New/Old Obsession

I am an avid reader.  As you can imagine, when I was young I could not wait until school was out so I could spend a good portion of my summer reading.  When I was around 10 or 11, I found a collection of books at the library (remember, this is how we use to get our books pre-electronic era) that I just fell in love with.  They were books on all of the presidents.  I started out with the book on George Washington and read them all up to and including Lyndon B. Johnson.  They did not yet have the books out on Nixon and Ford.  It was so interesting and to this day they still peak my interest.  

I do still love reading about the presidents and their lives before and after the White House. Unfortunately, the books on the presidents after Nixon are filled with sensationalism and politics.  It is hard to find books written just giving you the basics -- not the author's opinion on the president.  I wished I could find those old books, because I would read them again.  

Now, with the influx of all the information you can find online, I have discovered that a lot of the presidential libraries have excellent information and stories on the presidents. I am somewhat partial to stories about George Washington and have visited Mt. Vernon on several occasions.  I guess it is the time period and trying to imagine the start of a new country without all of the modern conveniences of today that interests me.  Of course, my favorite website is George Washington's Mt. Vernon which has a virtual tour of the house.  It is well worth checking out.  I take a "tour" every once in a while to get my Mt. Vernon fix.  

I found another presidential website just by chance when reading an article about Lou Hoover, wife of Herbert Hoover.  First Lady Hoover videoed her time in the White House and has one of the first collections of videos in color at the White House.  Of course, after reading the article, I had to look up the presidential website - Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

Interestingly, at Herbert Hoover's museum there are a collection of Rose Wilder Lane's papers.  She was the editor of the "Little House on the Prairie" books, which were written by her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Lane was one of the first biographers of Herbert Hoover and wrote "The Making of Herbert Hoover" prior to Hoover becoming president.  

There are many more presidential websites out there and I intend to visit them all.  I'll let you know what I find!