Book cover of Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President by Jonathan Darman
Biography & Autobiography

Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President

In popular memory, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the quintessential political “natural.” Born in 1882 to a wealthy, influential family and blessed with an abundance of charm and charisma, he seemed destined for high office. Yet for all his gifts, the young Roosevelt nonetheless lacked depth, empathy, and an ability to think strategically. Those qualities, so essential to his success as president, were skills he acquired during his seven-year journey through illness and recovery.  […Learn More]

Book cover of And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham
Biography & Autobiography

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle

A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. […Learn More]

Book cover of Watergate: A New History by Garrett M. Graff
Biography & Autobiography

Watergate: A New History

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky, comes the first definitive narrative history of Watergate—“the best and fullest account of the crisis, one unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)—exploring the full scope of the scandal through the politicians, investigators, journalists, and informants who made it the most influential political event of the modern era. […Learn More]

Book cover of Barack Obama: The Story by David Maraniss
Biography & Autobiography

Barack Obama: The Story

The groundbreaking multigenerational biography, a richly textured account of President Obama and the forces that shaped him and sustain him, from Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, political commentator, and acclaimed biographer David Maraniss. […Learn More]

Book cover of James Madison: America's First Politician by Jay Cost
Biography & Autobiography

James Madison: America’s First Politician

An intellectual biography of James Madison, arguing that he invented American politics as we know it 

How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. […Learn More]

Book covers of The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation by Brenda Wineapple
Biography & Autobiography

The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became “the Accidental President,” it was a dangerous time in America. Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should be given the vote. Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many white Southerners hoped to restore a pre–Civil War society, if without slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals. […Learn More]

Book cover of Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century by Josh Rogin
International & World Politics

Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century

The explosive, behind-the-scenes story of Donald Trump’s high-stakes confrontation with Beijing, from an award-winning Washington Post columnist and peerless observer of the U.S.–China relationship

There was no calm before the storm. Donald Trump’s surprise electoral victory shattered the fragile understanding between Washington and Beijing, putting the most important relationship of the twenty-first century in the hands of a novice who had bitterly attacked China from the campaign trail. […Learn More]