James A. Garfield

by Ira M. Rutkow

Rutkow, author of the landmark study of Civil War surgery Bleeding Blue and Grey, employs his extraordinary scholarship to provide the full, tragic story of Garfield’s rise and shocking assassination.

James Buchanan

by Jean H. Baker

Despite impressive credentials, Buchanan failed to resolve the slavery question, ensuring Lincoln’s election and the war. Baker examines the implications of weak leadership in a time of national crisis.

James K. Polk

by John Seigenthaler

Counts as 2

Recounts the unlikely rise of “Young Hickory,” the shrewd and decisive commander-in-chief who spearheaded America’s westward expansion and solidified Andrew Jackson’s dream of democracy and popular government.

James Madison

by Garry Wills

Counts as 2

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian unravels the eternal conundrum of James Madison: Why this key framer of the U.S. Constitution and the most astute political analyst of his time was such an ineffectual president.

James Monroe

by Gary Hart

Former Senator Gary Hart challenges the conventional negative view of Monroe. Hart argues that the priorities of this farsighted president, particularly his concern with the border, have resonance today.

Jimmy Carter

by Julian E. Zelizer

An incisive portrait of the maverick politician from Georgia whose term was consumed by economic and international crises—but who has remade himself as a statesman for our time in his post-presidential career.

John Adams

by John Diggins

Diggins, a distinguished student of American political and social thought, offers an excellent overview of Adams’ constitutionalism, vigorously rebutting those who deem Adams a closet “monarchist.”

John Quincy Adams

by Robert Remini

The pre-eminent biographer of Andrew Jackson traces the life and career of one of Old Hickory's archenemies, the inflexible and dyspeptic John Quincy Adams, in this absorbing entry in the American Presidents Series.

John Tyler

by Gary May

Casting an eye toward the controversial aspects of Tyler’s presidency, Gary May sheds new light on the “accidental president,” whose clandestine maneuverings brought Texas into the Union and set secession in motion.