The Presidents, Portraits of History-education via art

One of the most remarkable things about The Presidents Portraits of History by Leah Tinari is how non-political the book is. In a time where folks can’t say the most innocuous thing without it being viewed, positively or negatively through a political lens, Tinari has created a book that respects and casts every president as human. The Presidents is a big book. On the right pages in the book readers will see large drawings of each president through 2020.  In erratic sized font around each illustration are serious or obscure facts about each person.

Who liked to intentionally wear mismatched clothing? Who had a dog named Veto?  Which president was a speed reader? Which one worked at Baskin-Robbins as a teenage?  Who hosted Wrestlemania? These trivial facts are sprinkled with more substantial ones like military service or large historical events that happened during their watch. For the record that query about which president hosted Wrestlemania might be a little simple when you think about it. However the answers to the other questions are more challenging and here are those answers in order. Zachary Taylor, James Garfield, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and Donald Trump hosted the WWE event back in 1988 and 1989.

The interesting thing about presenting the information in such a concise format is that readers are more likely to remember those details. After reading the book a couple of times I could recall that Grant was on the $50 and was also arrested for speeding….in his horse and buggy.

The illustrations are detailed, beautiful and only use a sparse amount of color. Each portrait has the head drawn in black or grey, while there are shades of a singular color, either red, yellow, blue, purple or aqua that are used to draw in readers. The effect works and you’ll find yourself looking at each portrait to great detail and then reading all of the words around their face. I have word to do, I can’t spend all afternoon looking at William Howard Taft you’re thinking to yourself. A couple minutes later you’re wonder how Warren Harding was able to get size 14 shoes and following it up why asking yourself why Ben Kingsley hasn’t been asked to play him in a movie yet.

Middle elementary aged students will be able to read The Presidents Portraits of History without assistance. However, the content, unless they’re history buffs, is one that they won’t want to read about until they reach upper elementary school or middle school. Those older students are about to study, if they aren’t already, the people who’re profiled in the book. Thus, they’ll be familiar to an extent and have an interest in learning about them.

Even the casual reader will be attracted to The Presidents. Political wonks will scour each page and look for bias. The vast majority of us will enjoy the book and realize that Presidents change in the United States. They’re all human and have same interest, hobbies or phobias as the rest of us.