive sport? Because while the aforementioned author might be deemed the most hilarious, Mr. Kai Bird, Pulitzer-prize winning historian, says this next guy is “The Funniest. Presidential. Biographer. Ever.” Game on.
What do you know about James Buchanan? Probably as much as I do, meaning not much at all. Apparently, however, we’re really missing out. The author goes on to argue his case that Buchanan seriously messed up at just about every possible turn, replete with both historical fact and hysterical faux-pas. Read BookTrib’s review of Strauss’ more traditional take on biography, this time of the supreme court justice John Marshall, here.
Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents: Strange Stories and Shocking Trivia from Inside the White House by Cormac O’Brien
What actually goes on inside the White House? That’s a very good question, and author Cormac O’Brien set out to answer it by getting into the weeds. Remember, these presidents are only human, so it’s only natural that they’d get into weird predicaments, have odd quirks and make questionable choices every so often. More often than not? We’ll see about that.
Are you aware that Teddy Roosevelt was blinded in a White House boxing match? No? Okay, what about that John Quincy Adams loved to skinny-dip in the Potomac River? (As someone who’s seen the Potomac River, I cannot condone this action.) Most of us know that Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor before becoming president, but would you believe that Gerald Ford once worked as a Cosmopolitan magazine cover model? Find out all this and much, much more in this surprising compendium.
UFOs and The White House: What Did Our Presidents Know and When Did They Know It? by William J. Birnes and Joel Martin
And finally, the presidency goes out of this world … literally. These leaders had access to top-secret information and all the latest findings, but how much of that did they share with the general public? What sorts of things did they hide, and why? How did this acute knowledge influence and impact their decisions, and therefore, the course of American politics?
As it turns out, multiple presidents and those closest to them may have had brushes with the supernatural. Start with George Washington’s uncanny and little-acknowledged UFO sighting during the traumatic winter at Valley Forge; move on from there to curious case studies involving Marilyn Monroe and the Air Force. Says former U.K. Ministry of Defense employee Nick Pope, who specialized in investigating UFO phenomena, “This fascinating history … is told through the clever mechanism of breaking events down by presidency, and then analyzing not just the sightings themselves, but the intriguing question of what various presidents believed or knew about UFOs. Meticulously researched and data-rich, Birnes and Martin have produced a work that is both scholarly and eminently readable.”
