Amazon.com (ISBN 0684805510, Paperback)

In The Presidents: A Reference History United States presidents from George Washington to William Jefferson Clinton are profiled in depth. A quick browse through John A. Garraty's piece on Grover Cleveland reveals that not only was Cleveland the 22nd and the 24th president of the United States, but also that he had a popular plurality of 100,000 votes in the election he lost to Benjamin Harrison. In 1881, three years before he became president, Cleveland was but a Buffalo lawyer, stating "No amount of money would tempt me to add to or increase my present work." One further learns that he ran with a coarse crowd, hired a substitute to fight for him in the Civil War, and was the father of an illegitimate child. When you tire of present-day scandals, it's educational to learn about the skeletons that past presidents kept in their closets. Excellently indexed, Henry Graff's work makes for a reliable presidential reference as well as an absorbing and enlightening read.