A survey and evaluation of the whole range of American biography, from the earliest important lives to book of the present day.

American Presidents, Polk to Hayes. What They Did. What They Said, What Was Said About Them is the second book in a planned five volume series, covering all the Presidents. These 43 men (so far) have succeeded in some regards and failed in others as they strove to do the best they could in what is surely one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Only they can truly appreciate what it takes to be the president. Others can only speculate. People feel strongly about U.S. Presidents. Some they admire – others they hate. It is fair game to criticize a president’s actions and policies. However, questioning their commitment to American ideals seems like hitting below the belt. There are no willing villains. Most people can find justification for their actions, beliefs, and prejudices. Each president strove to do the best he could for the nation and its people. This goal of the book is not to praise presidents, nor is it to condemn them. The subtitle of each of the five books in the series: What They Did. What They Said, What Was Said About Them, perfectly describes the approach adopted to tell their stories in a unique, way, meant to entertain as well as inform. Readers are asked to make their own judgments of the presidencies based on more information that the semi-myths they may recall History courses or what is preached in the many longstanding and despicable negative campaigning, mudslinging and character assassination reports they hear from partisans. One can find much to admire about each of the presidents and unfortunately much to deplore. Soldiers are told that in giving salutes to officers is not honoring the individuals, but rather their rank. If there are presidents, readers just feel they cannot salute, hopefully they can salute the presidency.

Simultaneously resurrects a lost dimension of a most important segment of American history and illuminates America's present and future by showing the role religious issues played in Reconstruction during the 1870s.

This volume is the most comprehensive bibliography of purely biographical material written by Americans. It covers every possible field of life but, by design, excludes autobiographies, diaries, and journals.