Liza Q Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 My son has asked me to find some good biographies of a few presidents for next year - TRoosevelt, FDR, and JFK. Because I enjoyed them, I tried to get my son interested in Adams and Truman by McCullough but he is pretty set on the three he has chosen. The Rise of TR and TRex are great but they are really too long to fit into our school year. And I have never read a biography of FDR or JFK. So, I am looking for recommendations. My son has read several biographies by Albert Marrin over the past few years and I was pleased to find that Marrin had written one on each Roosevelt, but my son wants something longer and more detailed than Marrin's books. So - any thoughts? I guess we are looking for something in between the 250-300 or so pages in a Marrin bio and the 1,500+ pages in the Morris bios. Another thought - maybe this thread could also have recommendations of the best accessible-to-teenagers bios of any and all the presidents. So, even if you don't have a recommendation for these particular presidents, if one of your children has particularly loved a bio of another president, please mention it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Doris Kearns Goodwin has ~900page bios of all 3 that look solid("The Bully Pulpit", "No Ordinary Time", and "The Fitzgerarlds and the Kennedys"). That may be longer than you want but is the best I can find off hand. I haven't read them but "Team of Rivals" deserved its Pulitzer. TR has good bios but I think the definitive FDR and JFK bios haven't been written yet so its hard to find shorter popularisations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellen Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I really enjoyed Destiny of the Republic by Candice Miller. It'sounds about President Garfield. It's a fairly easy read. The most interesting parts were the description of the convention when he was nominated and his assassination. The book talked about his life prior to the Presidency but none of it stuck in my memory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 You mentioned McCullough, and Mornings on Horseback and The Path Between the Seas both feature TR. Though also long for the time span covered, McCullough's biographies are accessible. Also, you could do just one of the Morris books, and leave it up to your son as to whether he pursues the rest on his own time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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