Hail to the Chief Books About Our Presidents

The President of the United States of America -- nothing has the ring of authority that this simple introduction has when it is announced.  The man (and maybe someday, the woman) who holds this title is one of the most powerful people in the world.  The United States has had some great presidents and some not so great presidents.   Regardless of whether they were good or bad, the President has exerted a great influence on the policies of our nation and how we are perceived around the world throughout   history and today.  For this reason, it is important for citizens to study history and really think about what they are doing when they cast their votes.   The Presidents throughout history were interesting characters and their stories make for some really interesting reading.  Below you will find some titles that give an overview of the office and the men who have served in it.  Additional titles about individual presidents will be found on the pages linked to the Presidential Roll Call.

What Presidents Are Made Of by Hanoch Piven While the anecdotes about the seventeen presidents presented in this book are fun, it is the artwork that makes the book.  Mr. Piven has created caricature collages of these seventeen men with objects that portray something about the man or his administration.  They are funny and creative and sure to encourage students to create their own object collages. It's true that the book doesn't give any great detail about any of the presidents (you're not going to complete a report from this information), but humor and whimsy with which they are presented will have kids and adults smiling and wanting to find out more.

So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George This Caldecott Award Winning Book is a fascinating ride through America's Presidential History with fun cartoon like drawings and presidential trivia that makes learning about history fun.

Hail to the Chief: The American Presidency by Don Robb Written on several different levels, this book describes the office of the Presidency and highlights several of the men who have held the office.

Presidential Roll Call George Washington The Father of Our Country John Adams Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of Independence James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James Garfield Chester Arthur Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt William H. Taft Woodrow Wilson Warren Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard M. Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush