Happy Friday, readers!
What a week it was for the Democratic party here in the U.S. midterm elections. These non-POTUS elections don’t always matter in the long-term, but every once in a while it can signify a true generational change. What happened on Tuesday was one of those. Steve Kornacki’s excellent The Red and the Blue talks about how a couple midterm elections in the 90s paved the way for the modern GOP — we may be seeing something similar on the Democratic side this time.
But enough about the present moment — let’s go back in time. This week I’m featuring a couple of President-related reads that are on the light-hearted side of things. They each still explore some important ideas, but with more optimistic and readable storytelling than you often find in the history genre. Let’s take a look.
As always, I’d love to hear what you’re reading and enjoying this week.
A Perfect Coincidence: The Extraordinary Friendship and Astonishing Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Jim Rasenberger
John Adams, our second president, and Thomas Jefferson, our third, were polar opposites in most regards. They had differing philosophies about governing (right down to the title of the president), their personalities clashed most the time, and they even looked strikingly different — Adams was short and squat while Jefferson was tall and wiry.
But the two men nonetheless kindled a tenuous friendship during the American Revolution. Adams tirelessly campaigned for independence while Jefferson was able to put those ideas into some of the most promising words ever penned. Come their respective presidencies, however, those bonds of friendship were quickly broken.
Historian Jim Rasenberger chronicles that fall from grace as well as their remarkable late-life return to friendship in A Perfect Coincidence. Running through it all is the idea of just how divinely poetic it was that the men found their way back to each other and then died on the same day, a 4th of July no less, exactly 50 years after America’s founding.
This one reminded me a lot of Ike and Winston — two powerful guys who sometimes worked well together, sometimes didn’t, and ultimately decided that friendship was more important than partisanship. I rather enjoyed A Perfect Coincidence overall and look forward to reading more of Rasenberger’s books.
Need even more recommendations for POTUS reads? Check out my master list.
Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo
(I originally reviewed this one over at artofmanliness.com)
Harry Truman has long been one of my favorite presidents to read about, and this delightful little book offers a side of him that most histories overlook.
In the summer of 1953, just months after leaving the White House, Truman and his wife, Bess, climbed into their Chrysler and headed east on an unpublicized road trip. Truman had always loved automobiles and cared deeply about America’s roads. For a brief moment, he hoped he might simply become an ordinary citizen again. While it didn’t quite work that way — they would end up recognized everywhere they went — the Trumans enjoyed a retirement vacation in a way that no president since has been able to do.
Algeo tells this forgotten story with warmth and humor, including short detours into the history of America’s highways and road trips in general. It’s a charming glimpse into both Truman’s character and a version of America (and politics) that no longer exists.
I tend to really enjoy slim, slice-of-life books like this about our politicians — it’s a mode that Algeo excels at. The President Is a Sick Man and All This Marvelous Potential are also stand-out reads of his.
Thanks so much for reading. Be good to each other. Until next week,
-Jeremy