US Presidents
April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States to the present — 46 presidencies have led the nation from its violent beginning through turbulent times, near-extinction, world triumph, and long domestic and international challenges. I realized how steadily I sold biographies and histories dealing with the US Presidents, and I thought I would begin on the ambitious project of all the books related to the subject that I stock. Here is the beginning of an ongoing work. I am including the necessary topics of spouses and general administration (not just the individual). Endlessly fascinating to the reader — and apparently inspiring to our best historians.
The listing is chronological, most recent to George Washington top to bottom of the page, with some books on leadership and so forth at the bottom. The most recent President, Donald Trump, is having many books published with political or polemical edges to them. The political books are listed on the Politics & Current Events page. For this page I will strive to select books on Trump that have a historical framework or methodology.
Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon
Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon
A compelling insider’s account by the trusted adviser and confidante to America’s presidential giants and political legends as he draws the curtains back on his most private moments with Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon during revolutionary changes in our economy, politics, communications, foreign policy, and culture.
Ken Khachigian has written the most lucid, most important work about the postwar period. For an inside look at how ugly politics can be--and how noble--you cannot miss this book. I still love Ken after fifty years and you will, too, when you read this jewel of a memoir. —Ben Stein, Economist, law professor, multi Emmy awarded actor, speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Ford, novelist, and screenwriter
This is essential reading for anyone wanting to know how Ronald Reagan shaped his crusading message of economic growth through tax cuts and limited government. Khachigian’s is a fascinating account by one who takes you into the rooms where the decisions were made. —Larry Kudlow, Host of Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” and Former Director, National Economic Council
To understand Nixon and Reagan, the two crucial Presidents and coalition builders of the last third of the 20th century, the insights of Ken Khachigian, the confidant who advised them both, seem indispensable. —Pat Buchanan, White House Aide to Presidents Nixon and Reagan
Ken Khachigian is a great conservative and patriot, and his book will give you the inside view of a presidency that will go down in history as one of greatness and strength. —Ed Rollins, Ronald Reagan’s White House Political Director
Ken Khachigian offers a riveting account of his thrilling journey through American history at the sides of two monumental Presidents. If you care about where America has been, and where it’s going, this is a must-read! —Monica Crowley, Ph.D., Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, News Analyst and Bestselling Author
Ken Khachigian will draw you inside a generation of White House leadership and details how Reagan revived the American economy and lit a prairie fire of patriotism across America. —K.T. McFarland, American political candidate, former government official, and political commentator
Mr. Khachigian, now 79 and retired (and an occasional contributor to this newspaper’s opinion pages), concludes his anecdote-rich book with an expression of gratitude to both Nixon and Reagan, saying that it was “wonderful good fortune for me to have been at their service, and, for the country, for each of them to have served. —Wall Street Journal
Behind Closed Doors is a rich repository of hitherto unknown but highly significant stories about two leaders who many of us thought we knew everything about but obviously didn't. —NewsMax