Monday is President's Day. When I was growing up, we had two school holidays in February honoring Presidents; on February 12 we celebrated Lincoln's birthday and on February 22, Washington's. I don't remember exactly when the two holidays became one or why. Maybe someone thought that taking two holidays in the already-shortest month was encouraging indolence. I'm certain I could Google the answer but it does not matter that much. We have one day when we celebrate all 44 Presidents (actually 43 people, because one fellow served non-consecutive terms and gets counted twice.)

I have biographies and/or autobiographies for 34 of those gents. My only published book is about American Presidents. My Ph.D. dissertation is about President Eisenhower. To say that I am interested in the Presidency is understatement.

Americans accept that the President plays more differentiated roles than similarly titled offices in most of the rest of the world. Some roles, such as Head of State and Head of Political Party can be at odds with each other at times. I am intrigued by how the 43 have come to be President, how each has reacted under the demand to play many roles, how each has responded to the pressures of the job and how history regards the legacy of each man.

The facts suggest that the American public takes more interest in Presidents than in any other public office; though the percentage of eligible voters actually voting is appallingly low for a democracy, more people vote in a Presidential election, on average, than in any other kind. The media obviously thinks Presidents are important and that readers want to know about...