David M. Shribman is executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
George W. Bush was a frenetic reader — 95 books one year as president. Impressive, until you consider what Theodore Roosevelt read in the White House in 1902 and 1903, which included portions of Dante's "Inferno," Milton's "Paradise Lost," "Beowulf," Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Aristotle and histories of the early Syrian, Chaldean and Egyptian civilizations, along with five Shakespeare plays — and tales from Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.
But he was not alone. "Not all readers are leaders," said Harry Truman, whose home library of 1,100 books in Independence, Missouri, included Sandburg's life of Lincoln and biographies of Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren and both James and (surprise!) Marilyn Monroe, "but all leaders are readers."
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.