18 books US presidents have written about their time in office
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US presidents have had a substantial impact on the world that we live in. They've been placed at the helm of some of the most significant decisions humans have made in their history.
And yet, their personalities, philosophies, flaws, and the inner workings of their administrations remain generally unknown to the public during their service. These disproportionately powerful figures - later hailed as icons or denounced as villains - primarily exist as enigmas until their term ends.
Fortunately for history buffs or anyone after a behind-the-scenes look at some of the nation's most consequential events, plenty of US presidents have left the White House and written personal accounts of their years in office. Though certainly not free from personal defenses or valid external critiques, they do provide a rare, close look into how the nation's greatest triumphs and mistakes came to be - and into the minds of those in charge when they did.
Below are the 18 autobiographies written by former US presidents covering their presidency:
Captions provided by Amazon and edited for length.
George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
“Decision Points” by George W. Bush (2010) available on Amazon
George W. Bush served as president of the United States during eight of the most consequential years in American history. The decisions that reached his desk impacted people around the world and defined the times in which we live.
"Decision Points" brings readers inside the Texas governor's mansion on the night of the 2000 election, aboard Air Force One during the harrowing hours after the attacks of September 11, 2001, into the Situation Room moments before the start of the war in Iraq, and behind the scenes at the White House for many other historic presidential decisions.
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
“My Life” by Bill Clinton (2004) available at Amazon
President Bill Clinton's "My Life" is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public.
It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who, through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White House one fueled by an impassioned interest in the political process which manifested itself at every stage of his life: in college, working as an intern for Senator William Fulbright; at Oxford, becoming part of the Vietnam War protest movement; at Yale Law School, campaigning on the grassroots level for Democratic candidates; and back in Arkansas, running for Congress, attorney general, and governor.
George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States
“A World Transformed” by George H. W. Bush (1998) and Brent Scowcroft available at Amazon
In "A World Transformed," Mr. Bush and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, provide a fascinating account of a president and an administration faced with unprecedented obstacles and unrivaled opportunities as they forged a foreign policy at the end of the Cold War. Solidarity comes to power in Poland. East and West Germans dance on the wall that separated them for half a century. And on Christmas Day, 1991, the hammer-and-sickle flag descends from the Kremlin for the last time.
It is also a candid analysis of a new chapter in foreign affairs when the United States led an international alliance to confront the threat presented by Saddam Hussein and put forth a dynamic response to the Tiananmen crisis. Balanced and intelligent, "A World Transformed" offers a landmark treatise on American foreign policy and international diplomacy from two of its principal architects.
Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
“An American Life” by Ronald Reagan (1990) available at Amazon
President Reagan gives us the details of the great themes and dramatic crises of his eight years in office, from Lebanon to Grenada, from the struggle to achieve arms control to tax reform, from Iran-Contra to the visits abroad that did so much to reestablish the United States in the eyes of the world as a friendly and peaceful power.
His narrative is full of insights, from the unseen dangers of Gorbachev’s first visit to the United States to Reagan’s own personal correspondence with major foreign leaders, as well as his innermost feelings about life in the White House, the assassination attempt, his family—and the enduring love between himself and Mrs. Reagan.
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
“A Full Life: Reflections at 90” by Jimmy Carter (2015) available on Amazon
At ninety, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming. He adds detail and emotion about his youth in rural Georgia that he described in his magnificent "An Hour Before Daylight". He writes about racism and the isolation of the Carters. He describes the brutality of the hazing regimen at Annapolis, and how he nearly lost his life twice serving on submarines and his amazing interview with Admiral Rickover. He describes the profound influence his mother had on him, and how he admired his father even though he didn’t emulate him. He admits that he decided to quit the Navy and later enter politics without consulting his wife, Rosalynn, and how appalled he is in retrospect.
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
“Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” by Jimmy Carter (1982) available at Amazon
“The President who cared” details his anguish over the hostage crisis in Iran, his triumph against all odds at Camp David, his secret communications with China’s Deng Xiaoping, and his dramatic and revealing encounters with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, and other world leaders.
Mr. Carter also shares glimpses of his private world—his feelings of being an outsider in Washington, his relationship with Rosalynn, his pain about the attacks on his friends and his brother Billy.
Captivatingly written, this rich historical document delineates a morally responsible president who has continued to earn respect and admiration as a world statesman and advocate for the poor and repressed of all nations.
Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States
“A Time to Heal” by Gerald Ford (1979) available at Amazon
In this intimate self-portrait, Ford speaks candidly about his private life, political battles in Congress, experiences as a Warren Commission member and as House Minority Leader, and attempts to reunite a nation fragmented by Watergate
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States
“In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal” by Richard Nixon (1990) available at Amazon
The former president shares his personal views of the Watergate scandal, his resignation and pardon, his long political career, and his struggle to return to public life.
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States
“RN - The Memoirs of Richard Nixon” by Richard Nixon (1978) available at Amazon
Former President Richard Nixon's bestselling autobiography is an intensely personal examination of his life, public career, and White House years. With startling candor, Nixon reveals his beliefs, doubts, and behind-the-scenes decisions, shedding new light on his landmark diplomatic and domestic initiatives, political campaigns, and historic decision to resign from the presidency.
Throughout his career, Richard Nixon made extensive notes about his ideas, conversations, activities, meetings. During his presidency, from November 1971 until April 1973 and again in June and July 1974, he kept an almost daily diary of reflections, analyses, and perceptions. These notes and diary dictations, quoted throughout this book, provide a unique insight into the complexities of the modern presidency and the great issues of American policy and politics.
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
“The Autobiography of Harry S. Truman” by Harry S. Truman (1980) available at Amazon
Compiled and edited from Robert Ferrell.
"The Autobiography of Harry S. Truman" is a compilation of autobiographical writings composed by Truman between 1934 and 1972. Taken directly from his own manuscript material, the volume presents the thoughts and feelings of the man himself. The book touches on details in Truman’s life from his days as a boy until graduation from Independence High School in 1901 to the vice presidency of the United States and beyond. There is also a memorandum written by Truman about the Pendergast machine in Kansas City telling how it was possible to work with the machine and not be soiled by it.
"The Autobiography" concludes with some of the retired president’s thoughts about politics and the purposes of public life.
Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States
“The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969” (1971) by Lyndon B. Johnson available at Amazon
Lyndon Johnson was the fourth man to assume the office after the assassination of the president, joining a company with those following the assassination of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. In "The Vantage Point" Johnson memorably recalls those terrible minutes in the Dallas motorcade when Secret Service Agent Youngblood "pushed me to the floor and sat on my right shoulder to keep me down and protect me... I was still not clear about what was happening" as well as the presidency in total from his perspective.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
“At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends” by Dwight D. Eisenhower (1969) available at Amazon
In warm and personal terms, [President Eisenhower] writes about his life, his acquaintances both celebrated and little-known, and the history that unfolded before his eyes. In anecdote after anecdote, we learn about life at West Point, turn-of-the-century Kansas, and an "ordinary" but remarkable family.
Roosevelt, Churchill, Zhukov, Marshall, Bradley, SHAPE, TORCH, Columbia, NATO — the men and events and institutions that have become household words are touched upon here and illuminated, as are the lesser-known people and places in a peaceful man's peacetime existence.
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
“Memoirs: Year of Decisions” (1955) and “Memoirs: Years of Trial and Hope” (1956) by Harry S. Truman available at Amazon
In this invaluable account, President Truman provides extraordinary insight into events and decisions that have shaped the world we live in. The momentous year, 1945, witnessed the accession of a new president in wartime, the first use of atomic weaponry, the end of the war with Japan and the founding of United Nations.
Engaging and informal, Truman's Memoirs display the sterling character of a man who, thrust into a job he neither sought nor wanted, proved to be one of the ablest men ever to hold the office of the presidency.
Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States
“The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, Volume 3: The Great Depression 1929-1941” by Herbert Hoover (1951) available at Amazon
Hoover’s “Memoirs” constitute his political statement. This third volume in the series, forthright and devastatingly critical of the New Deal, is the culmination of that statement. Its analysis of the Great Depression — the beginnings during the Hoover Administration and the eight frantic years of the New Deal power from 1932-1940 — provides enlightening perspectives for the national problems that followed and persist up to today.
In nearly five hundred pages of political dynamite, Hoover argues that the Great Depression was largely the responsibility of the Federal Reserve, which acted against his protest; that the bank panic of 1933 was the most unnecessary panic in history; that Roosevelt’s actions as President-elect tended to precipitate that panic and his refusal to cooperate had an adverse effect upon critical foreign problems. A different perspective on the Great Depression from one of the most important political actor of the events.
Volume 1: Years of Adventure 1874-1920 available at Amazon
Volume 2: The Cabinet and the Presidency 1920-1933 available at Amazon
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
“The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge” by Calvin Coolidge (1929) available at Amazon
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States
“The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren” by Martin Van Buren (1920) available at Amazon
Posthumously compiled and edited from Van Buren's manuscript materials by John C. Fitzpatrick.
Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States, wrote this autobiography years after his time in American politics had come to an end. He was living in Europe and decided that it was time to defend his record as head of the political operation in New York and as Andrew Jackson's second Vice-President after John C. Calhoun.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
“Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography” by Theodore Roosevelt (1913) available at Amazon
In his vital, illustrative and dynamic autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt let us into the life that formed one of the greatest and most outspoken presidents in American history. Not only are we privy to the formation of his political ideals, but also to his love of the frontier and the great outdoors.