POTUS Project: 44 Presidents, 44 Books

I read a book on the 30th President, Calvin Coolidge. I picked him first because I read an article talking about him as an introvert, a category with which I identify myself. It’s such a big office that I think you have to be really excellent to be acceptable, and truly miraculous to be great. I wonder who I will think of as the ‘best’ one when I get to 44?

I like reading projects and challenges, so I’m going to try this one out, to read one book about each US president, in any order I choose.

For starters, I requested a biography of Calvin Coolidge from the library. So far, I’m anchoring him in my memory by personalization: my grandmother Helen was 7 years old when he became president, he was quite conservative, he attained a high approval rating during the “Coolidge Prosperity”, and he was born on the 4th of July. I guess I’ll do funny-picture visualization to make it stick – I’ll picture a very happy Helen as a little girl waving sparklers on the 4th of July and wearing Calvin Klein jeans.

If this goes well, I’ll incorporate this goal into the essay writing goal and write an essay about each president. One big benefit is a long-standing wish of mine – to be more at ease with my knowledge of our nation’s history, so I feel more on the level when these subjects come up in conversation.