Enriching Education: Presidential Book Favorites

With the 2016 elections fast approaching, here's a list of presidents - and presidential hopefuls -  and the books that shaped them, so that your kids can devour them for back to school season.

#1 Abraham Lincoln
Honest Abe was known for carrying copies of Shakespeare’s collected works. From Julius Caesar to Macbeth, at a White House dinner Lincoln said, “Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any unprofessional reader.”

#2 FDR
He was one of the most beloved and influential presidents in American history. His favorite book? Anything by Kipling, and according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, his favorite poem by Kipling is “If”.

#3 & #4 Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush
In Nixon’s farewell speech to the White House staff he said, “I am not educated, but I do read books.” Both H.W. Bush and Nixon were big Tolstoy fans, and Bush has credited War and Peace as a book that inspired him and has taught him a lot about life.

#5 Hillary Clinton
President-hopeful Hillary Clinton claims that The Color Purple is one of her favorite reads. This powerful book might be seen on the shelves of the Oval Office next January!

#6 Donald Trump
Trump has reported that he has been reading All Quiet on the Western Front while on the campaign trail. This book, an exploration of patriotism, can be seen on Trump’s plane and the 1930 film adaptation is quite good as well.

#7 Ronald Reagan
The Hunt for Red October was the first novel published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press and was given to Reagan as a gift. The president then mentioned the book in a press conference, calling it “unputdownable.”

#8 Dwight D. Eisenhower
When this five-star general wasn’t storming the beaches of Normandy or sitting in the Oval Office, he could be found with a copy of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. A satire about an engineer somehow sent back from 1880's Connecticut to Arthurian England.

#9 Bill Clinton
Clinton is not shy about discussing his rigorous reading habits of both thought-provoking non-fiction and playful genre thrillers. His favorite though? That would be Marcus Aurelius's Meditations.

#10 JFK
The name is John. John Kennedy. Our 35th president was a big fan of Ian Flemming. Kennedy got into the Bond series after a friend gave him a copy of Casino Royale  while recovering from back problems.

And in case you were curious, apparently For Whom the Bell Tolls has inspired Obama throughout his political career.

If you’d like to dig even deeper into these books, Course Hero  - an online learning platform that empowers millions of students and educators to succeed - has developed an infographics study collection to help students learn efficiently: coursehero.com/infographics/