Presidential Fact Book

This reference work, in its current and previous editions, is a personal favorite of mine. Although tens of thousands of volumes containing millions of words have been written about the presidents, I don't think there's been any other single book that encompasses so much data and organizes it so well. The first section consists of individual presentations of each of our chief executives. There's data on their parents, wives and children; details of the conventions that nominated them and their opponents; lists of cabinet members and Supreme Court appointments; timelines of important dates in their administrations and lives; and more. The second section, titled "Comparative Data" helps you measure just about any aspect of one president in relation to his predecessors and successors. Who was the longest lived? The shortest lived? Which ones were members of congress before their terms, or after? What books did they write? What were their religious affiliations? These and thousands more questions are answered in this handy and definitive work. I still remember when my mother brought home a 35 cent paperback copy of the second edition for me one rainy afternoon....I was immediately hooked, and have put the data I learned to good use on school tests and trivia quizzes ever since!--William C. Hall

I bought this book *solely* for geneological research, and I got a whole lot more. It is packed with tons of trivia about all of our presidents up through Clinton. It also tells us what Congress was up to, important dates in the lives of the presidents, etc. I highly reccommend this book for both history and geneological buffs like me.

Disregard the Booklist review, this impressive compendium has been updated to reflect the deaths of Dick and Pat Nixon, as well as, Jackie Onassis. Everything is here that you could possibly imagine on the Presidents. If you ever go on Jeopardy, this is the book for you!

I am a native of Quincy, MA which is known as the City of the Presidents because both John and John Quincy Adams were born and buried here. This is where my long fascination with the presidency began. This particular book provides detailed breakdowns for each presidential administration from Washington through Clinton (ending before Clinton's impeachment). The end section (which is really more for trivia buffs) is also enlightening and informative (and makes you wonder how much time and research went into trite comparisons like how many Presidents were born on a Sunday). Again, a valuable guide book that provides just the facts and not politically motivated analyses of the presidents. Worth owning.