The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents

In this chronologically intertwined look at U.S. Presidents, the overlapping lives of America’s 45 presidents are considered, along with how the officeholders have been similar and have changed since 1789 and how they will continue to change in the years ahead. Most pages indicate a certain year followed by an overview of the different seasons of life of then-living presidents before diving into details of each. In 1841, for example, “Presidents 18 and 19 were both in college . . . Presidents 20, 21, and 22, were all busy growing up.” Additional details are then provided: “President 19, Rutherford B. Hayes, was studying at Kenyon College . . . He had a reputation as a pretty good cook . . . ” The book ends by emphasizing the trajectory of presidents from mostly white, male Protestants to a Catholic president, an African American president, and a woman receiving a major party’s nomination for president. As it concludes, it asks where future presidents are today and what they’re currently doing, postulating a few possibilities based on historical data. Messner does a remarkable job of structuring and intertwining the individual lives and their narratives into a fluid narrative while Rex’s illustrations are equally flexible and interwoven. It’s not a light read, but it is a remarkable, novel introduction to American history and presidents.