The Best Presidents & Heads of State Biographies & Memoirs 2025

1. First Ladies (Paperback) 9780688112721

ISBN: 9780688112721 ISBN10: 0688112722 Contributors: Anthony, Carl Sferrazza,

In this previously untold story of a unique role and its evolving definitions, Carl Sferrazza Anthony has produced "an entirely new take on the first ladyship" and "an awesome work of scholarship" (Library Journal). Opening with a historic trip made in 1789 by Martha Washington from Mount Vernon to New York, then the capital city, First Ladies brings these women alive as never before in a saga of intertwining lives, friends, rivals, and allies. Among the women profiled in this first of a definitive two-volume history: Dolley Madison, Julia Tyler, Mary Lincoln, Julia Grant, Nellie Taft, Edith Wilson, Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mamie Eisenhower. From the Federalist to the Antebellum periods, through the Gilded and Jazz ages, from the Great Depression to the Fabulous Fifties, thirty-four women confronted the towering events of American history. They also helped establish its course. We also glimpse the early years of the living First Ladies, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Barbara Bush.

2. Pre-Owned George Washington: The Founding Father (Paperback) 0060753676 9780060753672

By far the most important figure in the history of the United States, George Washington liberated the thirteen colonies from the superior forces of the British Empire against all military odds, and presided over the production and ratification of a constitution that (suitably amended) has lasted for more than two hundred years. Yet today Washington remains a distant figure to many Americans--a failing that acclaimed author Paul Johnson sets out to rectify with this brilliantly vivid, sharply etched portrait of the great hero as a young warrior, masterly commander in chief, patient lawmaker, and exceptionally wise president.

Title: George Washington: The Founding Father Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 0060753676 EAN: 9780060753672 Author: Johnson, Paul CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

3. Last Second in Dallas, (Hardcover)

In this long-awaited follow-up to his critically acclaimed 1967 classic, Six Seconds in Dallas, Josiah Thompson reveals major new forensic discoveries since the year 2000 that overturn previously accepted "facts" about the Kennedy assassination. Together they provide what no previous book on the assassination has done--incontrovertible proof that JFK was killed in a crossfire. Last Second in Dallas is not a conspiracy book. No theory of who did it is offered or discussed. Among the discoveries: The test showing that all recovered bullet fragments came from Oswald's rifle was mistaken. Several fragments could have come from bullets of any manufacturer and any caliber. The sudden two-inch forward movement of the president's head in the Zapruder film just before his head explodes is revealed to be an optical illusion caused by the movement of Zapruder's camera. This leaves without further challenge clear evidence that this shot came from a specific location to the right front of the limousine. Detailed analysis of film frames matched by the newly validated acoustic evidence show a second shot struck the president's head from behind less than a second later. Result: two killing shots to the head from opposite directions in the final second of the shooting--hence the book's title. At once a historical detective story and a deeply personal narrative by a major figure in the field, Last Second in Dallas captures the drama and sweep of events, detailing government missteps and political bias as well as the junk science, hubris, and controversy that have dogged the investigation from the beginning. Into this account Thompson weaves his own eventful journey, that of a Yale-educated scholar who in 1976 resigned his tenured professorship in philosophy to become a private investigator in San Francisco, developing a national reputation. Profusely illustrated, Last Second in Dallas features dozens of archive photographs, including Zapruder film frames reproduced at the highest clarity ever published.

Last Second in Dallas, (Hardcover) Author: University Press of Kansas ISBN: 9780700630080 Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 2021-02-15 Page Count: 544

4. Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Unfinished Work of the Nation (Paperback)

This book describes the views of two of our nation’s greatest presidents and explains how these views provide valuable insight into modern-day debates. The first extended examination of the ideas of both Lincoln and Jefferson, it provides readers with a succinct guide to their opinions that still resonate today.

Although the nation changed substantially between the presidential terms of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, these two leaders shared common interests and held remarkably similar opinions on many important issues. In Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Unfinished Work of the Nation, Ronald L. Hatzenbuehler describes the views of two of our nation’s greatest presidents and explains how these views provide valuable insight into modern debates. In this groundbreaking new study—the first extended examination of the ideas of Lincoln and Jefferson—Hatzenbuehler provides readers with a succinct guide to their opinions, comparing and contrasting their reasoned judgments on America’s republican form of government. Each chapter is devoted to one key area of common interest: race and slavery, the pros and cons of political parties, state rights versus federal authority, religion and the presidency, presidential powers under the Constitution, or the proper political economy for a republic. Relying on the pair’s own words in their letters, writings, and speeches, Hatzenbuehler explores similarities and differences between the two men on contentious issues. Both, for instance, wrote that they were antislavery, but Jefferson never acted on this belief, while Lincoln moved toward a constitutional amendment banning slavery. The book’s title, taken from the Gettysburg Address, builds on both presidents’ expectations that Americans should dedicate themselves to the unfinished work of returning the nation to its founding principles. Jefferson and Lincoln wrestled with many of the same issues and ideas that intrigue and divide Americans today. In his thought-provoking work, Hatzenbuehler details how the two presidents addressed these issues and ideas, which are essential to understanding not only America’s history but also the continuing influence of the past on the present.

5. Yeltsin : A Life (Paperback)

Even after his death in April 2007, Boris Yeltsin remains the most controversial figure in recent Russian history. Although Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the decline of the Communist party and the withdrawal of Soviet control over eastern Europe, it was Yeltsin-Russia's first elected president-who buried the Soviet Union itself. Upon taking office, Yeltsin quickly embarked on a sweeping makeover of newly democratic Russia, beginning with a program of excruciatingly painful market reforms that earned him wide acclaim in the West and deep recrimination from many Russian citizens. In this, the first biography of Yeltsin's entire life, Soviet scholar Timothy Colton traces Yeltsin's development from a peasant boy in the Urals to a Communist party apparatchik, and then ultimately to a nemesis of the Soviet order. Based on unprecedented interviews with Yeltsin himself as well as scores of other Soviet officials, journalists, and businessmen, Colton explains how and why Yeltsin broke with single-party rule and launched his drive to replace it with democracy. Yeltsin's colossal attempt to bring democracy to Russia remains one of the great, unfinished stories of our time. As anti-Western policies and rhetoric resurface in Putin's increasingly bellicose Russia, Yeltsin offers essential insights into the past, present, and future of this vast and troubled nation.

Even after his death in April 2007, Boris Yeltsin remains the most controversial figure in recent Russian history. Although Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the decline of the Communist party and the withdrawal of Soviet control over eastern Europe, it was Yeltsin-Russia's first elected president-who buried the Soviet Union itself. Upon taking office, Yeltsin quickly embarked on a sweeping makeover of newly democratic Russia, beginning with a program of excruciatingly painful market reforms that earned him wide acclaim in the West and deep recrimination from many Russian citizens. In this, the first biography of Yeltsin's entire life, Soviet scholar Timothy Colton traces Yeltsin's development from a peasant boy in the Urals to a Communist party apparatchik, and then ultimately to a nemesis of the Soviet order. Based on unprecedented interviews with Yeltsin himself as well as scores of other Soviet officials, journalists, and businessmen, Colton explains how and why Yeltsin broke with single-party rule and launched his drive to replace it with democracy. Yeltsin's colossal attempt to bring democracy to Russia remains one of the great, unfinished stories of our time. As anti-Western policies and rhetoric resurface in Putin's increasingly bellicose Russia, Yeltsin offers essential insights into the past, present, and future of this vast and troubled nation.

6. Pre-Owned Sharing Good Times (Hardcover) by Jimmy Carter

9780743270335. Pre-owned: Good condition. Hard cover. Language: English. Pages: 174. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 174 p. The former president recalls some of the simple joys that he has experienced throughout the years, especially those that he has shared with members of his family, friends, and colleagues.

ISBN: 9780743270335 Condition: New Hard cover Language: English Pages: 174 Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 174 p. The former president recalls some of the simple joys that he has experienced throughout the years, especially those that he has shared with members of his family, friends, and colleagues.

7. Pre-Owned Trump University Commercial Real Estate 101 : How Small Investors Can Get Started and Make It Big 9780470380352

Many investors are frightened of investing in commercial real estate. But with residential real estate struggling, the time is right to make the switch to commercial properties. Trump University Commercial Real Estate Investing 101 takes the fear out of commercial investing with easy-to-understand, step-by-step principles that will make you successful and lower your risk. You'll learn the differences between residential and commercial properties, how to invest profitably in your spare time, and much more.

Title: Trump University Commercial Real Estate 101: How Small Investors Can Get Started and Make It Big ISBN10: 0470380357 EAN: 9780470380352 Author: Lindahl, David; Trump University; Trump, Donald J. CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

8. Pre-Owned Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths (Paperback) 0060924721 9780060924720

"There is no better introduction to current thinking about Lincoln and his place in history." --Newsday "Oates re-creates the life and world of Abraham Lincoln with the skill of a master painter. He succeeds in portraying both the facts and myths of history as essential to our understanding it." --Christian Science Monitor An essential book for any student of Lincoln and American history, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths is acclaimed Lincoln biographer Stephen B. Oates's unique exploration of America's sixteenth president in reality and memory. In this multifaceted portrait, Oates, "the most popular historical interpreter of Lincoln" (Gabor S. Boritt, New York Times Book Review), exposes the human side of the great and tragic president--including his depression, his difficulties with love, and his troubled and troubling attitudes about slavery--while also confronting the many legends that have arisen around "Honest Abe." Oates throughout raises timely questions about what the Lincoln mythos reveals about the American people.

Title: Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 0060924721 EAN: 9780060924720 Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State Author: Oates, Stephen B. CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

9. Pre-Owned A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America (Paperback) 1984877518 9781984877512

The instant #1 bestseller, now updated with new reporting. "This taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump's shambolic tenure in office to date." - Dwight Garner, The New York Times Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump's presidency "I alone can fix it." So proclaimed Donald J. Trump on July 21, 2016, accepting the Republican presidential nomination and promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet as he undertook the actual work of the commander in chief, it became nearly impossible to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. In fact, there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration was loyalty--not to the country, but to the president himself--and Trump's North Star was always the perpetuation of his own power. With deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reveal the forty-fifth president up close. Here, for the first time, certain officials who felt honor-bound not to divulge what they witnessed in positions of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history. A peerless and gripping narrative, A Very Stable Genius not only reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished but shows how he tested the strength of America's democracy and its common heart as a nation.

Title: A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 1984877518 EAN: 9781984877512 Author: Rucker, Philip; Leonnig, Carol CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

10. Pre-Owned Los Sueños de Mi Padre: Una Historia de Raza Y Herencia / Dreams from My Father (Paperback) 0307473872 9780307473875

En estas memorias l ricas y absorbentes, el hijo de un africano negro y una estadounidense blanca busca un significado viable a su vida como negro afroamericano. Comienza en Nueva York, donde Barack Obama se entera de que su padre --al que conoce m s como mito que como hombre-- ha fallecido en accidente automovil stico. La inesperada noticia provoca en l un viaje f sico y emocional que le lleva de Kansas a Hawai y m s tarde a Kenia, en una emotiva odisea que le permitir conocer realmente a su familia, la amarga verdad de la vida de su padre, y conciliar al fin las distintas partes de su fragmentada herencia.

Title: Los Sueños de Mi Padre: Una Historia de Raza Y Herencia / Dreams from My Father Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 0307473872 EAN: 9780307473875 Author: Obama, Barack CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.