"From the very beginnings of America's experiment in republican government, its chief executives, both actual and aspiring, have put pen to paper (nowadays fingers to keyboard) in attempts to justify themselves and inspire others. Here, Fehrman records such literary efforts back to Jefferson and Adams. These presidential books fall into two categories: a memoir to rationalize one's actions in office, or a campaign broadside to introduce its self-promoting subject to the electorate or set a campaign objective. Occasionally delving into quirkier matters, such as John Adams' assurances that he bore no illegitimate offspring, most of these books reflect the deeply held political interests of their writers. Calvin Coolidge published a book that genuinely excited 1920s voters. John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage (1956) became required reading for students even if its authorship was challenged. As Fehrman sees it, what presidents read matters even more than what they wrote."