Welcome to the Presidential Book Binge
Welcome to The Presidential Book Binge.
Let’s dive on in — my name is Annie and my knowledge of my own country began with School House Rock and ended with AP US History circa 2007. I ended that course with something around a B+/A-, my teacher wrote my college recommendation, and I never took history again (unless you count Art History, which you shouldn’t, at least in this context).
I’m not totally ignorant of American history — I’m pretty up on politics the politics of my lifetime (Clinton til today), I can have a conversation about most of our wars, I remember the Maine and the Alamo, and I can name almost every President. (After extensively quizzing myself on Sporcle, I’ve learned that the Commander in Chief I most consistently forget is Calvin Coolidge). But memorization isn’t the same as knowledge, and most of what I already know is stuff I learned in the context of something else I found exciting — usually arts & culture, but let’s not forget my Maritime Disasters Phase in 3rd Grade. This is all to say that I’ve never exactly been a proper student of US History. And in the context of the Trump era I’m feeling more and more like I should be. And for the same reason, it feels more important than ever to truly understand what the office of the President means.
So, that’s where this project comes in. I’m going to read my way through American history, one President at a time. Think of me as a total neophyte when it comes to these guys, because in most cases I know almost nothing about them beyond what I’ve learned from various historically-inspired Broadway musicals. I’ll be writing about what I learn, reflecting on the way these men and their eras are written about (…you can take the girl out of the English major…), and generally recording this process to keep myself accountable.
Something you should know about me is that I love making checklists, I love completing a set (bonus points for chronological order), and I love committing to a bit. So I’ve made myself a list of 1-2 books on every President, 1 book for every major war, and a few major non-Presidential historical figures to round out the context in key eras.
I recognize that by approaching my self-education this way, I’m operating according to the Great Man theory of history, which was created when Thomas Carlyle proposed that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” I don’t really agree with this, and I think the American fixation on its own Great Men contributes to the myth of American exceptionalism that lies at the root of many of our social issues and the country’s overall inability to reckon with the sins of its past (and present).
BUT ANYWAY — I’m choosing to think of this project not as a total buy-in to Great Man Theory, but potentially as a critique of it. Or at least a self-examination? (For an English Major, I’m frequently at a loss for words, so you’ll have to bear with me sometimes). I’m also going to keep Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and Google on deck to help me balance out my reading list.
Before I close this out, since I’m writing this for myself more than anyone else, here is the list of things I’m excited to get to:
WWI, because I know almost nothing about it.
Millard Fillmore, for reasons I’ll explain when we get to him.
Clinton, because despite being surprisingly aware of politics as a small child, I’m excited to get some grown-up context on the 90s.
Grant’s autobiography, which comes highly recommended by literally every person I’ve mentioned this project to.
Things I’m not excited to get to:
The Revolutionary War period. Despite being my mother’s favorite historical era, it just seems so removed from where we are now (but Annie, this is why we’re doing this! To find out why it’s not!), and the whole thing feels literally dusty — it gives me this dry-skin feeling of horses clomping around, and heavy skirts dragging down dirt roads. It makes my nose itch. Does that make sense? (No). Anyway, I’ve tried to start the book 1776 three times, but now I’m going to have to force myself to get through it because I’m finally actually doing the blog.
Teddy Roosevelt, because the seminal biography is 3 volumes long. But on the other hand, he was a pretty interesting guy.
What Happened, by Hillary Rodham Clinton. I don’t think I’m ready for that. I don’t think I will be ready for that, even over a year from now when I finally get to it.
Alright. On that note, let the Presidential Book Binge begin!