Comments on: Presidential biographies

Question: Presidential biographies

NekulturnY — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 06:20:36 -0800

BiograPhilter. While I eagerly await the publication of volume four of Robert A. Caro's 'The Years of Lyndon Johnson', what other biographies do I have to read of American presidents/politicians? Note: I'm not American, so I don't really care much for the founding fathers, or Abe Lincoln's constitutional worries etc. Also, no partizan bitch books or hagiographies, please. The wielding of raw power is what interests me most.

Good European biographies (De Gaulle, Talleyrand, Churchill) are welcomed as well.

By: onlyconnect

onlyconnect — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 06:47:15 -0800

This may not be exactly what you had in mind, but you could give it a try for a laugh: a little moment capturing Lyndon Johnson ordering pants. It's got "wielding of raw power" all over it. :)

By: NekulturnY

NekulturnY — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 06:58:40 -0800

That was funny. Very much in character.

By: NotMyselfRightNow

NotMyselfRightNow — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 07:00:03 -0800

Anything by Edmond Morris. Theodore Rex and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt are personal favorites. Truman by David McCulloch is supposed to be great, as well, although I can't personally vouch for it.

Across the pond, there is always Churchill: A Biography by Roy Jenkins. And, although a bit outside of what you say you're looking for, Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman has gotten quite good reviews.

By: Mick

Mick — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:08:23 -0800

Daid McCullough's Truman is a great read, as is his book on John Adams (and to ignore the founding fathers is to ignore some of the greatest thinkers of the 18th centuary).

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:10:12 -0800

The wielding of raw power is what interests me most.

I'm bookmarking this in case you're ever governor of California...

By: geoff.

geoff. — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:19:35 -0800

I third the call for McCullough, he's a great historian and writer. His Truman book was excellent. You know what's fun in a dorky school way? Reading the presidential biography and then visiting the library. I was forced to do this for Truman in high school and it was fun. It links the abstracted world of biographies to reality when you see things like "The Buck Stops Here" sign. That and I'm a huge dork.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:52:56 -0800

I'm greatly enjoying Elizabeth and Mary : Cousins, Rivals, Queens by Jane Dunn.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:56:15 -0800

On Churchill, I can't recommend William Manchester's The Last Lion highly enough. Manchester's American Caesar, about Douglas MacArthur, may not be precisely what you're looking for, but it's also a great book.

By: caddis

caddis — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:02:45 -0800

On information and belief I hear that if you loved the Caro series you will also enjoy "Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr." by Ron Chernow. I have not read this, but hear that it is well written. Rockefeller was certainly the equal of Johnson in wielding raw power. Of course you should also check out Caro's book on Robert Moses, probably the most powerful person in New York after WWII and he never held elective office.

By: bingo

bingo — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:08:31 -0800

Seems to me that Lincoln wielded raw power a lot more than he worried about the constitution. In fact, he's probably one of the best examples of presidents who rather blatantly shaped the country according to what he thought was right without making that much of an effort to make it look like he was doing anything else.

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:11:33 -0800

Fawn Brodie's Nixon biography.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 09:43:05 -0800

inksyndicate: You must be joking. Fawn Brodie's biography of Richard Nixon is one of the biggest hatchet jobs I've ever read (and I'm no fan of Nixon). I'd avoid that one like the plague.

I can personally vouch for McCullough's Truman bio. It's a little slow at the beginning, with Truman's ancestors, but stick with it.

You may also enjoy another book by Caro from 1974 called The Power Broker, which is not about a president but Robert Moses, one of the most powerful unelected men America has ever seen. Freeways, urban renewal, the World's Fair -- Moses was a prime mover, and not afraid to use his power. Caro won a Pulitzer Prize for it. (Disclaimer: I haven't read it yet; it's sitting here in my bedroom.)

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 10:21:56 -0800

Add me to the chorus of vouchers for McCullough's Truman. A masterful biography.

It's great hearing about suggestions for Churchill biographies, too, as I'd been meaning to get one for some time.

Incidentally, Churchill's "History of the English-Speaking People" is amazing, though not a biography.

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:47:39 -0800

I'm with mick. The story of the founding fathers is precisely the "wielding of raw power" you are looking for. Ron Chernow has an interesting biography of Alexander Hamilton - less captivating than I had hoped, but the Hamilton literature is kind of sparse. McCullough's Adams book is great. Edmund Morris's volumes on TR and Reagan are excellent.

"The Power Broker" is the best book I have ever read, hands down. It doubles as a textbook on how to perform biographical research and pierce the veil that a standoffish public official draws around his personal domain.

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 13:49:57 -0800

I didn't finish the Nixon book, which was a little muddled, but there was some terrific stuff about his early years as a child with burgeoning psychological problems.

By: gimonca

gimonca — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 14:15:41 -0800

I'm hoping to read T. Harry Williams' bio of Huey Long soon.

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 14:29:27 -0800

More ideas for English biographies: Robert Blake's Disraeli (one of the truly outstanding political biographies, IMHO, and it's great to see it back in print); Roy Jenkins' Gladstone (this one seems to be a bit of an acquired taste, but it's probably easier to take in than Richard Shannon's two-volume account); and, if you want to run a marathon, John Ehrman's triple-decker devoted to William Pitt the Younger (although Robin Reilly or Michael Turner are a bit more convenient when it comes to toting Pitt around).

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 15:42:37 -0800

Zonker's right: Manchester's page-turning bio of Churchill is easily the best bio I have ever read and one of my favorite books period.
Jenkins' was far far dryer.

By: Wet Spot

Wet Spot — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 16:15:26 -0800

"The Power Broker" is the best book I have ever read, hands down.

I concur with PrinceValium. It really is the best book ever, period. I've read it twice and intend to read it again.

By: szg8

szg8 — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 20:11:08 -0800

Not sure this is what you are after, but there is a great novel about Mayor Curley (Boston), The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor

By: ambrosia

ambrosia — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 22:50:23 -0800

Another vote for The Power Broker here. And, to add to the David McCullough suggestions, consider The Path Between The Seas. It's about the construction of the Panama Canal, so obviously a lot of it is American, but not all of it. An excellent read.

Another suggestion is Enrique Krauze's Mexico: A Biography of Power, covering Mexican history from 1810 to 1996.

By: NekulturnY

NekulturnY — Mon, 23 Aug 2004 01:34:48 -0800

Thanks, this should get me through the winter!