The Presidential
Reading Journey

Often when my son, Beckett, is assigned a book to read in school, I try to read them as well, so I can talk to him about the book, instead of just asking whether he finished it or not. It's been a wonderful way to rediscover many classics, like 1984, The Great Gatsby and Beloved, as well as books I had never heard of, like Educated and Wild.

In the summer of 2025, when he was a rising junior, one of his assigned summer reading books was Joseph Ellis's His Excellency: George Washington. I read it along with him, and we had a thoughtful discussion about many aspects of his presidency, and the precedents he set. Of course, that naturally led to making comparisons with the current presidential administration.

That got me thinking... perhaps I could become better equipped to understand and discuss the events of the current presidential administration if I learned more about the past ones. And when I feel concerned and frustrated about the present, I can take comfort in specific examples where our country has survived worse and come out stronger for it. That has turned into this project: read a book about each presidential administration - from #1 to the present. Here's where that stands so far.