A brace of new books on American presidents are available this President’s Day, and while dense and detailed new biographies are plentiful (including Lynne Cheney’s “James Madison: A Life Reconsidered” and “Lincoln’s Boys” by Joshua Zeitz) there is an alternative.
Refreshing, cheerful and slim, most these short illustrated volumes are geared for the younger reader, but also have much to recommend them to a general audience.
Ladies and gentlemen, the presidents of the United States:
‘What Would George Do? Advice from Our Founding Father’
Contemporary elected officials who reflexively quote the “framers” might be surprised at how oafish they appear when measured by George Washington’s code of conduct.
Our original framer considered it unseemly and unmanly to insult others, to glory in the failure of your opponent, to enlarge on one’s own accomplishments.
If by chance those inside the Beltline were serious about emulating their betters, they might take the time to read “What Would George Do? Advice From Our Founding Father.”
Written by Savannah author Nan Marshall and her daughter Helen Broder, the slim volume expands on Washington’s 110 “Rules of Civility,” demonstrating how readily they apply to our times.
His rule No. 18, for example —“Come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired, or give your opinion of them unasked” — should make it clear, they write, that you don’t poke around in someone else’s smart phone.
Washington learned and copied out the rules from a primer originally written by 16th century French Jesuits. Some are charmingly simple. No. 11: “Shift not yourself in the sight of others, nor gnaw your nails.”
Others are profound: No. 73: “Think before you speak.”
All are worth remembering.
Pelican Publishing, $12.95
‘Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Everything’
Maira Kalman, who once wrote and painted a graphic blog for the New York Times and has used her signature gouache technique to create many New Yorker covers, has the knack of turning bright, loose images and hand-lettered text into a cinematic story.
Her book on Thomas Jefferson succeeds in animating this icon and turning him into a walking, breathing person. It is full of finely-observed details from his life at Monticello,
Though the book is geared for young people, Kalman doesn’t shy from the issue of Jefferson’s slave ownership, nor from his relationship with Sally Hemings.
Reproducing a page from his farm journal that listed Jefferson’s slaves among his other property, she writes, “Our hearts are broken.”
Penguin Books, $17.99
‘Thomas Jefferson: A Day at Monticello’
Elizabeth Chew and illustrator Mark Elliott take a different approach in their book, fashioning a view of Jefferson’s life through the prism of a single day at his plantation.
We see that Monticello was as much an industrial park as it was a home. We tour a blacksmith’s shop, a wood shop and a weaving operation and we see Jefferson’s rare plants in his greenhouse and stroll through his fields of wheat.
The fact that most of the workers in those fields and shops are enslaved — though their master wrote the immortal words “all men are created equal” — is also treated even-handedly, albeit parenthetically. “Jefferson’s words about slavery did not match his actions on his Monticello plantation,” Chew writes in a sidebar. “His livelihood depended on the labor of people he held in slavery.”
Like Kalman’s work, Chew helps us see what an idiosyncratic and perhaps even compulsive genius Jefferson was. He bathed his feet in ice water each morning, kept copies of almost every letter he wrote and recorded detailed climatic data for years.
Other engaging tidbits: Jefferson had a pet mockingbird, Dick, who perched on his shoulder, whistled familiar Scottish tunes and ate food right from Jefferson’s lips.
Abrams Books, $18.95
‘JFK’
A slight and reverential biography illustrated with handsome paintings by AG Ford, “JFK” is written by Jonah Winter, who as a child stood on a street corner in Dallas, Texas, and saw the president’s entourage pass by, moments before Kennedy was assassinated. The picture book is targeted for children ages 4-8.
Katherine Tegen Books, $17.99
‘Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies’
Presidents Day celebrates a rather narrow slice of the American populace: 43 males have been president, 42 of them white. Cokie Roberts, political commentator for NPR and ABC, wanted to celebrate the women who watered the tree of liberty.
“By keeping everything together on the home front,” Roberts writes, “the women made it possible for the men to go off to battle, or to Congress or on diplomatic missions.”
Roberts offers thumbnail sketches of a handful of female patriots, including Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Phillis Wheatley, and her short bios are adorned with delicate and sensuous brush and wash portraits by illustrator Diane Goode. Among the “Founding Mothers” is Eliza Lucas Pinckney, a South Carolinian who at age 16 became the supervisor of her father’s extensive plantations when he left home to go to war. Later she introduced indigo as a crop, which quickly became the most valuable plant grown in the state.
We also meet Deborah Read Franklin, who took over her husband’s businesses, including his printing presses and the postal service, while Ben Franklin was out of the country for years at a time, representing the Pennsylvania colony in England.
We admire her pluck, and her patience. Mrs. Franklin died while her husband was still overseas.
HarperCollins, $17.95
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