As a follow up to my post with recommended books about America’s Founding, and based on requests from several individuals, I am including below a list of recommended biographies about major figures from the Founding period. Note that, as with my last list, the book are listed in no particular order. I also welcome additional suggestions from folks who read this list. As with all lists, I am bound to miss some essential books, and am always more than happy to add to what I’ve come up with here.

(1) George Washington

• The Papers of George Washington
• Washington Irving, George Washington: A Biography
• Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life
• James Flexner, George Washington: The Indispensable Man
• Joseph Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington
• Douglas Southall Freeman, Washington
• James Flexner, Washington and the New Nation, 1783 – 1793
• Edward Larson, The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789
• Susan Dunn and James MacGregor Burns, The George Washington (The American President Series)
• Richard Norton Smith, Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation
• Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
• Jeffry Morrison, The Political Philosophy of George Washington
• Edward Lengel, Inventing George Washington: America’s Founder, in Myth and Memory
• Richard Brookhiser, Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington
• Don Higginbotham. George Washington: Uniting a Nation
• John Rhodehamel, George Washington: The Wonder of the Age
• Mary V. Thompson, “In the Hands of a Good Providence”: Religion in the Life of George Washington
• David Hackett Fischer, Washington’s Crossing

(2) Thomas Jefferson

• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson, The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
• Dumas Malone, Jefferson and His Time
• Richard B. Bernstein, Thomas Jefferson
• Alan Pell Crawford, Twilight at Monticello
• Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography
• Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello
• Jon Meacham, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
• Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf, Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination
• Peter Onuf, The Mind of Thomas Jefferson
• Peter Onuf, Jefferson’s Empire: The Language of American Nationhood
• Joseph Ellis, American Sphinx

(3) James Madison

• The Papers of James Madison
• Robert Allen Rutland, James Madison: The Founding Father
• Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography
• Jack Rakove, James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic
• Robert J. Morgan, James Madison on the Constitution and Bill of Rights
• Richard Brookhiser, James Madison
• David O. Stewart, Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America
• Mary Sarah Bilder, Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention
• Drew McCoy, The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy
• Lynne Cheney, James Madison: A Life Reconsidered

(4) Alexander Hamilton

• The Papers of Alexander Hamilton
• Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton
• Joanne Freeman, editor, Alexander Hamilton: Writings
• Richard Brookhiser, Alexander Hamilton: American
• Thomas Fleming, Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America
• Forrest McDonald, Alexander Hamilton: A Biography
• Michael Federici, The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton
• Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America
• John Ferling, Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation
•  John Lamberton Harper American Machiavelli: Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of US Foreign Policy
• Stephen F. Knott, Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth
• Joanne Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic
• Michael E. Newton, Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years
• Willard Sterne Randall, Alexander Hamilton: A Life
• John Sedgwick, War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Duel That Stunned the Nation

(5) John Adams

• The Adams Papers
• John Adams, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
• Page Smith, John Adams
• David McCullough, John Adams
• John Ferling, John Adams: A Life
• Joseph Ellis, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams
• Richard Alan Ryerson, John Adams’s Republic: The One, The Few, and the Many
• Joseph Ellis, First Family: Abigail and John Adams
• Lester Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams
• Luke Mayville, John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy
• John A. Schutz and Douglass G. Adair, editors, The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813
• C. Bradley Thompson, John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty
• Richard B. Morris, The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence (also great for John Jay)
• Phyllis Lee Evans, Abigail Adams: A Biography
• Edith Gelles, Portia: The World of Abigail Adams
• Woody Holton, Abigail Adams

(6) Benjamin Franklin

• The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• J. A. Leo Lemay, editor, Benjamin Franklin: Silence Dogood, the Busy-Body, and Early Writings
• J.A. Leo Lemay, editor, Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography Poor Richard and Later Writings
• Gordon Wood, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
• Carl Van Doren, Benjamin Franklin
• Edmund S. Morgan, Benjamin Franklin
• Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
• Gerald Stourzh, Benjamin Franklin and American Foreign Policy
• J.A. Leo Lemay, The Life of Benjamin Franklin
• Jill Lepore, The Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin

(7) Books about Other Founders

• Richard B. Morris, John Jay, the Nation, and the Court
• Richard B. Morris, Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries
• Richard B. Morris, Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay and the Constitution
• Richard B. Bernstein, A Very Short Introduction to the Founding Fathers
• Walter Stahr, John Jay: Founding Father
• Joyce Appleby, Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans
• Joseph Ellis, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
• Jeff Broadwater, George Mason: Forgotten Founder
• Mark Puls, Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution
• Charles Page Smith, James Wilson: Founding Father, 1742 – 1798
• Mark David Hall, The Political and Legal Philosophy of James Wilson: 1742 – 1798
• William Murchison, The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson
• Richard Brookhiser, Gentleman Revolution: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Whote Wrote the Constitution
• William Howard Adams, Gouveneur Morris: An Independent Life
• Alyn Brodsky, Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician
• Rosemarie Zagarri, A Woman’s Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution