From the early years of our nation's history, when George Washington wrote his humble yet powerful Farewell Address, to our current age, when Barack Obama delivered his moving speech on the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, America's presidents have upheld a tradition of exceptional writing. This anthology includes Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, Kennedy's Inaugural Address, and excerpts from James Polk's candid White House diary, plus selections by Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Ronald Reagan, among others.