Before This Vast Enterprise, my first book was Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote, and I think it will delight history lovers and book lovers alike. (In The Wall Street Journal, Thomas Mallon called it “one of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years.”) I’ve also edited an anthology, The Best Presidential Writing.
What follows is a selection of the journalism I’ve written.
My favorite publication, as both a reader and a writer, was the old Deadspin, which lives on as the equally delightful Defector. I recently wrote an essay for them about a dog attack and how it changed my book on Lewis and Clark:
I remain proud of two other series I wrote for editors there. The first focused on my neighbor, an octogenarian basketball lover named Iris Clawson:
- “My 84-Year-Old Neighbor Has The Only Good NBA Takes.”
- “I Took My 84-Year-Old Neighbor With The Only Good NBA Takes To A Pacers Game.”
- “It Never Ends Like It Should.”
The second focused on a youth baseball player named Jericho Scott:
- “The Ballad Of Jericho Scott.”
- “The Boy Who Was ‘Too Good’ To Play Youth Baseball Never Got To Grow Up.”
I like writing about books and ideas, especially when I can profile authors:
- “The Mystery Buffs in the White House.” New York Times Book Review.
- “Reading Sad Books is Good for Your Kids.” New York Times Book Review.
- “How Ohio Shaped Toni Morrison’s Fiction.” Cincinnati Magazine.
- “The Professor’s Swerve: A Profile of Stephen Greenblatt.” Boston Globe. (pdf)
I also like writing about politics, especially at the state and local levels:
- “Indiana Is Weird.” FiveThirtyEight.
- “How UNH Turned A Quiet Benefactor Into A Football-Marketing Prop.” Deadspin.
Craig Fehrman 
Enjoyed Author in Chief book very much. Fantastic Scholarship. It answered a lot of questions I had about presidential writing. One question, there was no commentary on Herbert Hoovers Presidential memoirs? Why? Granted they were dry as dust, but am I am curious. I hope you reply.
Thanks for reading, David! I studied Hoover, especially his letters to his publisher that are now at the NYPL. (I’m pretty sure I put a couple snippets from that in a footnote.) But in the end I decided not to write at length about him because my top priority is always to tell a good story. Hoover is fascinating, but I felt like Coolidge and FDR were better.
If you want to know more about Hoover as a writer, I recommend this essay: https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2008/fall/hoover-wilson.html
Exclusion of Slavery from Illinois
and the Northwest Territory
with Related Documents
1781-1818 The Jefferson-Lemen Compact
The Relations of
Thomas Jefferson and James Lemen
in the Exclusion of Slavery from Illinois
and the Northwest Territory
with Related Documents
1781-1818
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/21251/pg21251-images.html
very important for any author today , As its before (book —> lewis and clark in illinois country + slavery + underground railroad )
Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll check it out.
Craig – I just purchased the Kindle version of “A Vast Enterprise” and I’m looking forward to an entertaining, educational experience. However, I have to tell you I debated whether to make this purchase, and time commitment to the book, when seeing rhe very first entry about John Quincy Adam’s. You are correct that he was John’s son. He was never a senator. He served as president and after that a Congressman representing a Massachusetts district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Never in the U.S. Senate. I’m sure others have brought this to your attention. I am proceeding with the hope this error is an aberration and the rest of the book is historically accurate. I’ll let you know what I think when I finish it. Michael Razza
Hi, Michael! First, thank you for checking out my book — I hope you enjoy it.
John Quincy did so many things it’s hard to keep them all straight! But he was a a US senator for a few years, starting in late 1803 — he just missed the chance to vote for (or against?) the expedition funding. See here for his official senate bio: https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_AdamsJohnQ.htm
Oh Ok. I missed that. Sorry.
no worries—enjoy the book and let me know what you think!