List of autobiographies by Presidents of the United States

Ulysses S. Grant, working on his memoirs in 1885. His Personal Memoirs is considered by historians to be among the best by a U.S. President.

Many United States Presidents have written autobiographies about their Presidencies and/or (some periods of) their life before their Presidencies. Some 19th-century United States Presidents who wrote autobiographies are James Buchanan and Ulysses S. Grant, though Grant's autobiography is about his time as General during the U.S. Civil War and not about his Presidency. Out of the former U.S. Presidents since 1923, only George H. W. Bush has not written an autobiography. Some of the more recent U.S. Presidential autobiographies, such as Bill Clinton's, George W. Bush's, and Barack Obama's (written and published before he was elected president) sold well enough to earn them millions of dollars.[1][2]

Autobiographies covering the period of their presidency

Note: Only publication information for the first edition is given.
Title President Publisher Date ISBN
The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren U.S. Government Printing Office 1920
Posthumously compiled and edited from Van Buren's manuscript materials by John C. Fitzpatrick.
Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion Buchanan, JamesJames Buchanan D. Appleton and Company 1866
Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt Macmillan 1913
The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge Cosmopolitan Book Corporation 1929
Previously published serially in the periodical Cosmopolitan.
The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover Macmillan 1951
Published in three volumes: Volume 1: Years of Adventure 1874-1920; Volume 2: The Cabinet and the Presidency 1920-1933; Volume 3: The Great Depression 1929-1941.
Memoirs: Year of Decisions Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman Doubleday 1955
Memoirs: Years of Trial and Hope Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman Doubleday 1956
The Autobiography of Harry S Truman Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman Colorado Associated University Press 1980 978-0870810909
Posthumously compiled and edited from Truman's manuscript materials by historian Robert Ferrell.
At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1969
The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969 Johnson, Lyndon B.Lyndon B. Johnson Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1971 978-0030844928
RN - The Memoirs of Richard Nixon Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon Grosset & Dunlap 1978 978-0448143743
In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon Simon & Schuster 1990 978-0671700966
A Time To Heal Ford, GeraldGerald Ford Harper & Row 1979 978-0060112974
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Bantam Books 1982 978-0553050233
An American Life Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan Simon & Schuster 1990 0-7434-0025-9
My Life Clinton, BillBill Clinton Knopf Publishing Group 2004 978-0-375-41457-2
Decision Points Bush, George W.George W. Bush Crown Publishers 2010 978-0-307-59061-9

Autobiographies not covering the period of their presidency

Title President Publisher Date ISBN
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant Grant, Ulysses S.Ulysses S. Grant Charles L. Webster & Company 1885–86
The Rough Riders Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt Charles Scribner's Sons 1899
Crusade in Europe Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1948
Six Crises Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon Doubleday 1962 ISBN 0-385-00125-8
Where's the Rest of Me? Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan Duell, Sloan and Pearce 1965 ISBN 978-0918294166
Why Not the Best?: The First Fifty Years Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Broadman Press 1975 ISBN 0-8054-5582-5
Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Three Rivers Press 1993 ISBN 0-8129-2299-9
An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Simon & Schuster 2001 ISBN 0-7432-1199-5
Looking Forward Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush Doubleday 1987 ISBN 0-3851-4181-5
A Charge to Keep Bush, George W.George W. Bush William Morrow & Company 1999 ISBN 0-688-17441-8
Dreams from My Father Obama, BarackBarack Obama Times Books 1995 ISBN 1-4000-8277-3
The Audacity of Hope Obama, BarackBarack Obama Crown/Three Rivers Press 2006 ISBN 0-307-23769-9
A Full Life: Reflections at 90 Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Simon & Schuster 2015 ISBN 978-1-5011-1563-9

Published diaries and papers

Title President Editor Publisher Date ISBN
The Eisenhower Diaries Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower Ferrell, RobertRobert Ferrell W W Norton & Co Inc 1976
Prelude to Leadership: The European Diary of John F. Kennedy: Summer 1945 Kennedy, John F.John F. Kennedy Regnery Publishing 1995 ISBN 978-0895264596
The Letters of John F. Kennedy Kennedy, John F.John F. Kennedy Martin W. Sandler Bloomsbury Press 2013 ISBN 978-1608192717
Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon Rick Perlstein Princeton University Press 2010 ISBN 978-1400835683
White House Diary Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2010 ISBN 0374280991
The Reagan Diaries Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan David Brinkley Harper Collins 2007 ISBN 0-06-087600-X
All the Best Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush Scribner 1999 ISBN 068483958X

Notes

  1. "Americas | Clintons' earnings exceed $100m". BBC News. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  2. Simon Mann, Washington. "'Man of Steel' barely rates a mention in Bush memoirs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2013-04-08.

Further reading

See also

External links

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