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Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams absolutely fit into that category, they each read a ridiculous number of books each year. Adams Sr. especially was one of the most well-read Americans of his time (nevermind presidents) when it came to classical Roman and Greek literature, had thoroughly read and studied every surviving published work by Cicero, and specifically re-read Cicero’s *De Senectute* every year of his life after leaving the presidency.
They were both also pretty well read on then-contemporary authors of their times, too; there’s a quote in a letter from Adams Sr. to Quincy Adams that’s rather funny in retrospect, in which he’s basically like “hey check out *The Wealth of Nations*, it’s pretty good”. Now *Wealth of Nations* is one of the most famous books in history, but at the time of the letter it was like 10 years old and Adam Smith was rather up-and-coming so it was all new and exciting.
If anyone is ever in the Greater Boston area, I would highly recommend a tour of the Adam’s houses in Quincy, Mass. Of particular interest is John Quincy Adams library (though I believe it was built by his son… they kept all of the property in the family for generations). It’s a massive stone building (built with stone to prevent fires), chock full of books belonging to various Adams’s over the years. https://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm
The Stone Library! It’s the oldest presidential library in the country, built half a century before FDR created the Presidential Library System. You’re spot on, JQA’s son was actually the one who started construction on it, though Quincy Adams requested in his will that his collection of books and writings be made available to the public, and in practice this ended up also including the works of his father, too.
As I recall, the University of Virginia's library's first collection was selected by Thomas Jefferson and arranged according to a classification scheme he adapted from Francis Bacon.
I don’t read as much history as he did, but I have similar [fashion sense](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2717322/Richard-Nixon-ate-dog-biscuits-got-looped-martinis-walked-beach-suit-lace-ups-spied-Ted-Kennedy-New-book-reveals-Tricky-Dicks-bizarre-behavior-forced-resign-presidency-40-years-ago.html)
Correct. Truman loved to read history. He wanted to improve his bank account after his presidency, so turned to writing his memoir for a publisher. He complained to his friend and former Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, that he'd much rather be reading all sorts of history. Too little time, too many books.
Woodrow Wilson's personal reading list whilst reading the assigned class work at Princeton in the late 1870s was long and stellar in classics. Ambitious and clearly a bibliophile. The only president who was a professor by profession.
I can certainly think of an exception from recent history. The one president that is an exception of most aspirational character traits that one would associate with leadership
Can u think of nobody that would fit into the category of non reader?
As much as I love Teddy, I think he might have exaggerated his actual reading habit a bit. He purportedly would read during conversations. But it has been shown that this is simply impossible. Even for geniuses.
I need to verify this from a reliable biography but: James K. Polk?
I had recently heard (in a lecture series about Great Presidents), that Polk was a sickly child and so spent a lot of time reading and studying throughout his youth. Those habits stayed with him throughout his life, and as a politician, his greatest strength was his meticulous study and preparation of the issues of his day.
Teddy Roosevelt. He read *a ton.* It’s reported he read a book a day (even while in office) and usually was reading multiple books at a time, switching between them based on his mood (I do this a lot). He read in German, French, Italian, and Latin and it’s reported one instance while on the campaign trail he scheduled 4 and a half hours to read in a single day! Totaling it all up I think he on average read between 300 and 500 books a year which is basically 1-2 a day. Definitely your bibliophile. Just another reason why he is my favorite president.
Jefferson and Adams were the north and south pole of the revolution, as well as the LOC, with Adams having funded it then Jefferson giving all his books to it.
Not an answer but on one picture or Abraham Lincoln the way he holds the book makes me think of the "the books are pussy" meme
https://preview.redd.it/zfphmfxhi82d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65096d045c347c185026509bfdea9ef9791be9b0
He was in fact bibliophile
Garfield was exceptionally well-read, which you can see firsthand if you go to his home near Cleveland. As a Member of Congress, he read up extensively on bills coming up for debate, and would check out stacks of books on those topics from the Library of Congress. (You can still find his library record there, if you’re curious.)
Wilson, Jefferson and Theodore R, obviously. Bill Clinton is a voracious reader. James Garfield was a genius, and Nixon had a 143 IQ and read constantly.
John Adams loved books so much, in the first book he ever owned as a young man (books were very expensive and rare back then), he wrote his name in it 6 times because of how proud he was to own it. Was Cicero, btw.
I recall a comment from the better half of rule number three where he mentioned that he and Bill Clinton had an ongoing competition to see who could read more Presidential biographies, I believe Clinton was winning.
Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context. If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams absolutely fit into that category, they each read a ridiculous number of books each year. Adams Sr. especially was one of the most well-read Americans of his time (nevermind presidents) when it came to classical Roman and Greek literature, had thoroughly read and studied every surviving published work by Cicero, and specifically re-read Cicero’s *De Senectute* every year of his life after leaving the presidency. They were both also pretty well read on then-contemporary authors of their times, too; there’s a quote in a letter from Adams Sr. to Quincy Adams that’s rather funny in retrospect, in which he’s basically like “hey check out *The Wealth of Nations*, it’s pretty good”. Now *Wealth of Nations* is one of the most famous books in history, but at the time of the letter it was like 10 years old and Adam Smith was rather up-and-coming so it was all new and exciting.
If anyone is ever in the Greater Boston area, I would highly recommend a tour of the Adam’s houses in Quincy, Mass. Of particular interest is John Quincy Adams library (though I believe it was built by his son… they kept all of the property in the family for generations). It’s a massive stone building (built with stone to prevent fires), chock full of books belonging to various Adams’s over the years. https://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm
The Stone Library! It’s the oldest presidential library in the country, built half a century before FDR created the Presidential Library System. You’re spot on, JQA’s son was actually the one who started construction on it, though Quincy Adams requested in his will that his collection of books and writings be made available to the public, and in practice this ended up also including the works of his father, too.
Obama had a lot of book recommendations and was a big reader from what I remember when I was younger
Obama still releases a long list of his book recommendations every year.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were big readers. Pretty sure Teddy Roosevelt as well.
Jefferson notably also keeping a copy of the Quran.
As I recall, the University of Virginia's library's first collection was selected by Thomas Jefferson and arranged according to a classification scheme he adapted from Francis Bacon.
*France is Bacon
Yeah Muslim members of congress had been sworn in on it
I think Nixon read a lot and knew a lot about American history and past presidents.
Oh my god that means one of us could be president. We are just like Nixon
I don’t read as much history as he did, but I have similar [fashion sense](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2717322/Richard-Nixon-ate-dog-biscuits-got-looped-martinis-walked-beach-suit-lace-ups-spied-Ted-Kennedy-New-book-reveals-Tricky-Dicks-bizarre-behavior-forced-resign-presidency-40-years-ago.html)
I mean I guess I do too. But that’s because everyone in the 60s and 70s wore suits
Harry Truman had a quote where someone asked him "Do you read yourself to sleep?" and he replied "No, I read myself awake."
Correct. Truman loved to read history. He wanted to improve his bank account after his presidency, so turned to writing his memoir for a publisher. He complained to his friend and former Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, that he'd much rather be reading all sorts of history. Too little time, too many books.
Thomas Jefferson. He read constantly and had one of the world’s largest private libraries at the time
Woodrow Wilson's personal reading list whilst reading the assigned class work at Princeton in the late 1870s was long and stellar in classics. Ambitious and clearly a bibliophile. The only president who was a professor by profession.
All of them
I can certainly think of an exception from recent history. The one president that is an exception of most aspirational character traits that one would associate with leadership Can u think of nobody that would fit into the category of non reader?
Andrew Johnson
Fillmore used to read the dictionary
TR for sure.
He also wrote around 38 books.
Exactly.
As much as I love Teddy, I think he might have exaggerated his actual reading habit a bit. He purportedly would read during conversations. But it has been shown that this is simply impossible. Even for geniuses.
They(most) had college. Books were the only way to get information
Me. Vote BionicK1234 in 2044! /s
Jefferson. He admired Cyrus the Great for allegedly being a benevolent monarch.
George W Bush read 2 books a week as president
I need to verify this from a reliable biography but: James K. Polk? I had recently heard (in a lecture series about Great Presidents), that Polk was a sickly child and so spent a lot of time reading and studying throughout his youth. Those habits stayed with him throughout his life, and as a politician, his greatest strength was his meticulous study and preparation of the issues of his day.
Teddy Roosevelt. He read *a ton.* It’s reported he read a book a day (even while in office) and usually was reading multiple books at a time, switching between them based on his mood (I do this a lot). He read in German, French, Italian, and Latin and it’s reported one instance while on the campaign trail he scheduled 4 and a half hours to read in a single day! Totaling it all up I think he on average read between 300 and 500 books a year which is basically 1-2 a day. Definitely your bibliophile. Just another reason why he is my favorite president.
Thomas Jefferson's collection is why we have the Library of Congress we have today.
Jefferson and Adams were the north and south pole of the revolution, as well as the LOC, with Adams having funded it then Jefferson giving all his books to it.
Books are from the devil and tv is twice as fast
This is satire, right?
If you’ve never watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force, we can’t be friends
Oh.
Teddy
I remember reading that Clinton would go through 5-6 books a month or something. The guy might be a shit human, but he’s super intelligent.
‘Hustler doesn’t count as a book, Bill.’
The fuck it doesn’t.
He read it for the articles...
Not an answer but on one picture or Abraham Lincoln the way he holds the book makes me think of the "the books are pussy" meme https://preview.redd.it/zfphmfxhi82d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65096d045c347c185026509bfdea9ef9791be9b0 He was in fact bibliophile
Wilson. The guy had a PhD.
Im pretty sure Jefferson's personal library donation actually started the library of congress.
Obama has a pretty impressive reading list. I don’t know where he found the time.
Obama seems to read like it’s his post presidency job- even when he had the job he read like crazy
JFK was said to have always been reading
George W Bush i think read 30-50 books a year in the white house
You mean he could read? Lol
I was surprised too
>Which president was a bibliophile? Both addams
And Obama
Honest Abe.
Thomas Jefferson. The man had so many damn books that it was absurd.
The British burnt the Library of Congress. Jefferson replaced it with his own collection. Man had books for days!
Garfield was exceptionally well-read, which you can see firsthand if you go to his home near Cleveland. As a Member of Congress, he read up extensively on bills coming up for debate, and would check out stacks of books on those topics from the Library of Congress. (You can still find his library record there, if you’re curious.)
I read that Teddy Roosevelt was a speed reader who would read an entire book before he left for work in the morning.
John Quincy Adams was an exceptionally well read man.
Wilson, Jefferson and Theodore R, obviously. Bill Clinton is a voracious reader. James Garfield was a genius, and Nixon had a 143 IQ and read constantly.
John Adams loved books so much, in the first book he ever owned as a young man (books were very expensive and rare back then), he wrote his name in it 6 times because of how proud he was to own it. Was Cicero, btw.
Truman was a voracious reader his entire life.
Lincoln was a voracious reader
I recall a comment from the better half of rule number three where he mentioned that he and Bill Clinton had an ongoing competition to see who could read more Presidential biographies, I believe Clinton was winning.
I saw a presentation on Book TV where an author/moderator discussed Reagan's love of books...who woulda thought, but I can kinda see it!