US Presidents
April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States to the present — 47 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.
God and Ronald Reagan established Paul Kengor as one of the premier authorities on the life and career of the 40th president. With The Crusader, Kengor uncovers a heretofore untold story: Reagan’s lifelong crusade against communism, and his dogged efforts to overthrow the Soviet Union.
Kengor chronicles Reagan’s efforts to target communism, from his days as governor of California to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of what he famously dubbed the “Evil Empire.” Reagan not only wished for the collapse of communism, but understood what he needed to do to make that happen.
Kengor discloses some astonishing information, including one key memo that implicates a major American liberal politician in a scheme to enlist Soviet premier Yuri Andropov to help defeat Reagan in his 1984 reelection bid. The Crusader is a real-life political thriller that sheds light on a previously little understood aspect of Reagan’s historic presidency.
Paul Kengor is the author of the New York Times extended-list best-seller God and Ronald Reagan as well as God and George W. Bush and The Crusader. He is a professor of political science and director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College. He lives with his wife and children in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
“Combining the skills of great story-telling with his commitment to scholarly detail, Paul Kengor has written an important book that also makes for a fascinating read. The Crusader will not only entertain and inform, it will change minds.” — Peter Schweizer, author of Do As I Say Not As I Do and Reagan's War
“While many have tried, few have succeeded in telling such a complete history of my dad’s greatest triumph.” — Michael Reagan
“The Crusader is a masterpiece, painstakingly researched, filled with new evidence no one has seen.” — Michael Novak, author of Washington's God and former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission
“Provides an authoritative insight into Ronald Reagan’s campaign to destroy Soviet communism. Although I served as Reagan’s Soviet advisor in 1981 and 1982, there is information here of which I had been ignorant. Highly recommended as the story of one the most dramatic episodes of modern history.” — Richard Pipes, professor of history, Emeritus, Harvard University
“As in his previous work on Ronald Reagan, Paul Kengor’s latest book illuminates a side of the man evident only to those closest to him, including the deep influence of the man’s faith in his attack on atheistic Soviet communism. The Crusader is another important addition to our historical understanding of Ronald Reagan, his presidency, his policies, and the end of the Cold War.” — Bill Clark, National Security Advisor 1982-1983