11 Rules
After realizing I knew nothing about our presidents years ago, I (half-heartedly) declared that I would read a biography about each one. When that was met with (deserved) skepticism, this turned into a Spite Quest. I was stubbornly determined to prove I could and would follow through.
Being a Rules Girl, I obviously set up guidelines to govern my project.
RULE #1: Not required to go chronologically
And TBH, I would have lost interest pretty quickly if I had. Surprisingly, skipping around revealed random connections and interesting parallels between spaced-out presidents that would have gone unnoticed otherwise.
DID YOU KNOW?
Prankster Chester Arthur and FDR’s dad graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY within a year of each other. At the time, Eliphalet Nott was in his fifth decade as the president. To this day, he’s the longest serving college president — he held the post from 1804-1866!
RULE #2: Autobiographies qualify
But only if I know enough about the president to call baloney. I read Richard Nixon’s autobiography (baloney overload), but I couldn’t have read James Buchanan’s.
SIDE NOTE: One of my notes from Nixon’s autobiography references his reaction to Lyndon Johnson’s death. That section was full of adulation… specifically, Johnson’s adulation for him. He was unapologetically narcissistic, sad that Johnson died because Johnson wouldn’t be able to hear Nixon’s tribute to him. My eyes ached from all the rolling.
RULE #3: Audiobooks count
I listened to quite a few before I started drawing as I went along. FUN FACT: Bill Clinton’s audiobook was so engrossing that I nearly rear-ended a friend on a Thruway ramp during my commute.
RULE #4: Ideally, the biography would be written long after their term ended
Policies sometimes seem brilliant in the moment but in retrospect have severe unintended consequences. (Eisenhower’s “peacetime” presidency, for example, where the Dulles brothers quietly went around doing awful things and unknowingly set the stage for future atrocities. See below.) Whenever possible, I like a little breather after they leave office to see how things shake out.
I made this rule after knocking off some presidents, so technically I need to go back and read more about Barack Obama. As I refined the rules, I made a rule that I didn’t need to go back and “redo” anybody so, strictly speaking, I don’t have to. (Rules rule!) But I want to.
Don’t even get me started on the Dulles brothers. They ran Eisenhower’s show — John Foster Dulles was Eisenhower’s secretary of state. Allen Dulles was director of the CIA. So, internal and external affairs. I’ve despised them since I read The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War by Stephen Kinzer years ago. Then more recently, Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo … which made me more curious about Operation Ajax … and lead me to read All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, which was also by Stephen Kinzer.
This particular doodle was inspired by that last book listed. I’m sure I’ll share more thoughts about the Dulles duo in the future. But for now, my point is Eisenhower’s presidency was peaceful on the surface, but behind the scenes it was very, very effed up.
RULE #5: Whenever possible, avoid those puny books from The American Presidents series
I prefer a book with a little meat on its bones. Plus, those books are so stuffed with info it’s like doodle-doodle-doodle-pew-pew-pew with no time for a story to develop or me to take a breath.
That said, the series saved me many times when I struggled to find a book about a particularly obscure POTUS. For that, I am grateful.
RULE #6: No fiction
Obviously.
I encountered this once when I inadvertently selected a humorous “biography” about Millard Fillmore that was misfiled in the library. In that case, I read it side-by-side with an actual biography so I could fact-check along the way.
Full disclosure: for Ronald Reagan, I was delighted to find Dutch by Edmund Morris for $1 at a library book sale. [big sigh] This one caused me great confusion. I knew Morris was born in Kenya, so when the book opened with his background I went back and forth between the author bio and the intro, completely flummoxed. I realized slowly that Reagan’s life was being shared through the lens of a fictional narrator.
According to Morris, “You know, I could never really figure him out” … despite all of the interviews he did. So, he just made up a character who “knew” Reagan to help move the story along. I “counted” this book, but a bit begrudgingly.
RULE #7: Judge a book by its cover
This was particularly true in the beginning of my quest, before I was familiar with many biographers. If faced with a choice between multiple biographies, I’d pick the same way I pick out wine. (I’m a designer, what can I say?)
In some cases (like George Washington), I read an extra biography because of the cover. I mean, look at Alexis Coe’s You Never Forget Your First. Stunning.
RULE #8: The book needs to be about the president
I learned a lot about FDR in Catherine Grace Katz’s The Daughters of Yalta, for example. This couldn’t have “counted” for FDR on its own because he wasn’t the main focus.
*Even though Katz’s website contains a helpful set of player cards featuring photos of the main players, I still managed to draw the wrong Churchill daughter.
(If you want to see more, click here and scroll down a bit.)
RULE #10: The book should span the entire life
I’ve learned so much about these guys from their childhood.
DID YOU KNOW
FDR’s mom kept his blonde tresses long and clothed him in dresses until he was 5. Then she switched him over to kilts.
RULE #11: The book has to include the presidency
There were twenty pages left in The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams by Phyllis Lee Levin when I realized there wasn’t enough time left for JQA to become president. Never before was I so shocked by the death of a 17th century figure. Immediately, I amended the rules of my quest to require that any biographies must include information about their presidency because that’s kind of the whole damned point here.
One could argue the title was pretty clear. But I would counter that I expected it would include his lifelong education. In any case, I eventually read another biography. You’ll be happy to know I’m all squared away now.
To be continued…
The closer I got to the end of my quest, the clearer it was that there is no end. The more I learned, the thirstier I became. I’ve read more than one biography about every president, and there’s no stopping me.
At some point, hopefully all of this will result in my name on the cover of a presidential book. Until then, thanks for following along on my journey!
