U.S. presidents for dummies

PART 1: Understanding U.S. presidents - Ch. 1. Presidents and the presidency ; Ch. 2. Presidential rankings and evaluations.

PART 2: Starting with known quantities: Washington to John Quincy Adams - Ch. 3. Starting well with George Washington ; Ch. 4. The authoritarian and the philosopher: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson ; Ch. 5. Prominent but ineffective: Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams.

PART 3: Enduring the best and the worst: Jackson to Buchanan - Ch. 6. Standing firm: Andrew Jackson ; Ch. 7. Forgettable: Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and Tyler ; Ch. 8. Dreaming of California: James K. Polk ; Ch. 9. Working up to the Civil War: Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan.

PART 4: Becoming a force in the world: Lincoln to Hoover - Ch. 10. Preserving the union: Abraham Lincoln ; Ch. 11. Reconstructing the country: Johnson, Grant, and Hayes ; Ch. 12. Closing out the century: Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison ; Ch. 13. Influencing the world: McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft ; Ch. 14. Protecting democracy: Woodrow Wilson ; Ch. 15. Roaring through the '20s with Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.

PART 5: Instituting the imperial presidency: Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon - Ch. 16. Boosting the country and bringing back beer: Franklin D. Roosevelt ; Ch. 17. Stopping the buck at Harry Truman ; Ch. 18. Liking Ike: Dwight David Eisenhower ; Ch. 19. Fulfilling family expectations: John Fitzgerald Kennedy ; Ch. 20. Fighting the might and right: Lyndon Johnson ; Ch. 21. Covering up: Richard Nixon.

PART 6: Changing the dynamics: Gerald Ford to Donald J. Trump - Ch. 22. The career politician and the peanut farmer: Ford and Carter ; Ch. 23. A starring role for Ronald Reagan ; Ch. 24. Acting out: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton ; Ch. 25. Getting the call: George W. Bush ; Ch. 26. Breaking tradition: Barack H. Obama ; Ch. 27. A billionaire at the White House: Donald John Trump.

PART 7: The part of tens - Ch. 28. The ten best presidents ; Ch. 29. The ten worst presidents ; Ch. 30. Ten presidential libraries worth visiting

Appendix: Presidential facts

Index.