The Scottish Lass and I were in Washington, D.C. this past weekend for the 40th birthday of a very old and dear friend. We took advantage of the trip to visit Mount Vernon, the home of the first President of the United States, George Washington (b. February 22, 1732 - d. December 14, 1799). When contemplating this trip, I decided that it would be a good impetus to launch a project I had been thinking about for many years.
As a result, I am now on my "President-a-Week" reading program. For the next 42 weeks, I will be reading biographies of the Presidents of the United States in chronological order. No, I will not be reading Grover Cleveland's biography on two non-consecutive weeks.
The time frame of the project requires that some decisions be made. For example, choosing a Washington biography turned out to be incredibly difficult as many of the "standard" bios are as large as 7 volumes. That's a level of detail (and reading commitment) that seems out of step with the spirit of the project.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is a series of biographies edited by Arthur Schlesinger that are nice introductions, but are a little too light. In certain cases like Millard Fillmore (to whom I happen to be distantly related - typical, huh?) these may have to suffice as there are, frankly, almost no biographies to be had. But when the subject is a major figure like Jackson, I have searched for a more substantial text.
Where I have read biographies (about 12 of them, by my count, including next week and the week after), I am going to look for something that adds a new perspective.
The chronological program is going to make for some rough periods. Let's just say that April (Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore) is going to be brutal.
Anyway, week #1's selection was His Excellency George Washington by Joseph Ellis. More thoughts on Washington later, but I leave you with Opal's summary after our visit to Mount Vernon: "He's like the 18th Century Superman."
3 comments:
I'm expecting a full run down here for each book. You're definitely in for some dry patches along the way.
An old Robert Klein bit...
"What day is it today, anybody know? Anybody? Josephine? (sorry, thought I was a school teacher again) Today is James Abram Garfield’s birthday, and what is he most famous for? That's right, James Garfield is famous for being shot by a disappointed office seeker. Every other president has something he’s famous for, George Washington; father of our country, Abraham Lincoln; freed the slaves and saved the union, FDR; the new deal, James Abram Garfield; shot by disappointed office seeker. It’s even on his tribute to the president’s milk carton. Look him up in the encyclopedia and it says, ‘See Disappointed Office Seeker’”
That's almost eerie, I'm doing the same thing except with Kings of England. I'm not working in order. I'm starting with Richard II, and after Richard III, I'm gonna go back to Harold II and work through the conquest to Edward III, then pick it up agin with Henry VII and play it out from there.
Jackson, when you hit Aethelred the Unready let me know. I've got a dynamite bio for him.
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