Are You Prepared for the Storm of Lovemaking? Letters of Love and Lust from the White House

Married historians Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (The Monsters) gather intimate letters written by presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama in this often touching and sometimes racy compilation. The collection is divided into four sections: “Romancing,” “Separation,” “Adversity,” and “Lovers.” The first three center on courtship and marital correspondence, while the fourth details extramarital pursuits whose discovery threatened to derail political careers. Brief personal anecdotes and historical background accompany the missives, giving context while imparting such fun tidbits as Warren G. Harding’s coinage of the term “Founding Fathers.” The presidents’ love letters reveal not only the depth of feeling in their relationships but also intriguing details about historic events and people. For example, Rutherford B. Hayes told his wife that he was glad she wasn’t there with him to see Abraham Lincoln and his vice president Andrew Johnson’s 1865 inauguration because the latter’s “disgraceful drunkenness spoiled it.” Elsewhere, Lyndon Baines Johnson’s premarital letters to Lady Bird showcase the “obsessiveness and arm-twisting that became part of his public persona and his political success.” Readers will relish the tender exchanges and juicy revelations in this humanizing portrait of American presidents. (Feb.)