Hail to the Chief: Presidents Day – Books and DVDs with presidential history including First Lady style

Today is President’s Day in the United States (aka Washington’s Birthday) for our American Luscious Lifers, so let’s take a look at some movies and books related to US presidential history, both serious and fun, including documentaries and fictional portrayals, plus a look at First Lady style…

Books, movies and TV shows about the 44 American presidents

1. George Washington (1732–1799)

• The Crossing (2000) (DVD)
• George Washington Miniseries (1984) (DVD)
• American Experience: George Washington: Man Who Wouldn’t Be King (DVD)
• Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (book)
• His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis (book)
• Martha Washington: An American Life by Patricia Brady (book)

2. John Adams (1735–1826)

• The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams by Abigail Adams (book)
• Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife, Abigail Adams, During the Revolution by Charles Francis Adams (book)
• John Adams by David McCullough (book)
• John Adams (2008) (DVD)

3. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

• Thomas Jefferson (2004) (DVD)
• Jefferson in Paris (1995) (DVD)
• The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson by William Howard Adams (book)
• Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham (book)
• A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello by Peter J. Hatch (book)

4. James Madison (1751–1836)

• James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin R. C. Gutzman (book)
• The Federalist Papers by John Jay (book)
• James Madison: Writings: Writings 1772-1836 (Library of America) by James Madison (book)

5. James Monroe (1758–1831)

• The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow G. Unger (book)
• James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (Signature Series) by Harry Ammon (book)
• James Monroe (The American Presidents) by Gary Hart (book)

6. John Quincy Adams (1767–1848)

• John Quincy Adams by Harlow G. Unger (book)
• John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life by Paul C. Nagel (book)
• Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams’s Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress by Joseph Wheelan (book)

7. Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

• The President’s Lady (DVD)

• The Jackson Years: Toward Civil War (DVD)

• American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (book)
• The President’s Lady: A Novel about Rachel and Andrew Jackson by Irving Stone (book)

8. Martin Van Buren (1782–1862)

• J.Q. Adams, Jackson, & Van Buren (DVD)
• Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series: The 8th President, 1837-1841 by Edward L. Widmer (book)
• Martin Van Buren : The Romantic Age of American Politics by John Niven (book)
• Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics by Joel H. Silbey

9. William Henry Harrison (1773–1841)

• William Henry Harrison: The American Presidents Series: The 9th President, 1841 by Gail Collins (book)
• Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy by Robert M. Owens (book)
• Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time by Freeman Cleaves (book)

10. John Tyler (1790–1862)

• John Tyler (The American Presidents Series: The 10th President, 1841-1845) by Gary May (book)
• John Tyler, the Accidental President by Edward P. Crapol (book)
• John Tyler : A President of Many Firsts by Jane C. Walker (book)

11. James K. Polk (1795–1849) 

• Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman (book)
• A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Robert W. Merry (book)
• James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse by Sam W. Haynes (book)

12. Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) 

• Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series: The 12th President, 1849-1850 by John S. D. Eisenhower (book)
• Zachary Taylor : Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest by K. Jack Bauer (book)
• The Life And Public Service Of General Zachary Taylor: An Address by Abraham Lincoln (book)

13. Millard Fillmore (1800–1874)

• Fillmore, Pierce, & Buchanan (DVD)
• Millard Fillmore: The American Presidents Series: The 13th President, 1850-1853 by Paul Finkelman (book)
• The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President by George Pendle (book)
• Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Scarry (book)

14. Franklin Pierce (1804–1869)

• Franklin Pierce, his home and his neighborhood (DVD)
• Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857 by Michael F. Holt (book)
• The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce: The Story of a President and the Civil War by Garry Boulard (book)
• Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union by Peter Wallner (book)

15. James Buchanan (1791–1868)

• James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857-1861 by Jean H. Baker (book)
• President James Buchanan: A Biography by Philip S. Klein (book)
• James Buchanan by Michael Burgan (book)

16. Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

• Lincoln (2012) (DVD)
• The Conspirator (2011) (DVD)
• American Experience – Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided (2001) (DVD)
• Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (1988) (DVD)
• Young Mr Lincoln (1939) (DVD)
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) (DVD)
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (book)
• Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (book)

17. Andrew Johnson (1808–1875)

• Johnson, Grant, & Hayes (DVD)
• Andrew Johnson: The American Presidents Series: The 17th President, 1865-1869 by Annette Gordon-Reed (book)
• The Loyalist: The Life and Times of Andrew Johnson by Jeffrey K. Smith (book)
• Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy by David O. Stewart (book)

18. Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)

• American Experience – Ulysses S. Grant, Warrior President (2002) (DVD)
• The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace by H. W. Brands (book)
• Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters – Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant and Selected Letters, 1839-1865 by Ulysses S. Grant (book)
• The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant (book)

19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893)

• Rutherford B. Hayes by Hans Louis Trefousse (book)
• Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President by Ari Arthur Hoogenboom (book)
• Rutherford B. Hayes: And His America by Harry Barnard (book)

20. James A. Garfield (1831–1881)

• Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (book)
• James A. Garfield: The American Presidents Series: The 20th President, 1881 by Ira M. Rutkow (book)
• Dark Horse: the Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield by Kenneth D. Ackerman

21. Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)

• Chester Alan Arthur: The American Presidents Series: The 21st President, 1881-1885 by Zachary Karabell (book)
• Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur by Thomas C. Reeves (book)
• Chester A. Arthur: America’s 21st President by Dan Elish (book)

22. Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)

• Cleveland, Mckinley, & Theodore Roosevelt (DVD)
• Grover Cleveland by Henry F. Graff (book)
• The Last Jeffersonian: Grover Cleveland and the Path to Restoring the Republic by Ryan S. Walters (book)
• A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland by Charles Lachman (book)

23. Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

• Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, & Harrison (DVD) (book)
• Benjamin Harrison: The American Presidents Series: The 23rd President, 1889-1893 by Charles W. Calhoun (book)

• Benjamin Harrison: America’s 23rd President by Jean Kinney Williams (book)

24. Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)

• See listing #22 above

25. William McKinley (1843–1901)

• The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller (book)
• William McKinley: The American Presidents Series: The 25th President, 1897-1901 by Kevin P. Phillips (book)
• Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America by Eric Rauchway (book)

26. Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)

• Teddy Roosevelt – An American Lion (2002) (DVD)
• Theodore Roosevelt: A Cowboy’s Ride to the White House (2011) (DVD)
• Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (book)
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard (book)
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (book)

27. William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

• America in the 20th Century: The Progressive Era (DVD)
• Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, & Hoover (DVD)
• The William Howard Taft Presidency by Lewis L. Gould (book)

• William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative by Jonathan Lurie (book)

28. Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

• Wilson (1945) (VHS)
• American Experience: Woodrow Wilson (DVD)
• Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom by Andrew P. Napolitano (book)
• Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper (book)
• Woodrow Wilson by H. W. Brands (book)

29. Warren G. Harding (1865–1923)

• Warren G. Harding: The American Presidents Series: The 29th President, 1921-1923 by John W. Dean (book)
• The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration by Robert K. Murray (book)
• The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times by Francis Russell (book)

30. Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)

• America in the 20th Century: The Roaring Twenties (DVD)
• Coolidge by Amity Shlaes (book)
• The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes (book)
• Why Coolidge Matters: Leadership Lessons from America’s Most Underrated President by Charles C. Johnson

31. Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)

• Landslide – A Portrait of President Herbert Hoover (2009) (DVD)
• Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover’s Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath (book)
• Herbert Hoover: The American Presidents Series: The 31st President, 1929-1933 by William Edward Leuchtenburg (book)

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

• Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) (DVD)
• Warm Springs (2005) (DVD)
• Sunrise at Campobello (1960) (DVD)
• American Experience: FDR (DVD)
• Eleanor and Franklin Double Feature: The Early Years-The White House Years (DVD)
• FDR by Jean Edward Smith (book)
• Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by H. W. Brands (book)
• The Autobiography Of Eleanor Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt (book)

33. Harry S. Truman (1884–1972)

• Truman (2000) (DVD)
• Harry Truman: President of the US (DVD)
• Harry S. Truman: The American Presidents Series: The 33rd President, 1945-1953 by Robert Dallek (book)
• Truman by David McCullough (book)
• Citizen Soldier: A Life of Harry S. Truman by Aida Donald

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)

• True Glory (1945) (DVD)
• Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004)(DVD)
• The Big Picture – The Dwight D. Eisenhower Story (DVD)
• Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World by Evan Thomas (book)
• Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith (book)

35. John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)

• JFK – A Presidency Revealed (DVD)
• JFK (1991) (DVD)
• The Kennedys (2011) (DVD)
• Kennedy: The Complete Series (2009) (DVD)
• Thirteen Days (2001) (DVD)
• On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald (1986) (DVD)
• Ruby (1992) (DVD)
• Executive Action (1973) (DVD)
• Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000) (DVD)
• Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Martin Dugard (book)
• A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy by Thomas C. Reeves (book)
• Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford (book)

• John F. Kennedy’s Women: The Story of a Sexual Obsession by Michael O’Brien (book)

• Jackie Style by Pamela Clarke Keogh (book)
• Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years – Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum by Hamish Bowles
• A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House by Oleg Cassini
• In the Kennedy Style: Magical Evenings in the Kennedy White House by Letitia Baldrige

36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)

• American Experience: LBJ (1991) (DVD)
• Lady Bird Johnson (VHS)
• Lyndon B. Johnson: The American Presidents Series: The 36th President, 1963-1969 by Sean Wilentz
• The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro (book)
• Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin (book)

37. Richard Nixon (1913–1994)

• Nixon (1995) (DVD)
• Frost/Nixon (2008) (DVD)
• All the President’s Men (1976) (DVD)
• Dick (1999) (DVD)
• Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full by Conrad Black (book)
• Nixon’s Darkest Secrets: The Inside Story of America’s Most Troubled President by Don Fulsom (book)
• Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage by Jeffrey Frank (book)

38. Gerald Ford (1913–2006)

• Biography – Gerald R. Ford: Healing the Presidency (DVD)
• Gerald R. Ford: All American President (DVD)
• Gerald R. Ford (The American Presidents Series: The 38th President, 1974-1977) by Douglas G. Brinkley (book)
• Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford by Thomas M. DeFrank (book)

39. Jimmy Carter (1924- )

• American Experience: Jimmy Carter (DVD)
• Jimmy Carter Man From Plains (2007) (DVD)
• White House Diary by Jimmy Carter (book)
• Jimmy Carter by Sean Wilentz (book)

40. Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)

• Ronald Reagan – His Life and Times (DVD)
• Ronald Reagan: An American Journey (DVD)
• Ronald Reagan Centennial Collection (DVD)
• An American Life: The Autobiography by Ronald Reagan (book)
• Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader by Dinesh D’Souza (book)
• The Reagan Diaries by Douglas G. Brinkley (book)

41. George H. W. Bush (1924- )

• Dark Legacy (2009) (DVD)
• American Experience: George H.W. Bush (DVD)
• All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings by George H.W. Bush (book)
• A World Transformed by George H.W. Bush (book)
• George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series: The 41st President, 1989-1993 by Timothy J. Naftali (book)

42. Bill Clinton (1946- )

• American Experience: Clinton (DVD)
• The Clintons: An American Odyssey (DVD)
• Primary Colours (1998) (DVD)
• Primary Colours by Joe Klein (book)
• Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton (book)
• The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power by Kim Ghattas

43. George W Bush (1946- )

• W (2008) (DVD)
• Death of a President (2006) (DVD)
• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) (DVD)
• Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush (DVD)
• Decision Points by George W. Bush (book)
• The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg (book) 

44. Barack Obama (1961- )

• Dreams From My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception (DVD)
• 2016 Obama’s America (2012) (DVD)
• President Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey (DVD)
• NBC News Presents Yes We Can! The Barack Obama Story (DVD)
• The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama (book)
• Of  Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama (book)
• The Obamas by Jodi Kantor (book)
• Obama’s America: Unmaking the American Dream by Dinesh D’Souza (book)
• Michelle Obama in her Own Words: The Views and Values of America’s First Lady by Michelle Obama
• American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama

Fictional portrayals of the American president

• Dave (1998) (DVD) – Kevin Kline as the president
• The American President (1995) (DVD) – Michael Douglas as the president
• Independence Day (1996) (DVD) – Bill Pullman as the president
• The West Wing (1999) (DVD) – Martin Sheen as the president
• Veep (2012) (DVD) – Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the vice president
• Commander in Chief (DVD) – Geena Davis as the president
• Absolute Power (1997) (DVD) – Gene Hackman as the president
• Air Force One (1997) (DVD)- Harrison Ford as the president
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004) (DVD) – Perry King as the president
• First Daughter (2004) (DVD) – Michael Keaton as the president
• Mars Attacks! (1997) (DVD) – Jack Nicholson as the president
• In the Line of Fire (1993) (DVD) – Jim Curley as the president

Books about the presidency in general, security and the White House

• The American President: America’s first 41 Presidents (PBS Box Set) (2000) (DVD)
• The Presidents (2005) (DVD)
• Echoes From the White House (2005) (DVD)
• In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect by

  Ronald Kessler (book)

First Lady style and the First Families

• My First Ladies: Twenty-Five Years As the White House Chief Floral Designer by Nancy Clarke
• America’s First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House by Carl Sferrazza Anthony
• Secret Lives of the First Ladies by Cormac O’Brien
• Commander in Chic: Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady by Mikki Taylor
• Power Dressing: First Ladies, Women Politicians and Fashion by Robb Young
• The White House: The President’s Home in Photographs and History by Vicki Goldberg
• All the Presidents’ Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America’s First Families by Doug Wead
• Christmas with the First Ladies: The White House Decorating Tradition from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama by Coleen Christian Burke

 

 

Learn more about the American presidents via Wikipedia.

Happy Presidents Day!

 

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Cheers, Natasha
www.myLusciousLife.com