Polk: the Man who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman

President #11, C-SPAN Historians’ ranking #12 Looks Like My Work Here is Done Between the time of Andrew Jackson and before the time of Abraham Lincoln, American Presidents were an undistinguished lot, to put it kindly. No one served more than one term. Most are forgotten. However, one man in the job managed to stand [...]

Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse

President #17, C-SPAN Historians’ ranking #41 You Cannot Stop Reading This Unless You Have Prior Approval of the U.S. Senate Andrew Johnson’s story could have been one of the most inspiring in American history. Here was a man born in to extreme poverty, with no formal education at all, and, through very hard work and [...]

Andrew Jackson by Sean Wilentz

President #7, C-SPAN Historians Ranking #13 Coming soon to an ATM near you! Just who was Andrew Jackson? Was he the first president to create a political following among the masses and ride that to power? Was he a shameless opportunist who pandered to the lowest common denominator? Was he a war hero? Was he [...]