Books About Presidential Campaigns

Part history, part political science, White looks at the campaign as a chessboard, with each candidate making his moves and responding to opponents’ moves at the same time. White was the first of the chroniclers of the modern process as it moved to a more open system and the idea of a national primary campaign began to take hold.

Cramer takes White’s political science and history and adds to it the importance of personal strengths. You don’t run for President unless you have a fire burning within. Cramer looks at the 1988 campaign and the fire burning within the six leading candidates.

Lincoln’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination were better known than he was, and several of them could point to a record of public success that was arguably more significant than Lincoln. So how did Lincoln beat them? And how did he harness his competitor’s strengths.

This brilliant look at the 1800 presidential election, the first one ever, involved more talent than any election since, with Washington, Adams, and Jefferson all starring, and Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr central to the story as well. Captivating.

The 1976 Reagan-Ford primary contest turned out to be an endurance slugfest that shaped the eventual Reagan presidency and much of the modern era. Shirley takes us through a blow-by-blow account of the most hard-fought primary contest of the modern era.

This classic account of how Richard Nixon employed Madison Avenue tactics during his successful 1968 run is a fascinating discussion of how politics and marketing feed off of each other.

This is not so much a history of U.S. Presidential politics as it is a discussion of how the press corps covers presidential politics, but it belongs on this list because of the current debate as to whether the media covers the news or shapes the news. Thompson is the original purveyor of “fake news” and his colorful prose and antics make this book a fun read.