We see Teddy Roosevelt, known today for his rugged adventures and bulletproof self-confidence, as a vulnerable first-time author, struggling to write the book that would become a classic of American history. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan-to offer insights into the aspirations and inner lives of our nation’s presidents. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to influence a campaign, and John Adams’s Autobiography, the first score-settling presidential memoir, Author in Chief draws on newly uncovered information-including never-before-published letters from Andrew Jackson, John F. In Craig Fehrman’s groundbreaking work of history, Author in Chief, the story of America’s presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography.

When voters asked about his beliefs, Lincoln liked to point them to his book. But it also reveals something about his heart and mind. Political Debates sold fifty thousand copies-the rough equivalent of half a million books in today’s market-and it reveals something about Lincoln’s presidential ambitions. Lincoln labored in secret to get his book ready for the 1860 election, tracking down newspaper transcripts, editing them carefully for fairness, and hunting for a printer who would meet his specifications. Yet few can name the work that helped win him the presidency: his published collection of speeches entitled Political Debates Between Hon. Most Americans are familiar with Lincoln’s famous words in the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation.

In the tradition of The Gatekeepers and The Presidents Club, historian Craig Fehrman offers a surprising new look into both the public and private lives of America’s presidents.

Craig fehrman author in chief