In Author in Chief, one of the most interesting books I have read in recent years, Craig Fehrman “tells the story of how, when, and why America’s presidents began writing books — and why Americans have been been so consistenty drawn to reading them. The modern idea of an author (powerful and isolated, reaching a national audience) is a new one. So is the modern idea of a president (powerful and isolated, setting the national agenda). These ideas grew up together, but it took time.”

For example, in Chapter Eleven, Fehrman observes, when John F. Kennedy lied about his contributions to Profiles in Courage, “he wasn’t just lying to elites — he was lying to readers like McMillan Lewis [a high school history teacher in Saint Louis]. The book’s structure, research, first draft, and most of its second came from Ted Sorensen. Even the book’s idea came from Sorensen. When Kennedy’s biographers speculate on his motives (Did he convince himself that he truly wrote the book?) or debate the sematics of authorship (Doesn’t he deserve at least some credit?), they miss the obvious point. Kennedy wrote Profiles the way most politicians write their books, and one can locate his efforts on the authorial continuum: he did more than Goldwater but less than Truman. The problem came in his quest for literary fame, particularly the Pulitzer.”

Then and now, there are “good ghosts” and “bad ghosts” in terms of quality of assistance. Nature and extent of assistance is an entirely different issue. “It was not a complicated question, though it was a question of character.” How much credit did Kennedy deserve? There was only a brief acknowledgement of Sorensen’s involvement in the Preface.

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Craig Fehrman is a journalist and historian who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He lives in Indiana with his wife and children. Remarkably, Author in Chief is his first book.

Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote was published by Avid Reader Press (Fdebruary 2020).