The Honest Book of Presidents

The Men Who Shaped America

De: Prager University

America’s most trustworthy resource delivers a refreshing guide to the American presidency.

Only forty-five men have held the title President of the United States. In this concise yet powerful volume, PragerU—in collaboration with leading historians, political thinkers, and bestselling authors—takes you inside the lives of the leaders who have steered America through its 250-year story. From the most revered to the most reviled, each president’s journey reveals personal dramas and struggles, tragedies, and triumphs.

The Honest Book of Presidents pushes back against today’s revisionist history with a fresh, fact-driven look at our nation’s leaders. You’ll discover:

• Why George Washington was “the indispensable man.”
• Why we owe such a big debt to James Monroe.
• How John Tyler proclaimed himself to be President. And made it stick.
• Why Abraham Lincoln thought the South was bluffing when they threatened civil war.
• How the mild-mannered Calvin Coolidge made “the Roaring Twenties” possible.
• Why Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
• How Gerald Ford sacrificed his presidency to save the country from national suicide.
• Why Bill Clinton might have been the luckiest of all the presidents.

Along the way, you’ll see how presidents wrestled with their flaws, rose to moments of greatness, and shaped the nation’s destiny on their way to founding new political parties, winning wars, and defending liberty.

We owe our freedom to these leaders. They set America on the path we still follow. Their lives—complex, flawed, and inspiring—are windows into the American story itself.

The Honest Book of Presidents is a bold, much-needed guide to the men who made America and to the enduring ideals that still define it.

©2025 Prager University (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers