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Among the Second Series of "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson", this volume has the most detailed coverage of his day-to-day life. These disciplined records of personal expenditures, and of various other daily observations, furnish valuable information about prices and availability of commodities of the period and provide abundant evidence of Jefferson's devotion to a systematic way of living and of his insatiable curiosity.

Influential assassination researcher Harold Weisberg revolves the third installment in his Whitewash series around the photographic evidence available to government officials investigating the death of John F. Kennedy. Given the materials and photographs available to the Warren Commission, Weisberg shows that in numerous cases the government either ignored the evidence it had in front of it or intentionally misrepresented evidence. Using the photographs themselves to show the inadequacies of the...

Like no other American, Abraham Lincoln's life is entwined with the history and culture of the nation. His rise from poverty to presidency has inspired others to believe in the promise of opportunity; his success in preserving the nation is one of our greatest triumphs; his death is our American tragedy. To commemmorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is publishing, for the first time, its unparalleled Lincoln collection. It contai...

Although the framers gave the president little authority, George Washington knew whatever he did would set precedents for generations of future leaders. To ensure their ability to defend the nation, he simply ignored the Constitution when he thought it necessary. In a revealing new look at the birth of American government, "Mr. President" describes Washington's presidency in a time of continual crisis, as rebellion and attacks by foreign enemies threatened to destroy this new nation. Constantly...

In "Private Lives/Public Consequences" and in "Never Stop Running", his critically acclaimed biography of Allard Lowenstein, William H. Chafe has written powerfully about the relationship between personality and politics. "Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal" represents the culmination of this approach to political history. Having written widely on civil rights and women's history, Chafe brings the themes of all his scholarship together in this book about the Clintons' "co-presidency,...

As a general, Ulysses S. Grant is routinely described in glowing terms - the man who turned the tide of the Civil War, who accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and who had the stomach to see the war through to final victory. But his presidency is another matter - the most common word used to characterize it is "scandal." Grant is routinely portrayed as a man out of his depth, whose trusting nature and hands-off management style opened the federal coffers to unprecedented plunder. But that car...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • The Seattle Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Bloomberg Businessweek In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged...