I gave a speech today on the UCLA campus.  I was not speaking to young students, but rather, to a group of about 30 or so professionals.  My topic was the Founding Fathers and afterwards a gentleman from that group approached me and asked me what I would consider to be some of the better biographies that touch on the Founders.

I’ve read quite a few the last several years, some fair, some not so engaging, but most reasonably good.  Here is a quick list of the better volumes for those of you who may be interested.

For Benjamin Franklin:

• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

For George Washington:

• Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
• 1776 by David McCullough
• His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
• Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
• George Washington on Leadership by Richard Brookhiser
• George Washington the First President by James MacGregor Burns & Susan Dunn

For John Adams:

• John Adams by David McCullough
• John Adams: A Life by John Ferling

For Thomas Jefferson:

• Jefferson’s Demons by Michael Knox Beran
• American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis

For James Madison:

• James Madison: The Fourth President by Garry Wills
• James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin Gutzman
• James Madison by Sydney Howard Gay
• James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic by Jack Rakove

For Alexander Hamilton:

• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
• Alexander Hamilton, American by Richard Brookhiser
• Alexander Hamilton: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall

 That should keep everybody busy as it’s kept me for the past several years.