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Article: Presidential Memoirs and Writings

Presidential Memoirs and Writings

Here at The Great Republic, we pride ourselves in our unique and rare selection of first edition and collectable books. We offer rare books from a wide variety of authors, time periods, and perspectives. Some of the most intriguing and telling works that we offer are presidential memoirs and writings. Take a closer look at some of these incredible titles that we have to offer.

Official Letters to the Honorable American Congress by George Washington, First Edition, First Printing, 2 Volume Set, 1795

Combining many of Washington’s letters to Congress between the years 1775 and 1778, this two volume set was published during Washington’s second term in office as the President of the still nascent United States. Dating from June 24, 1775, nine days after Washington’s unanimous appointment to the top military post, through December 1778, Washington’s Official Letters reveal his efforts to comply with the financial directives of Congress, while constantly at pains to secure adequate provisions and pay for his poorly trained, disaffected troops. 

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Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Late President of the United States, Edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Second Edition, Four Volume Set, 1830

This gorgeous set is the second American edition of Memoirs, Correspondence, and Papers of Thomas Jefferson, written by Jefferson himself. Jefferson began writing his memoir on January 6, 1821 for his family and descendants rather than the public. The memoir lacks his typical polished diction used in his professional writings and instead gives fantastic insight into the personality of the young nation’s third president. The work includes a four page facsimile of Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence, showing the late president’s handwriting and edits by the Committee of Five. All four volumes are presented together in a custom made archival slipcase.

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Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, First Edition, Two-Volume Set, Circa 1885-1886nt, First Edition, Two-Volume Set, Circa 1885-1886

Grant’s Memoirs recount his childhood and personal history, his military career during the Mexican-American War, and offer historical perspective to his role in the American Civil War. Mark Twain is partially credited with encouraging Grant’s memoirs, as he predicted the work to be a source of future financial success that would support Grant’s family after his death. Volume I was published posthumously in 1885, after Grant died in July of the same year.

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 The Winning of the West by Theodore Roosevelt, Signed, Four Volumes, 1908

Titled The Winning of the West, this set includes a signature by Theodore Roosevelt on the first free end page. All four volumes retain their original decorative bindings and are housed in a matching custom built slipcase. These books offer an important history of American westward expansion during the early national period with emphasis on the Northwest and Southwest territories in the late 1780s and 1790s. The "West" in this book is the trans- Appalachian frontier from the French and Indian War through the end of the 18th century, but the work certainly embodies the attitudes toward expansion which Roosevelt demonstrated after he became president.

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Crusade in Europe, Signed and Inscribed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Edition, Second Printing, 1948

This is the first edition, second state, of Crusade in Europe by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The book is presented in its original dust jacket with a new custom quarter leather and cloth clamshell. The book is signed and inscribed by Eisenhower to Major General John W. Persons. Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. For many historians, his memoirs of this eventful period of U.S. history have become the most important and telling record of the war. Crusade in Europe recounts the complete story of the war as Eisenhower planned and lived it. Through his eyes, the enormous scope and drama of the war―strategy, battles, moments of fateful decision―become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory.

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