# Best Book about each Presidential election. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 13, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044 "2017-03-13T00:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/1 "2017-03-13T00:09:48Z")
1968-An American Melodrama 1972-Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1992-Primary Colors (Yeah, I know it’s fiction but still…) 2008-Game Change Your picks? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/2 "2017-03-13T00:29:27Z")
Authors? 1968: Joe MGinniss, _The Selling of the President 1968_ 1972: Hunter S. Thompson, _Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail_ I haven’t read campaign books in a long time (can’t you tell?), but I can recommend those two. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/3 "2017-03-13T02:04:21Z")
There’s not much point to it since with the advent of the internet you’re bombarded with it 24/7 during campaign season. Having said that, Fear and Loathing is a classic. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/4 "2017-03-13T03:02:09Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > 1992-Primary Colors (Yeah, I know it’s fiction but still…) I’d argue that the Carville/Matalin joint memoir about the 1992 campaign, [All’s Fair: Love, War & Running For President](https://www.amazon.com/Alls-Fair-Love-Running-President/dp/0684801337), is amazing for how much of an insider perspective it gives of BOTH sides of that election. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/5 "2017-03-13T03:47:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > There’s not much point to it since with the advent of the internet you’re bombarded with it 24/7 during campaign season. Having said that, Fear and Loathing is a classic. The books still give inside info that isn’t easily found on the internet. I follow this stuff 24/7 too, but there’s still tons of inside stuff I never knew. 1988- Whose Broad Stripes and Great Stars? Germond/Witcover- I’ve never read before or since a more thorough look at an election. 1992- Quest for the Presidency- Peter Goldman. Actually better than the Germond/Witcover book covering that same year. 2008/2012-Game Change, both of them. One thing that’s always bugged me is that I’ve never seen a book covering the 2000 election in depth, only books that covered the recount specifically. I’ve looked hard, does anyone know of a 2000 book that I’ve missed? 2004 would be nice too, since that was also a barnburner of an election. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/6 "2017-03-13T03:49:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’d argue that the Carville/Matalin joint memoir about the 1992 campaign, [All’s Fair: Love, War & Running For President](https://www.amazon.com/Alls-Fair-Love-Running-President/dp/0684801337), is amazing for how much of an insider perspective it gives of BOTH sides of that election. 1992 is probably the most well documented election in history in terms of the sheer number of books written about it. I still think that’s one of the most dramatic elections ever, even if the end result wasn’t that close. But that was a race that for awhile could have had any one of three winners. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/7 "2017-03-13T04:31:12Z")
Some good histories on older elections: 1800: _A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign_ by Edward Larson 1864: _Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency_ by Jack Waugh 1876: _Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876_ by Roy Morris 1920: _1920: The Year of the Six Presidents_ by David Pietrusza 1948: _1948: Harry Truman’s Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America_ by David Pietrusza ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/8 "2017-03-17T16:05:37Z")
1860, I liked "Year of Meteors’ by Douglas Egerton. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/9 "2017-03-17T18:57:47Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > One thing that’s always bugged me is that I’ve never seen a book covering the 2000 election in depth, only books that covered the recount specifically. I’ve looked hard, does anyone know of a 2000 book that I’ve missed? 2004 would be nice too, since that was also a barnburner of an election. If you want the gonzo down-and-dirty version, try _Smashmouth: Two Years in the Gutter with Al Gore and George W. Bush: Notes from the 2000 Campaign Trail_ By Dana Milbank(2001), and if you want in-depth analysis, you might want to check out _The Election of 2000: Reports and Interpretations_ by Anthony Corrado, E. J. Dionne Jr., Kathleen A. Frankovic, Paul S. Herrnson, Marjorie Randon Hershey, William G. Mayer, Monika L. McDermott, Wilson Carey McWilliams and Gerald M. Pomper. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/10 "2017-03-20T16:48:02Z")
I am surprised I am the first to mention Theodore White’s Making of the President about the 1960 election. I read it a long time ago as a student and it was one of the first books that excited me about US politics. He also wrote books about the next few elections. > [@adaher](#): > > 1988- Whose Broad Stripes and Great Stars? Germond/Witcover- I’ve never read before or since a more thorough look at an election. Have you read [What it Takes](https://www.amazon.com/What-Takes-Way-White-House/dp/0679746498)about that election? Haven’t read it myself but it’s legendary for its detailed look at the candidates and the primaries. Despite being more than a 1000 pages long, it apparently doesn’t spend much time on the general ! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/11 "2017-03-21T08:19:22Z")
THat’s becuase the primaries were so interesting that year. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/12 "2017-03-21T15:49:13Z")
What it Takes was an awesome book. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/13 "2017-03-22T10:32:14Z")
Turns out it was already on my Amazon wish list and I had forgotten about it. Definitely going to order it on Kindle as soon as I can. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/14 "2017-03-22T18:02:03Z")
One innovation I would like to see is a book which combines narrative journalism, policy analysis and data/charts, written by a team of journalists. 538 is ideally placed to do something like this and Vox would probably do a good job too. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-about-each-presidential-election/782044/15 "2017-03-23T00:50:21Z")
It’s a film, not a book, but I highly recommend _The War Room,_ which is a documentary of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAc9pqk7EXI)