From the President's pen: What Rashtrapati Bhavan occupants have written through the decades

On the launch of President Pranab Mukherjee's book 'The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years', Business Standard looks at the literary side of his predecessors

Publicly available information shows at least 11 of the 12 Presidents before Mukherjee have authored books. Mukherjee himself had written four books before becoming President, between 1984 and 1992.

Starting from the first President Dr Rajendra Prasad to the 11th, A P J Abdul Kalam, all expressed their thoughts on a wide range of topics and issues — from the masterly spiritual and philosophical collection of Dr S Radhakrishnan to delicately handled stories for children by President Zakir Hussain.

While President K R Narayanan demonstrated his brilliance as a former journalist in his book Nehru and his Vision, scholarly and scientific bent of mind was in evidence in Kalam’s Wings of Fire and Ignited Minds.

On the political spectrum, Mukherjee has in his latest book tried to recreate what the fifth President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed mentioned in the Speeches of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, narrating the events leading up to the Emergency and after.

Presidential bookshelf: 
A look at Presidents and their published works, over the 67 years of independent India’s political journey:

Graphics by: Anisha Dutta