DC at Night

DC at Night

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Catching Up with Dead (and Live) Presidents

When I started thinking seriously about retirement, I knew I wanted to spend a fair portion of my time learning. I figured I would attend some book talks or lectures, or maybe sit in on a college class or two. But last night at the Arlington library, I discovered by accident a new plan where I could improve my knowledge of American history by using the free resources there.

While I know quite a bit about selective periods of America's past, I am woefully under informed about the background of almost all the presidents before John F. Kennedy.  So, when I found the book Inventing George Washington: America's Founder, in Myth and Memory by Washington scholar Edward G. Lengel on the shelves, an idea struck me. I decided to spend the next year reading one book about each of our American presidents in the order in which they served from Washington to Dwight Eisenhower.

 After all, what could provide a better arm-chair historic view of my new DC home than the stories of the men who lived in the city's most noted house.

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