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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 presidents of the United States have written autobiographies about their presidencies and/or (some periods of) their life before their time in office. Some 19th-century U.S. 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. Presidential memoir has proved to be a lasting and popular genre—every president since Calvin Coolidge has published one after leaving office, and more recent entries have earned their authors tens of millions of dollars in royalties. [1]

List of autobiographies

Covering the period of their presidency

Note: Only publication information for the first edition is given.
Title President Publisher Date ISBN Notes
The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren U.S. Government Printing Office 1920 Posthumously compiled and edited from Van Buren's manuscript materials by John C. Fitzpatrick. Volume II
Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion James Buchanan D. Appleton and Company 1866 Link
Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography Theodore Roosevelt Macmillan 1913 Link
The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge Cosmopolitan Book Corporation 1929 Previously published serially in the periodical Cosmopolitan.
The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover Herbert 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 Harry S. Truman Doubleday 1955
Memoirs: Years of Trial and Hope Harry S. Truman Doubleday 1956
The Autobiography of Harry S Truman Harry S. Truman Colorado Associated University Press 1980 ISBN  978-0-870-81090-9 Posthumously compiled and edited from Truman's manuscript materials by historian Robert Ferrell.
White House Years: Mandate for Change Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1963
White House Years: Waging Peace Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1965
At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1969 ISBN  978-0-915-99204-1
The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969 Lyndon B. Johnson Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1971 ISBN  978-0-030-84492-8
RN - The Memoirs of Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Grosset & Dunlap 1978 ISBN  978-0-448-14374-3
In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal Richard Nixon Simon & Schuster 1990 ISBN  978-0-671-70096-6
A Time to Heal Gerald Ford Harper & Row 1979 ISBN  978-0-060-11297-4
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President Jimmy Carter Bantam Books 1982 ISBN  978-0-553-05023-3
A Full Life: Reflections at 90 Jimmy Carter Simon & Schuster 2015 ISBN  978-1-501-11563-9
An American Life Ronald Reagan Simon & Schuster 1990 ISBN  978-1-451-62839-5
A World Transformed George H. W. Bush Knopf Publishing Group 1998 ISBN  978-0-679-43248-7
My Life Bill Clinton Knopf Publishing Group 2004 ISBN  978-0-375-41457-2
Decision Points George W. Bush Crown Publishers 2010 ISBN  978-0-307-59061-9
A Promised Land Barack Obama Crown Publishers 2020 ISBN  978-1-524-76316-9

Not covering the period of their presidency

Title President Publisher Date ISBN
The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson 1821
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant Charles L. Webster & Company 1885–86
The Rough Riders Theodore Roosevelt Charles Scribner's Sons 1899
Mr. Citizen Harry S. Truman Independence Press 1960 ISBN  978-0830900954
Crusade in Europe Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday 1948 ISBN  978-0-8018-5668-6
Six Crises Richard Nixon Doubleday 1962 ISBN  978-0-385-00125-0
Where's the Rest of Me? Ronald Reagan Duell, Sloan and Pearce 1965 ISBN  978-0-918294-16-6
Why Not the Best?: The First Fifty Years Jimmy Carter Broadman Press 1975 ISBN  978-0-8054-5582-3
Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age Jimmy Carter Three Rivers Press 1993 ISBN  978-0-8129-2299-8
An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood Jimmy Carter Simon & Schuster 2001 ISBN  978-0-7432-1199-4
Looking Forward George H. W. Bush Doubleday 1987 ISBN  978-0-385-14181-9
A Charge to Keep George W. Bush William Morrow & Company 1999 ISBN  978-0-688-17441-5
Dreams from My Father Barack Obama Times Books 1995 ISBN  978-1-4000-8277-3
The Audacity of Hope Barack Obama Crown/ Three Rivers Press 2006 ISBN  978-0-307-23769-9
Trump: The Art of the Deal Donald Trump Random House 1987 ISBN  978-0-446-35325-0
Trump: Surviving at the Top Donald Trump Random House 1990 ISBN  978-0-394-57597-1
Trump: The Art of the Comeback Donald Trump Times Books 1997 ISBN  978-0812929645
Promises to Keep Joe Biden Random House 2007 ISBN  978-1-4000-6536-3
Promise Me, Dad Joe Biden Flatiron Books 2017 ISBN  978-1250171672

Published diaries and papers

Title President Editor Publisher Date ISBN
The Diary of James K. Polk James K. Polk
The Diary of James A. Garfield James A. Garfield
The Eisenhower Diaries Dwight D. Eisenhower Robert Ferrell W W Norton & Co Inc 1976 ISBN  978-0-393-33180-6
Prelude to Leadership: The European Diary of John F. Kennedy: Summer 1945 John F. Kennedy Regnery Publishing 1995 ISBN  978-0-89526-459-6
The Letters of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy Martin W. Sandler Bloomsbury Press 2013 ISBN  978-1-60819-271-7
Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents Richard Nixon Rick Perlstein Princeton University Press 2010 ISBN  978-1-4008-3568-3
White House Diary Jimmy Carter Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2010 ISBN  978-0-374-28099-4
The Reagan Diaries Ronald Reagan Douglas Brinkley HarperCollins 2007 ISBN  978-0-06-087600-5
All the Best George H. W. Bush Scribner 1999 ISBN  978-0-684-83958-5

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Americas | Clintons' earnings exceed $100m". BBC News. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2013-04-08.

Further reading

External links

Free-access presidential autobiographical works

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