Lists

34 of Your Favorite Political Biographies

María Cristina García lives in New York with her favorite spouse, her favorite toddler, her favorite cat, and her second-favorite cat. When not ranking members of her household, she's catching up on Supergirl, strumming her mandolin, or trying to beat the clock on her library loans. Twitter: @MeowyCristina Blog: MeowyCristina.com

This giveaway asking you to share your favorite political biography is sponsored by Elizabeth Warren: Her Fight. Her Work. Her Life by Antonia Felix.

Cover of ELIZABETH WARREN by Antonia FelixElizabeth Warren’s rise as one of America’s most powerful women is a stirring lesson in persistence. From her fierce support of the middle class to her unapologetic response to political bullies, Warren is known as a passionate yet plain-speaking champion of equity and fairness. In the wake of one fellow senator’s effort to silence her in 2016, three words became a rallying cry across the country:

Nevertheless, she persisted . . .

In this breakthrough biography, bestselling author Antonia Felix reveals how Warren brought her expertise to Washington to become an icon of progressive politics in a deeply divided nation.


How do we bookish people get in the midterms mood? We read political biographies! Whether they’re of statesmen from yore or contemporary D.C. players, political biographies are fascinating. Great ones illuminate a whole time and place, as well as the subject’s sphere of influence. So we asked you to provide a political biography recommendation as part of your entry for the above giveaway, and here are some of the most popular suggestions!

The Marquis by Laura Auricchio

Notorious RBG by Erin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Reagan by H. W. Brands

Condoleezza Rice by Elisabeth Bumiller

John Adams by David McCullough

The Secretary: A Journey With Hillary Clinton From Beirut to the Heart of American Power by Kim Ghattas

Franklin D. Roosevelt by Robert Dallek

Senator Hattie Caraway: An Arkansas Legacy by Nancy Hendricks

Lincoln and the Abolitionists by Fred Kaplan

Michelle Obama: A Life by Peter Slevin

Hoover by Kenneth Whyte

The Woman Behind the New Deal by Kristin Downey

The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Jeremy Thorpe by Michael Bloch

The Three Lives of James Madison by Noah Feldman

Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World Linda Hirshman

The Firebrand and the First Lady by Patricia Bell-Scott

Disraeli by Robert Blake

Six Encounters with Lincoln by Elizabeth Brown Pryor

Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro

Roy Jenkins by John Campbell

Richard Nixon by John A. Farrell

Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas

The Revolution of Robert Kennedy by John R. Bohrer

Churchill by Roy Jenkins

Emmeline Pankhurst by June Purvis

Founding Martyr by Christian Di Spigna

One Man Against the World by Tim Weiner

Harold Wilson by Ben Pimlott

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer

Margaret Thatcher by Charles Moore

Angela Merkel by Stefan Kornelius