| Post-presidential memoirs and autobiographies form a subgenre as former presidents use established roles and accepted communication strategies to extend their rhetoric. The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, and Jimmy Carter's Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President are examples within this subgenre, due to shared characteristics of intertextuality, common purpose, shared audiences, similar format, and established function. The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, written in 1885, set the standard by which many later military and post-presidential memoirs or autobiographies are often judged. This comparative study explores the writing process, organization, the inclusion, or ignoring of certain materials or narratives, and audience response. The evolution of American popular culture since 1885 has encouraged the expectation and influence of post-presidential memoirs. Every president since Grover Cleveland, barring illness or death during or closely following his term, has written an autobiography or memoir. These texts build national memory, influence popular opinion and publishing, and encourage closer study of the office, the Presidents, and the national consciousness. |
