Fans pick 100 books like Grace and Power

By Sally Bedell Smith,

Here are 100 books that Grace and Power fans have personally recommended if you like Grace and Power. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

A few months after President Kennedy’s assassination, Mrs. Kennedy sat down for a series of interviews with the historian and family friend Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Her eight hours of tapes, which remained sealed until a few years ago, are riveting and full of intimate, powerful details.

It is most rewarding to hear her whispery voice as she offers often pointed observations about the people and events that shaped her husband’s presidency.   

By Caroline Kennedy, Michael Beschloss,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Jacqueline Kennedy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

To mark John F. Kennedy's centennial, celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President of the United States.

In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, for the first time, they can be read in this deluxe, illustrated eBook.

Shortly after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, with a nation deep in mourning and the world looking on in stunned disbelief, Jacqueline Kennedy found the strength to set aside her own personal grief for the sake of posterity and begin the task of documenting and preserving her husband's legacy. In January of…


Book cover of Mrs. Kennedy and Me

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

I love this book because of the unique perspective of the writer. Clint Hill was the secret service agent who jumped on the back of the presidential limousine in Dallas to protect Mrs. Kennedy in the seconds after the fatal bullets had struck the President.

His description of that moment and the following hours is as riveting as it is disturbing. Hill, assigned to protect the First Lady, spent more time with her than anyone else, and their relationship continued after she left the White House.  

By Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mrs. Kennedy and Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Clint Hill will forever be remembered as the agent who jumped onto the car after President Kennedy was shot and clung to the sides of the car as it sped toward the hospital. Now, in Mrs. Kennedy and Me, he recounts those painful memories along with his fonder recollections of the First Lady's strength, class, dignity, and beauty during the time he was assigned as her personal agent.

Hill was by Mrs. Kennedy's side for some of the happiest moments in her life as well as the darkest. He was there for the birth of John, Jr. as well as…


Book cover of The Kennedy Baby: The Loss That Transformed JFK

Barbara A. Perry Author Of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier

From my list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for the Kennedy family dates to seeing JFK in person as a young child. Shortly after his death, my mother purchased a children’s book about the 35th president, which I read repeatedly and still have in my extensive “Kennedy library.” It led me to pursue a professional career as a political scientist, specializing in the presidency and First Ladies. I now direct Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, am a member of the Advisory Board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, and serve on the Board of the White House Historical Association, founded by Mrs. Kennedy in 1961.

Barbara's book list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic

Barbara A. Perry Why did Barbara love this book?

This e-book by The Washington Post’s book editor is the moving account of Jackie’s heartbreaking loss of her and the president’s baby, Patrick, in August 1963. Always plagued by problematic pregnancies, resulting in a miscarriage and stillborn daughter in the 1950s, as First Lady Mrs. Kennedy hoped to give birth to her and the president’s third child (to join five-year-old Caroline and two-year-old John Jr.) in September 1963. But the baby arrived more than a month early, suffering from undeveloped lungs, and died within two days. Jackie and Jack were devastated. As they clung to each other in grief, the First Lady told her husband that she couldn’t bear to lose him. She would just three months later.

By Steven Levingston,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Kennedy Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A sensitive portrait of how a profound tragedy changed one of America's most prominent families.

Their marriage is the subject of countless books. His presidency has been pored over minute by minute by historians. They lived their lives in the public eye and under a microscope that magnified all of their flaws, all of their scandals, all of their tragedies. Now Steven Levingston, nonfiction editor at the Washington Post, presents a devastating story in unprecedented detail, about a child John and Jackie Kennedy loved and lost. On August 7, 1963, heavily pregnant Jackie Kennedy collapsed, marking the beginning of a…


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Book cover of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story

Barbara A. Perry Author Of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier

From my list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for the Kennedy family dates to seeing JFK in person as a young child. Shortly after his death, my mother purchased a children’s book about the 35th president, which I read repeatedly and still have in my extensive “Kennedy library.” It led me to pursue a professional career as a political scientist, specializing in the presidency and First Ladies. I now direct Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, am a member of the Advisory Board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, and serve on the Board of the White House Historical Association, founded by Mrs. Kennedy in 1961.

Barbara's book list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic

Barbara A. Perry Why did Barbara love this book?

Many books have been written about Mrs. Kennedy’s post-White House life, especially her 1968 marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, her jet-set lifestyle, and her second widowhood as a successful New York book editor, but I find Leaming’s deeply researched look at how JFK’s horrific assassination may well have afflicted the former First Lady with PTSD to be as credible as it is moving.

By Barbara Leaming,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For almost six decades, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has fascinated people worldwide. The subject of numerous books and thousands of articles, her life has probably been documented in millions of words. And yet, there has always remained something mysterious, something private about this very public woman. With extraordinary skill and great sensitivity, Barbara Learning explores the seemingly magical world of Jackie's youth, her fairy-tale marriage to a wealthy and handsome Senator and Presidential candidate and her astonishing transformation into a deft political wife and unique First Lady. This spirited young woman's rejection of the idea of a safe marriage" as the…


Book cover of White House by the Sea: A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

I love this book because it offers an intimate glimpse into the place that the Kennedys called home, where they felt most comfortable, and where they went to celebrate their triumphs and mourn their tragedies.

Storey is a terrific writer who makes the reader feel as if they are on the Cape with the family as they engage in various (and often strenuous) activities. She manages to capture the family's life away from cameras and reporters.  

By Kate Storey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked White House by the Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Impeccably researched...captivating!" -Elin Hilderbrand * "A well-paced history." -The New York Times Book Review * "Fascinating...with new details and well-sourced reporting." -Associated Press

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The intimate, multigenerational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod-the iconic place where they've celebrated, mourned, and bonded-based on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a Rolling Stone editor and journalist Kate Storey.

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America's most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. It is…


Book cover of The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

Few people know more about the Kennedy family and are as fair-minded in telling their story as Leamer. (He also wrote a companion book on The Kennedy Women.)

What I really like about Leamer’s work is that he does his homework. Not only are his books deeply researched, but he has also clearly earned the trust of family members who share personal stories not found in other published accounts. 

By Laurence Leamer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Kennedy Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this triumphant new work already hailed as a powerful American epic, Laurence Leamer chronicles the Kennedy men and their struggle to create the most powerful family in the United States. The Kennedy Men is the first volume in a multi-generational history that will forever change the way America views its most famous family. Beginning in 1901 with twelve-year-old Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. delivering hats to Boston's social elite and ending in 1963 with the assassination of his son, President John F. Kennedy, Leamer seamlessly unites the complex strands of their economic, political, and social rise.

This magnificent new volume…


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Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? By Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places…

Book cover of America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

William Kuhn Author Of Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

From my list on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Why am I passionate about this?

Many of my books have been on the British monarchy. Jackie was the only figure who came close to being an American queen. Her clothes drew me to her at first. Later, her decision to have an editorial career after her children were grown gave me the idea for a new biographical approach to her. I still admire Jackie for that, as well as for her low-key regality, about which she had a sense of humor.

William's book list on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

William Kuhn Why did William love this book?

Sarah Bradford also wrote one of the best biographies of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Jackie biography is authoritative. It covers everything from her parents' troubled marriage to Jackie’s own disappointing liaisons with powerful men. The life she built in New York after the death of Onassis is proof of what an extraordinary woman she was, perhaps the most important of America’s former first ladies. She was in a league with Eleanor Roosevelt and Abigail Adams. She had an intelligence and discernment equal to theirs but with style all her own.

By Sarah Bradford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked America's Queen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now the subject of a new film directed by Pablo Larrain, "Jackie", starring Natalie Portman

Acclaimed biographer Sarah Bradford explores the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the woman who has captivated the public for more than five decades, in a definitive portrait that is both sympathetic and frank. With an extraordinary range of candid interviews-many with people who have never spoken in such depth on record before-Bradford offers new insights into the woman behind the public persona. She creates a coherent picture out of Jackie's tumultuous and cosmopolitan life-from the aristocratic milieu of Newport and East Hampton to the Greek…


Book cover of Just Being Jackie

Natasha Wing Author Of When Jackie Saved Grand Central: The True Story of Jacqueline Kennedy's Fight for an American Icon

From my list on fabulous First Ladies.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I learned that Jackie Kennedy Onassis had helped save Grand Central I had to know more about her! This lead to being curious about other First Ladies and how they served America during and after they were in the White House. Often their contributions were overshadowed by their husbands, so with this list, I’m shining a light on little-known facts about these well-known women.

Natasha's book list on fabulous First Ladies

Natasha Wing Why did Natasha love this book?

This is the perfect companion book to my book When Jackie Saved Grand Central. Both books fill out the story of two important buildings that she restored - The White House and Grand Central Terminal. In this story, you learn more about Jackie as a child. And I’m IN LOVE with the illustrations! Denos captured Jackie’s beauty and strength in drawings that remind me of fashion sketches.

By Margaret Cardillo, Julia Denos (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Just Being Jackie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A stunning and inspirational nonfiction picture book about the life and style of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos, the team that created Just Being Audrey. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

Jackie Kennedy was an American icon of style and grace-but there was steel under that style. Her poise under fire, intelligence, and tireless work as First Lady earned her the respect of leaders worldwide…


Book cover of Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

Christopher Beauregard Emery Author Of White House Usher: Stories from the Inside

From my list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my twenty-nine nears in the federal government, I maintained a Top Secret clearance while being a CIO, Chief Architect, & Director of various things with the White House, US Congress, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice, where I served in a senior management role for the National Security Division, the agency responsible for serving as the liaison between the Attorney General and the Intelligence Community. Today, my passion is writing about my White House experiences, in both fiction and non-fiction.

Christopher's book list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective

Christopher Beauregard Emery Why did Christopher love this book?

J.B. West was a White House Usher from 1941 to 1969. His book details many of his experiences in performing this rare and unique job in the White House, where he personally worked for Presidents (and First Ladies): Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. There have only been three books written by White House Ushers: Ike Hoover, who served from 1904 -1933; J.B. West, 1941-1969; and me, Chris Emery, 1986-1994.

By J. B. West, Mary Lynn Kotz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Upstairs at the White House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this New York Times bestseller, the White House chief usher for nearly three decades offers a behind-the-scenes look at America's first families.
J. B. West, chief usher of the White House, directed the operations and maintenance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue-and coordinated its daily life-at the request of the president and his family. He directed state functions; planned parties, weddings and funerals, gardens and playgrounds, and extensive renovations; and, with a large staff, supervised every activity in the presidential home. For twenty-eight years, first as assistant to the chief usher, then as chief usher, he witnessed national crises and triumphs,…


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Book cover of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

The Pianist's Only Daughter By Kathryn Betts Adams,

The Pianist's Only Daughter is a frank, humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her mother, an English scholar and poet, and her father, a pianist…

Book cover of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House

Christopher Beauregard Emery Author Of White House Usher: Stories from the Inside

From my list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my twenty-nine nears in the federal government, I maintained a Top Secret clearance while being a CIO, Chief Architect, & Director of various things with the White House, US Congress, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice, where I served in a senior management role for the National Security Division, the agency responsible for serving as the liaison between the Attorney General and the Intelligence Community. Today, my passion is writing about my White House experiences, in both fiction and non-fiction.

Christopher's book list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective

Christopher Beauregard Emery Why did Christopher love this book?

This is a New York Times bestseller that details the inner workings of the White House. Superbly written with wonderful anecdotes and authentic stories about the White House staff and historical events. I was very pleased to be interviewed for this book. The author, Kate Anderson Brower, has written several books about the White House, and I would rate all of them highly.

By Kate Andersen Brower,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Residence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A remarkable history with elements of both In the President's Secret Service and The Butler, The Residence offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas. America's First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers,…


Book cover of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy
Book cover of Mrs. Kennedy and Me
Book cover of The Kennedy Baby: The Loss That Transformed JFK

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Interested in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American first ladies, and political culture?