BookLemur.com

David Fisher has been studying U.S. Presidents for most of his adult life. He has lined the walls of his home with his extensive collection of more than 1,100 first edition presidential biographies, dating to the founding of the Republic. After graduating with distinction from Stanford University, he has held career positions as a radio sportscaster, a management consultant, an executive in the Federal government, and a risk management expert. His leadership positions in government spanned the Department of Defense, the Government Accountability Office, and the Internal Revenue Service. He currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Helene, and their dog Chester.

The Life of George Washington is the first installment in Presidential Chronicles, the series of books and videos on American history as seen through the lives of the Presidents of the United States. Historian David Fisher created this series to tell the stories of all the U.S. Presidents, with robust yet concise chronicles of their lives. His extensive use of quotes and period-specific images help convey the essence of these national leaders, delivered in a digestible format that will cater to those with a casual interest in American Presidents, as well as hard core enthusiasts.

The Life of George Washington chronicles the life of the nation’s first President. Here’s a sample, with some perspective from David Fisher:
Of all the monikers applied to Americans from the dawn of the Republic, none resonates as well as the very first, the Father of His Country. Many [of the Founders] had critical skills that were essential to the success of that national founding, but none had the kind of impact that the so-called ‘indispensable man’ had on so many of the foundational events without which the attempt at independence and nationhood may have been aborted before it could even begin. There were many fathers, but only one Father, and that was George Washington.

Subsequent generations would think of Washington as more myth than man, thanks in part to the glorified renderings portrayed by many of his biographers. In some ways, Washington had moved beyond the realm of man as he modeled his life and decision-making in the mode of the archetypal virtuous republican leader. He set the standard, and lived his life to that standard more so than perhaps any leader in the annals of time. Washington deserves the undying gratitude not only from his American posterity but also that of freedom-loving people around the globe. According to Oxford University’s Max Roser, before the birth of the United States, there were zero democracies in the world. The war George Washington won, the Constitution he was instrumental in establishing, and the initial government that he led, introduced democracy to the modern world. The 87 democracies noted in existence by Roser in 2009 represented more than all other forms of government in the world combined. More than four billion people lived under democratic institutions in 2015, far more than living in autocracies or similar forms of government. George Washington wasn’t only the Father of his Country. In many ways, he was the Father of all this democratic transformation that has occurred since he secured independence for his people across a relatively small strip of land on the eastern coast of the North American continent. This is Washington’s true far-reaching and long-lasting legacy, one whose impact is unequaled in the annals of mankind in the last 2000 years.

The Presidential Chronicles series will eventually include biographies of every U.S. President, made available as individual E-Books as well as in groups of five in printed volumes.

Kindle Price: $5.99

Category: Biographies & Memoirs; History

The Life of John Adams is the second installment in Presidential Chronicles, the series of books and videos on American history as seen through the lives of the Presidents of the United States. Historian David Fisher created this series to tell the stories of all the U.S. Presidents, with robust yet concise chronicles of their lives. His extensive use of quotes and period-specific images help convey the essence of these national leaders, delivered in a digestible format that will cater to those with a casual interest in American Presidents, as well as hard core enthusiasts.

The Life of John Adams chronicles the life of the nation’s second President. Here’s a sample, with some perspective from David Fisher:
“John Adams was a troubled soul his entire life. He was regularly anxious, jealous, self-righteous, outraged, and often downright angry that he was never given his just due for a lifetime of selfless devotion to his community and his nation. Much of this angst was self-inflicted, living under a code that he inherited from his Puritan father, one that he adhered to with a religious fervor that overrode all other behavioral instincts. … America was the greatest beneficiary of his selfless perseverance in service to his nation. And, make no mistake about it, other than George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, John Adams was the most important of the Founding Fathers in bringing about the new nation called the United States of America. Adams wasn’t just present at the founding; he was a critical catalyst in the drive for independence.

His own independence was central to his character, his success, and his lack of popularity. He reveled in making the tough calls, from defending British soldiers in pre-revolutionary Boston to choosing peace over the popular cries for war as the nation’s second president, regardless of what anyone else thought. He craved approbation, but not at the expense of virtue. This philosophy was the bane of his existence, yet also the fuel to his greatness, which was indeed extraordinary. His final toast on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration that launched a nation – ‘Independence forever’ – he proudly proclaimed. Independence, courtesy of Mr. Independent.

The Presidential Chronicles series will eventually include biographies of every U.S. President, made available as individual E-Books as well as in groups of five in printed volumes.

Kindle Price: $5.99

Category: Biographies & Memoirs; History

The Life of Thomas Jefferson is the third installment in Presidential Chronicles, the series of books and videos on American history as seen through the lives of the Presidents of the United States. Historian David Fisher created this series to tell the stories of all the U.S. Presidents, with robust yet concise chronicles of their lives. His extensive use of quotes and period-specific images help convey the essence of these national leaders, delivered in a digestible format that will cater to those with a casual interest in American Presidents, as well as hard core enthusiasts.

The Life of Thomas Jefferson chronicles the life of the nation’s third President. Here’s a sample, with some perspective from David Fisher:
Thomas Jefferson is one of the most revered Founding Fathers. The phrases that emanated from his pen embody the spirit of the American Revolution, defining not only for his generation but for all posterity the essence of liberty that has forever been encapsulated in the American psyche.

But this is only one side of a man who often failed to live up to his own highbrow rhetoric. In fact, at critical junctures throughout his life, Jefferson’s behavior ran directly counter to his stated ideals. … His personal hypocrisy in the face of real-world challenges must also be part of the understanding of the person, alongside the popular notions of the esteemed founder. Jefferson, through his writings, provided his nation with what has persevered through time as the essence of what America is all about (or, at least, what it’s supposed to be all about). At the same time, his personal failings to live up to many of those standards are equally part of the Jefferson story, one which clouds the glorious image with darkened hues.

The Presidential Chronicles series will eventually include biographies of every U.S. President, made available as individual E-Books as well as in groups of five in printed volumes.

Kindle Price: $7.99

Category: Biographies & Memoirs; History

The Life of James Madison is the fourth installment in Presidential Chronicles, the series of books and videos on American history as seen through the lives of the Presidents of the United States. Historian David Fisher created this series to tell the stories of all the U.S. Presidents, with robust yet concise chronicles of their lives. His extensive use of quotes and period-specific images help convey the essence of these national leaders, delivered in a digestible format that will cater to those with a casual interest in American Presidents, as well as hard core enthusiasts.

The Life of James Madison chronicles the life of the nation’s fourth President. Here’s a sample, with some perspective from David Fisher:
James Madison may have been small in stature, almost frail, and physically the least imposing person in the room throughout most of his life, but he was also an intellectual giant who was instrumental in enabling the founding of the United States of America. For a nation recently born through revolution out of the depths of tyrannical rule, Madison’s leadership was intrinsic to the creation of a sustainable governmental structure in which individual liberty was the most treasured asset and minority rights were protected.

Notwithstanding Madison’s extensive contributions to the founding, however he remains a challenging individual to evaluate. … Madison was a fervent believer in what he believed at the moment, justifying those positions with historical references and well-crafted logical formulations. But these positions would often be entirely undone when circumstances changed, as he would apply those same earnest techniques to develop completely counter conclusions on virtually the same topic. Madison wasn’t just inconsistent in his beliefs; he was outright contrarian. … In the end, it is clear that the tiny man from Virginia had an outsized impact on the founding of the United States … even though he often wandered through a variety of conflicting paths throughout his lifelong journey of trying to determine how to effectively establish and maintain his republican principles in the nation he helped to birth.

The Presidential Chronicles series will eventually include biographies of every U.S. President, made available as individual E-Books as well as in groups of five in printed volumes.

Kindle Price: $7.99

Category: Biographies & Memoirs; History

The Life of James Monroe is the fifth installment in Presidential Chronicles, the series of books and videos on American history as seen through the lives of the Presidents of the United States. Historian David Fisher created this series to tell the stories of all the U.S. Presidents, with robust yet concise chronicles of their lives. His extensive use of quotes and period-specific images help convey the essence of these national leaders, delivered in a digestible format that will cater to those with a casual interest in American Presidents, as well as hard core enthusiasts.

The Life of James Monroe chronicles the life of the nation’s fifth President. Here’s a sample, with some perspective from David Fisher:
James Monroe was the last in the line of the Virginia Dynasty, the group of leaders who helped shepherd the United States through most of its formative years. … Yet unlike his predecessors, who are renowned as among the elite of the nation’s Founding Fathers, virtually nothing is known about the 5th President of the United States. … Make no mistake, Monroe was ever-present throughout many of these early trials, and he emerged from many of these challenging affairs to lead his nation as it transitioned from its earliest period of simply trying to find its way, to the subsequent era of dynamic growth and prominence as an emerging power amongst the nations of the world. … James Monroe was a true American hero and a credit to the founding generation.

While an adherent to many of the Jeffersonian principles of limited government, Monroe was not an ideologue or philosopher. He was a practical politician and diplomat who was continuously called upon to solve some of the hardest problems of his era. He was mostly successful, and always performed his duty with earnest hard work and an honorable ethic. His lack of recognition continues to be a mystery, one which deserves attention and rectification. James Monroe was a credit to his state, to his nation, and to his posterity, for which universal commendation is long overdue.

The Presidential Chronicles series will eventually include biographies of every U.S. President, made available as individual E-Books as well as in groups of five in printed volumes.

Kindle Price: $7.99

Category: Biographies & Memoirs; History