With the publication of Memoirs in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant established what is today known as the presidential memoir. Every U.S. president since Benjamin Harrison (1901) has written such a piece, though many have turned to other forms of writing, as well.

This book serves as a history of works—including autobiographies, diaries, memoirs, political manifestos, speeches and others—authored by U.S. presidents and published prior to, during or after their terms. It tells how writing was easy for some and harder for others. It is the story of literary comebacks, bestsellers, false starts and failures.