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Craig Fehrman

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://www.craigfehrman.com

Twitter

craigfehrman

Genre

History, Nonfiction, Biography

Member Since

October 2013

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Craig Fehrman, a journalist and historian, spent five years writing and researching This Vast Enterprise. His first book, Author in Chief, was described by Thomas Mallon in The Wall Street Journal as “one of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years.” Fehrman lives in Indiana with his wife and children.

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Popular Answered Questions

Was there a president you indifferent to before you wrote your book, that after you found a new appreciation for?

Craig Fehrman Thanks for the question! There are a bunch of them, actually, but John Adams stands out. Before I started my book, I had no idea he wrote the first pr…moreThanks for the question! There are a bunch of them, actually, but John Adams stands out. Before I started my book, I had no idea he wrote the first presidential autobiography. And Adams was such an impulsive, emotional person. Here's how he described the feeling of doing careful, thoughtful writing: "painful and distressing . . . almost like a blow on the elbow or the knee." Adams was always blurting out what he was thinking in that moment, which made him fun to study -- and probably explains why he was able to write such a revealing book.(less)

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Which are the presidents featured in the book? (Someone posted this on the Author in Chief page, and I thought I'd answer it here too.)

Craig Fehrman Great question! My book has thirteen chapters. Here are the presidents who star in those chapters:

1) Jefferson
2) Adams
3) Washington, plus Jefferson / …moreGreat question! My book has thirteen chapters. Here are the presidents who star in those chapters:

1) Jefferson
2) Adams
3) Washington, plus Jefferson / Madison / Monroe
4) Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams
5) Lincoln
6) Grant
7) Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt
8) Coolidge
9) Theodore Roosevelt / Coolidge / FDR
10) Truman
11) JFK
12) Reagan
13) Obama

There is a paragraph or two on a number of other presidents (Carter as the first to write on a personal computer, say, or Trump doing book signings at Waldenbooks). But this list shows the presidents who get extended treatment.(less)

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Craig Fehrman’s books

Average rating: 4.04 · 588 ratings · 159 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote 4.04 avg rating — 523 ratings — published 2020 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Presidential Writing: From 1789 to the Present 4.41 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Home Grown: Cage the Elephant and the Making of a Modern Music Scene 3.56 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

2 posts
Craig Fehrman's Blog

My new book on Lewis and Clark

Hi there!

In April, Simon & Schuster is publishing my new book on Lewis and Clark. Its title is This Vast Enterprise, and I can't wait for you to read it!

I spent five years on this book, and I found so many new details and documents. I also found a new way to tell this story, with rotating chapters.

If you like novels, you'll know what I mean -- each chapter moves to a different person and point Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 13, 2025 12:56

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When Famous Writers Met U.S. Presidents

Journalist and historian Craig Fehrman's new book, Author in Chief, tells the story of America’s presidents as authors—and offers a new window...

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Craig’s Recent Updates

Craig Fehrman liked Casey's review of This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark: "The author takes a different approach to the Lewis and Clark Corp of Discovery. Each chapter focuses on individuals other than Lewis and Clark, but they are brought in throughout the book. The bouncing between individuals made this an uneven read for" Read more of this review »
Feb 16, 2026 03:13PM · see review
Craig Fehrman liked Ann Margolis's review of This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark: "What a truly wonderful book. There is so much great detail, insight and revelation in this expert tracing of The Lewis and Clark Expedition. There is the character and heroism of the leaders and their exploration team is revealed and each individual " Read more of this review »
Jan 31, 2026 10:39AM · see review
Craig Fehrman liked Susan Keller's review of This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark: "A very good book of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I have read much about the expedition previously, but Fehrman goes much deeper into the feelings of the leaders, and the pivotal role of Sacagewa as well as a good description of the meetings with n" Read more of this review »
Jan 18, 2026 11:53AM · see review
Craig Fehrman liked Joyce's review of This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark: "544 pages 5 stars A remarkable travelogue about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s historic expedition across the country to the Pacific Ocean. Extremely well written and brilliantly colorful, I adored this book The characters are fully fleshed out, " Read more of this review »
Jan 02, 2026 07:35AM · see review

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