The Presidents’ Last Years: George Washington to Lyndon B. Johnson

The 35 men who have served as president have lived an average of 12 years after they left the White House. Time has obscured the fact that Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and Ulysses S. Grant all died bankrupt. Or that John Tyler in his last days prepared to fight against the United States prior to the Civil War. The fascinating narratives in this book describe these shifts from public to private lives against the backdrop of the social and political currents of their day. All 35 presidents are covered; those who died in office have their final weeks and days described. The scholar or general reader will learn as much about the presidents’ personalities from their years of retirement as from their years in office. A poignant and meaningful body of history has now been assembled about the office of the president and the men who have served.