Presidential reading

John Adams

Nicholas A. Basbanes devotes most of one chapter in Every Book Its Reader to the reading habits of U.S. presidents. (He also discusses the reading habits of British royalty.) On the basis of an interview with David McCullough, a biographer of John Adams, he rates Adams the most dedicated reader of all presidents. Adams didn't just read and reread many books, but he made comments on almost every page he read. Sometimes he left almost as many words in the margins as were printed on the page to begin with. His son, John Quincy Adams, was also a serious reader, even if not up the standard of his father.

Basbanes says Jimmy Carter could read at a faster clip than any other president. Theodore Roosevelt was famous for taking boxes of books with him on his hunting trips. He gave books a higher priority than food. The purpose of the trips were to hunt for food, but books weren't likely to be found in the wild.

In a New York Times Book Review essay at the end of the Clinton administration, Harold Evans wrote that 22 of 42 presidents had been bibliophiles. That's slightly more than 50 percent, an impressive number and far in excess of the population at large. But that depends on how one defines bibliophile and how one determines how much someone, such as a relatively obscure 19th century U.S. president,  actually read.

Harry Truman at his desk.

There does not appear to be any correlation at all between how much a president read and how successful his presidency was, or between level of education and success in the White House, or even between education and fondness for books. Abraham Lincoln, for example, had little formal education, but he was an avid reader who memorized much of Shakespeare. He was among the greatest presidents. Harry Truman, another serious reader, was the last president not to attend college, but another outstanding president.

Herbert Hoover was highly educated and a reader, but his presidency could hardly be termed a success. Ronald Reagan was no reader, but he served two terms with distinction. Carter, for all his reading prowess, earned much less distinction.

Some president have been famous for their light reading, John F. Kennedy for his fondness for James Bond and Dwight Eisenhower for his western novels. Yet both read much more serious books, as well. Eisenhower was a devoted student of history, especially military history. There may have been no major battle in history that he hadn't read about and studied in detail. If his reading didn't make him a better president, it certainly helped make him a better general.

Many presidents, Kennedy and Eisenhower among them, have also written books. Theodore Roosevelt was a prolific writer on a variety of subjects, including those hunting trips. Carter and Richard Nixon, among others, have also been writers, especially after their White House days were over. Of all presidential memoirs, those of Ulysses S. Grant continue to receive the highest marks.

Among the standard questions Pamela Paul asks in her New York Times Book Review feature By the Book, and reprinted in her book of the same title, is what book the president should be required to read. The responses were diverse, everything from Shel Silverstein's Don't Bump the Glump! to Fifty Shades of Grey to Team of Rivals to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. There have certainly been exceptions, but it appears most presidents have not needed required reading lists.