What the Presidents Read
Childhood Stories and Family Favorites
Published on 22. January 2025
Book
Hardback
560 pages
978-1-5381-7782-2 (ISBN)
Description
A childhood book is much more than just a story-for the presidents, it may represent a turn in the course of history. What the Presidents Read catalogs presidents' early reading accompanied by commentary from eye-witness reporters, historians, journalists, curators, biographers, literary scholars, U.S. presidents and White House families. Together they offer non-specialists brief, surprising insights. Readers will jump at the chance to compare their own favorite books as they learn how these publications resonated with national myths and leaders in the making.
Reviews / Votes
Perhaps nothing more profoundly influences an individual than the books read in childhood. America has been blessed with readers who became our leaders. Goodenough and Olson have done a great service. Their remarkable book ambitiously sets out to prove how deeply children's literature has helped shape the minds and souls of those who have guided our nation through war and peace. And I for one am grateful for it. -- Michael Patrick Hearn, author of The Annotated Wizard of Oz Brilliantly conceived, comprehensive in its contents, and fun to read, What the Presidents Read is a rich blend of biography, history, literature, and psychology that explores the idea that -- even for presidents -- we are what we read. The sheer human interest of this book is irresistible, while students of history may gain new insights into the presidents they admire. Highly recommended! -- James G. Basker, Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History, Barnard College, Columbia University This volume invites us to consider what reading is for, as well as who has access to its offerings and who does not. It is instructive to learn what the presidents read in their childhood and what books they still treasure as adults. With a reach both wide and deep, this literary and pictorial quilt stitches many connections among presidents, books, children, and the people who came to define a nation. -- Pamela Reynolds, Anthropology of Childhood, Professor Emerita Johns Hopkins University, Presidential Professor University of Michigan In their insightful book, What the Presidents Read, Elizabeth Goodenough and Marilynn Olson investigate how children's tales are a key part of the story of leadership and values for our American presidents. The originality of their concept is both powerful and enchanting. -- Chris Loker, author of One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature What the Presidents Read: Childhood Stories and Family Favorites is a must-read for anyone interested in how literature shaped American presidents as people and as leaders. -- Catherine Sommervold, Professor of Education, Doane University What the Presidents Read is a well-researched and engaging text that provides insight into the reading habits of U.S. presidents and their families. -- James Conroy, author of Lincoln's White HouseMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
132 b/w illustrations;
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
1279 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5381-7782-2 (9781538177822)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Elizabeth Goodenough | Marilynn Olson
What the Presidents Read
Childhood Stories and Family Favorites
E-Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
€21.49
Available for download
Elizabeth Goodenough | Marilynn Olson
What the Presidents Read
Childhood Stories and Family Favorites
E-Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Rowman & Littlefield
€21.49
Available for download
Persons
Elizabeth Goodenough has taught at Harvard, Claremont McKenna, and the University of Michigan's Residential College, School of Education, and School of Information. Her books include Secret Spaces of Childhood (University of Michigan Press); Under Fire: Childhood in the Shadow of War; and Infant Tongues: The Voice of the Child in Literature (Wayne State University Press). She helped produce the award-winning PBS documentary, Where Do the Children Play? and authored companion volumes A Study Guide to the Film and A Place for Play. A recent member of the Children's Literature Association's critical book and Phoenix Award committees, she now serves on the advisory boards of The Michigan Quarterly Review and the Max Courage Curriculum.
Marilynn S. Olson has been professor and director of Advanced Studies in English at Texas State University. She was associate editor and then editor of the Children's Literature Association Quarterly from 1991-2000; her recent book (2012) is Children's Culture and the Avant-Garde: Painting in Paris 1890-1915. Recent chapters include "John Ruskin and the Mutual Influences of Children's Literature and the Avant-Garde" for Elina Druker and Bettina Kuemmerling-Meibauer's Children's Literature and the Avant-Garde (2015) and "Art History and the Picturebook" for the Routledge Companion to the Picturebook (2018). Olson has also co-authored a number of articles on astronomy, art, and literature with her husband, Donald Olson.
Marilynn S. Olson has been professor and director of Advanced Studies in English at Texas State University. She was associate editor and then editor of the Children's Literature Association Quarterly from 1991-2000; her recent book (2012) is Children's Culture and the Avant-Garde: Painting in Paris 1890-1915. Recent chapters include "John Ruskin and the Mutual Influences of Children's Literature and the Avant-Garde" for Elina Druker and Bettina Kuemmerling-Meibauer's Children's Literature and the Avant-Garde (2015) and "Art History and the Picturebook" for the Routledge Companion to the Picturebook (2018). Olson has also co-authored a number of articles on astronomy, art, and literature with her husband, Donald Olson.
Content
Foreword
Chapter I. History and Geography
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
William Henry Harrison
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Calvin Coolidge
Harry Truman
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Bill Clinton
Contemporary Comment
Matthew Goetz, "Young George Washington's Literary Voyage Round the World"
Marilynn Olson, "Why Fillmore Remembered Abyssinia"
Mark W. Graham, "Charles Rollin and Universal History in America"
Tim Utter, "Peter Parley's Geographical Education of Children in the Mid-19th Century"
Stephen Bertman, "Andrew Jackson: Savage Sophisticate"
Catharine M. Parisian, "A Thirst for Knowledge"
Eric Best, "Growing Up near Sagamore Hill"
Laureen Tedesco, "The Little Brown Sister: A Children's Book Model for William Howard Taft's Benevolent Paternalism"
Tom Mallon, "The Row to Zanzibar"
Bethanee Bemis, "The White House and Mickey Mouse: Presidents and the Disney Parks"
Chapter II. Sports, Games, and Play
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Dolley Madison
Tad Lincoln
Ulysses Grant
Grover Cleveland
Theodore Roosevelt
Louise Taft
Nellie Taft
Calvin Coolidge
Eleanor Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Lady Bird Johnson
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Contemporary Comment
James G. Leaf, "NO SISSIES ALLOWED: Qualifications for U.S. Presidency"
Laura Wasowicz, "Kitchen Table Politics for Children in the Hero of Tippecanoe"
Scott Eberle, "Wrestling and Storytelling in Lincoln's White House"
Edward G. Lengel, "Nellie Arthur in the White House"
Elizabeth Goodenough, "Frances Cleveland and First White House Kindergarten"
Peggy Ellsberg, "TR and the Icon of the Cowboy"
Margo Taft Stever, "Searching for the Young William Howard Taft: The Tortoise and the Hare"
Annette B. Dunlap, "Lou Henry Hoover and the Spirit of Play"
Rebecca Schwartz, "Truman Reading Music"
Michelle Guillen, "Jackie and her Children Riding at Glen-Ora"
John Woodford, "The Men Who Would be President"
Douglas Brinkley, "The Ebb and Flow of John F. Kennedy"
Donald Holloway, "The Education of Gerald Ford"
Stuart Brown, "Winning isn't Everything"
James G. Leaf, "'Finis Origines Pendent': George W. Bush at Andover"
Corky Siemaszko, "Obama's High School Basketball Coaches, Teammates Remember 'Barry'"
Chapter III. Animal Tales
Introduction
Aesop's Fables
Aesop as Political Commentary: The Bayeux Tapestry
Aesop in American Politics
George Washington, 1st President (1789-1797)
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President (1801-1809)
Millard Filmore, 13th President (1850-1853)
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (1861-1865)
William Howard Taft, 27th President (1909-1913)
Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and American Politics
Alice on the Stage
Alice in Political Parodies and Cartoons
Alice in the Age of the New Deal and Beyond
Alice, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
4. Billy Whiskers
John F. Kennedy
Billy Whiskers and Women's Travel Writing
Seeing the World with Billy Whiskers
A Voice of its Time
Nation Building
Who Lives Here?
What Does the Country Look Like?
5. The Story of Ferdinand
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ferdinand, and Munro Leaf
The Aftermath of World War II: Berlin, Christmas 1946
Harry Truman and the Marshall Plan
Kennedy's People-to-People Exchange and Johnson's War on Poverty
Chapter IV. Performing Story, Poetry, Speech
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
James Monroe
Abigail Adams and John Q. Adams
John Q. Adams
Louisa Adams
Martin van Buren
James K. Polk
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Julia Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Corrina Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Caroline Kennedy
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Contemporary Comment
Marilynn Olson, "'A Favourite Author of Mine': Monroe's Note and Pleasures of Imagination"
Eric Sterner, "Joseph Addison's Cato: Liberty on the Stage"
Donelle Ruwe, "Theater of Education and School Plays"
Suzanne Rahn, "The Appeal of Walter Scott"
Leslie Stainton, "Reading James Buchanan"
Henry Meares, "Black Folks Hero: He Freed the Slaves"
Jerry Mikorenda, "A Poem, a President, and his Pupil"
Alicia Clapp-Itnyre, "Cleveland and Fanny Crosby"
Rob Tally, "Fenimore Cooper and the Leatherstocking Tales"
Brian C. Wilson, "Donald Trump and Reverend Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking"
Steve Wilson, "Ralph Waldo Emerson's "'The American Scholar': The Thought Heard Round the World"
Chapter V. Verities of Instruction
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
George Washington
John Adams
John Adams and John Quincy Adams
Abigail Adams
John Tyler
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
Jesse Grant
Grover Cleveland
Theodore Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
Melania Trump
Contemporary Comment
Andrea Immel, "Little John Quincy Adams and the Gingerbread Hornbook"
Don Olson, "Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic: How Presidents Learned the 3rd of the 3Rs"
Peter A. Wallner, "Franklin Pierce's Admission to Bowdoin College"
Margaret Mackey, "The Blue Back Speller: Primers as Totemic Objects"
Elvin Holt, "Performing Brer Rabbit"
Marilynn Olson, "Horatio Alger: Gerald Ford's Blueprint for the Future."
Jill Abraham Hummer, "Laura Welch Bush: Roots of the First Reader"
Donald E. Pease, "Barack Obama's Dr. Seuss Story"
Chapter VI. Periodicals
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
James Madison
Franklin Pierce
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
George W. Bush
Donald Trump
Contemporary Comment
Marilynn Olson, "Spectator Papers as Children's Guide"
Marilynn Olson, "The Tribune and McKinley's Rural Ohio"
Mark I. West, "Theodore Roosevelt: Our Young Folks"
Stephanie Hawkins, "National Geographic Magazine in the 1920s"
Marilynn Olson, "Boys' Life in the 1930s"
Adrianne Grubic, "A Presidential Passion for Sports Illustrated"
Chapter VII. Biography and Autobiography
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
Franklin Pierce
Abraham Lincoln
Warren G. Harding
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
Lyndon Johnson
George W. Bush
Contemporary Comment
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, "George Washington and Slavery: Going Beyond Picture Books to Teach About Our Flawed Founders"
Jacob Heberle and Mark Heberle, "Andrew Jackson: From Orphan of the Waxhaws to Father of a New America"
Philip J. Deloria, "Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract"
William C. Davis,"The Boy and the Book: Parson Weems and Abraham Lincoln"
Mark Harris, "The Better Angels"
Julia Mickenberg, "Lefty Lincoln for Kids"
Jan Susina, "The Curious Connections Between Abraham Lincoln and Lewis Carroll"
Omar Khan, "'Who are You?' Eleanor Roosevelt Goes Rogue"
Craig Fehrman, "Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote"
Julie Pfeiffer, "The 'First Lady from Plains' Re-Imagines Home"
Carol Tell Morse, "Summer Sisters First: Judy Bloom and the Bush Twins"
Andrea Immel, "The Trump Presidency in Picture Books"
Megan Marshall, "The Mouse that Scored"
Chapter VIII. Narrative Fiction
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James A. Garfield
Benjamin Harrison
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Jacqueline Kennedy
Lady Bird Johnson
Rosalynn Carter
Amy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Barbara Bush
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Laura Bush
Jenna Bush Hagar and Barbara Pierce Bush
Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Joe Biden
Jill Biden
Contemporary Comment
Andrew O'Malley, "Robinson Crusoe"
Laura Wasowicz, "Awash inan Ocean of Sea Stories: Some Historical Context"
Mark I. West, "The Influence of Mayne Reid's Adventure Stories on Theodore Roosevelt's Life"
Claudia Nelson, "Morality and Fair Play: Reagan's Childhood Reading"
Anne Phillips and Greg Eiselein, "Alcott's Little Women and the US Presidency"
Stephen Meyer, "Institutional Conversion: Postwar Christianity and The Robe"
John Blair, A Wrinkle in Time
Sally E. Parry, "Cherry Ames and the Call of Duty"
Teya Rosenberg, "The Magical and Educative Properties of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins"
Afterword
About the Editors
About the Contributors
Chapter I. History and Geography
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
William Henry Harrison
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Calvin Coolidge
Harry Truman
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Bill Clinton
Contemporary Comment
Matthew Goetz, "Young George Washington's Literary Voyage Round the World"
Marilynn Olson, "Why Fillmore Remembered Abyssinia"
Mark W. Graham, "Charles Rollin and Universal History in America"
Tim Utter, "Peter Parley's Geographical Education of Children in the Mid-19th Century"
Stephen Bertman, "Andrew Jackson: Savage Sophisticate"
Catharine M. Parisian, "A Thirst for Knowledge"
Eric Best, "Growing Up near Sagamore Hill"
Laureen Tedesco, "The Little Brown Sister: A Children's Book Model for William Howard Taft's Benevolent Paternalism"
Tom Mallon, "The Row to Zanzibar"
Bethanee Bemis, "The White House and Mickey Mouse: Presidents and the Disney Parks"
Chapter II. Sports, Games, and Play
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Dolley Madison
Tad Lincoln
Ulysses Grant
Grover Cleveland
Theodore Roosevelt
Louise Taft
Nellie Taft
Calvin Coolidge
Eleanor Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Lady Bird Johnson
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Contemporary Comment
James G. Leaf, "NO SISSIES ALLOWED: Qualifications for U.S. Presidency"
Laura Wasowicz, "Kitchen Table Politics for Children in the Hero of Tippecanoe"
Scott Eberle, "Wrestling and Storytelling in Lincoln's White House"
Edward G. Lengel, "Nellie Arthur in the White House"
Elizabeth Goodenough, "Frances Cleveland and First White House Kindergarten"
Peggy Ellsberg, "TR and the Icon of the Cowboy"
Margo Taft Stever, "Searching for the Young William Howard Taft: The Tortoise and the Hare"
Annette B. Dunlap, "Lou Henry Hoover and the Spirit of Play"
Rebecca Schwartz, "Truman Reading Music"
Michelle Guillen, "Jackie and her Children Riding at Glen-Ora"
John Woodford, "The Men Who Would be President"
Douglas Brinkley, "The Ebb and Flow of John F. Kennedy"
Donald Holloway, "The Education of Gerald Ford"
Stuart Brown, "Winning isn't Everything"
James G. Leaf, "'Finis Origines Pendent': George W. Bush at Andover"
Corky Siemaszko, "Obama's High School Basketball Coaches, Teammates Remember 'Barry'"
Chapter III. Animal Tales
Introduction
Aesop's Fables
Aesop as Political Commentary: The Bayeux Tapestry
Aesop in American Politics
George Washington, 1st President (1789-1797)
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President (1801-1809)
Millard Filmore, 13th President (1850-1853)
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (1861-1865)
William Howard Taft, 27th President (1909-1913)
Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and American Politics
Alice on the Stage
Alice in Political Parodies and Cartoons
Alice in the Age of the New Deal and Beyond
Alice, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
4. Billy Whiskers
John F. Kennedy
Billy Whiskers and Women's Travel Writing
Seeing the World with Billy Whiskers
A Voice of its Time
Nation Building
Who Lives Here?
What Does the Country Look Like?
5. The Story of Ferdinand
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ferdinand, and Munro Leaf
The Aftermath of World War II: Berlin, Christmas 1946
Harry Truman and the Marshall Plan
Kennedy's People-to-People Exchange and Johnson's War on Poverty
Chapter IV. Performing Story, Poetry, Speech
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
James Monroe
Abigail Adams and John Q. Adams
John Q. Adams
Louisa Adams
Martin van Buren
James K. Polk
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Julia Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Corrina Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Caroline Kennedy
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Contemporary Comment
Marilynn Olson, "'A Favourite Author of Mine': Monroe's Note and Pleasures of Imagination"
Eric Sterner, "Joseph Addison's Cato: Liberty on the Stage"
Donelle Ruwe, "Theater of Education and School Plays"
Suzanne Rahn, "The Appeal of Walter Scott"
Leslie Stainton, "Reading James Buchanan"
Henry Meares, "Black Folks Hero: He Freed the Slaves"
Jerry Mikorenda, "A Poem, a President, and his Pupil"
Alicia Clapp-Itnyre, "Cleveland and Fanny Crosby"
Rob Tally, "Fenimore Cooper and the Leatherstocking Tales"
Brian C. Wilson, "Donald Trump and Reverend Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking"
Steve Wilson, "Ralph Waldo Emerson's "'The American Scholar': The Thought Heard Round the World"
Chapter V. Verities of Instruction
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
George Washington
John Adams
John Adams and John Quincy Adams
Abigail Adams
John Tyler
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
Jesse Grant
Grover Cleveland
Theodore Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
Melania Trump
Contemporary Comment
Andrea Immel, "Little John Quincy Adams and the Gingerbread Hornbook"
Don Olson, "Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic: How Presidents Learned the 3rd of the 3Rs"
Peter A. Wallner, "Franklin Pierce's Admission to Bowdoin College"
Margaret Mackey, "The Blue Back Speller: Primers as Totemic Objects"
Elvin Holt, "Performing Brer Rabbit"
Marilynn Olson, "Horatio Alger: Gerald Ford's Blueprint for the Future."
Jill Abraham Hummer, "Laura Welch Bush: Roots of the First Reader"
Donald E. Pease, "Barack Obama's Dr. Seuss Story"
Chapter VI. Periodicals
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
James Madison
Franklin Pierce
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
George W. Bush
Donald Trump
Contemporary Comment
Marilynn Olson, "Spectator Papers as Children's Guide"
Marilynn Olson, "The Tribune and McKinley's Rural Ohio"
Mark I. West, "Theodore Roosevelt: Our Young Folks"
Stephanie Hawkins, "National Geographic Magazine in the 1920s"
Marilynn Olson, "Boys' Life in the 1930s"
Adrianne Grubic, "A Presidential Passion for Sports Illustrated"
Chapter VII. Biography and Autobiography
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
Franklin Pierce
Abraham Lincoln
Warren G. Harding
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
Lyndon Johnson
George W. Bush
Contemporary Comment
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, "George Washington and Slavery: Going Beyond Picture Books to Teach About Our Flawed Founders"
Jacob Heberle and Mark Heberle, "Andrew Jackson: From Orphan of the Waxhaws to Father of a New America"
Philip J. Deloria, "Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract"
William C. Davis,"The Boy and the Book: Parson Weems and Abraham Lincoln"
Mark Harris, "The Better Angels"
Julia Mickenberg, "Lefty Lincoln for Kids"
Jan Susina, "The Curious Connections Between Abraham Lincoln and Lewis Carroll"
Omar Khan, "'Who are You?' Eleanor Roosevelt Goes Rogue"
Craig Fehrman, "Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote"
Julie Pfeiffer, "The 'First Lady from Plains' Re-Imagines Home"
Carol Tell Morse, "Summer Sisters First: Judy Bloom and the Bush Twins"
Andrea Immel, "The Trump Presidency in Picture Books"
Megan Marshall, "The Mouse that Scored"
Chapter VIII. Narrative Fiction
Introduction
Words from Presidents and White House Families
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James A. Garfield
Benjamin Harrison
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Jacqueline Kennedy
Lady Bird Johnson
Rosalynn Carter
Amy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Barbara Bush
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Laura Bush
Jenna Bush Hagar and Barbara Pierce Bush
Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Joe Biden
Jill Biden
Contemporary Comment
Andrew O'Malley, "Robinson Crusoe"
Laura Wasowicz, "Awash inan Ocean of Sea Stories: Some Historical Context"
Mark I. West, "The Influence of Mayne Reid's Adventure Stories on Theodore Roosevelt's Life"
Claudia Nelson, "Morality and Fair Play: Reagan's Childhood Reading"
Anne Phillips and Greg Eiselein, "Alcott's Little Women and the US Presidency"
Stephen Meyer, "Institutional Conversion: Postwar Christianity and The Robe"
John Blair, A Wrinkle in Time
Sally E. Parry, "Cherry Ames and the Call of Duty"
Teya Rosenberg, "The Magical and Educative Properties of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins"
Afterword
About the Editors
About the Contributors