Vanity Fair's Presidential Profiles: Defining Portraits, Deeds, and Misdeeds of 43 Notable Americans--And What Each One Really Thought about His Prede

What initially caught my eye about this book was the cover illustration of President Barack Obama positioned just behind President George Washington. Its simple power struck me both artistically and emotionally, politically and historically. The simple pencil drawings in this book are human and breathtaking. This is a slim volume, but the huge amount of time and effort spent in research is very clear. Each page features a few paragraphs not only about each president, but the times and political climate in which they lived. Another noteworthy feature is in the back; a sentence or two from each president as they were quoted describing their predecessor.

If I had my way this 102 page book would be required reading in every US History class. It makes the presidents human and alive and gives great historical insight. It tells who each of the presidents were and a great deal of their background, beliefs and accomplishments. Each biographical sketch is poetically written, done on one page with a portrait drawing on the next page. There are interesting facts on each president right up to Obama and his Nobel Peace Prize. Included are statements from each president on his predecessor and a list of who is who on money and coins. This is a book extremely worthy of note on the historical account about each of America's presidents.