# The canon of American political books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132 "2006-04-10T20:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/1 "2006-04-10T20:30:06Z")
Some friends and I were recently discussing books in or about American politics and American political history. Occasionally, one of us would admit to not having read some critical book, so one friend asked everyone for their list of 10 or 12 books that constitute canonical literature in American politics. What books make your list? By the way, to make the list, a book can’t be merely a _good_ book about American politics, it must be an _essential_ book about American politics. Secondary sources only, please – for example, please don’t list the Declaration, or the Constitution, or an important proclamation or legislation. My list includes only nonfiction, but I can imagine a case being made for a work of fiction. Here is my list: [ul][li] H.W. Brands, [_The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385493282/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] [_The Federalist Papers_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451528816/sr=1-1/qid=1144700190/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) (So essential that it has arguably become a primary source)[/li] [li] Joseph J. Ellis, [_Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375405445/sr=1-2/qid=1144700243/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Alexis de Tocqueville, [_Democracy in America_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226805328/sr=1-2/qid=1144700069/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Daniel J. Boorstin, [_The Americans: The Democratic Experience_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394487249/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] Carl Sandburg, [_Abraham Lincoln_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156027526/sr=1-1/qid=1144700310/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] H.W. Brands, [_T.R.: The Last Romantic_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465069584/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] Richard E. Neustadt, [_Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002922795X/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] John F. Kennedy, [_Profiles in Courage_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060530626/sr=1-2/qid=1144699642/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Robert Caro, [_The Years of Lyndon Johnson_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394499735/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8) (3 vols. + counting)[/li] [li] T.H. White, [The Making of the President, 1960\*](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568491433/sr=1-1/qid=1144699810/ref=sr_1_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] Hunter S. Thompson, [_Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0000020532/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/2 "2006-04-10T20:39:17Z")
[QUOTE=brianmelendez] [ul][li] H.W. Brands, [_The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385493282/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] [_The Federalist Papers_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451528816/sr=1-1/qid=1144700190/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) (So essential that it has arguably become a primary source)[/li] [li] Joseph J. Ellis, [_Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375405445/sr=1-2/qid=1144700243/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Alexis de Tocqueville, [_Democracy in America_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226805328/sr=1-2/qid=1144700069/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Daniel J. Boorstin, [_The Americans: The Democratic Experience_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394487249/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] Carl Sandburg, [_Abraham Lincoln_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156027526/sr=1-1/qid=1144700310/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] H.W. Brands, [_T.R.: The Last Romantic_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465069584/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] Richard E. Neustadt, [_Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002922795X/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/li] [li] John F. Kennedy, [_Profiles in Courage_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060530626/sr=1-2/qid=1144699642/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Robert Caro, [_The Years of Lyndon Johnson_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394499735/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8) (3 vols. + counting)[/li] [li] T.H. White, [The Making of the President, 1960\*](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568491433/sr=1-1/qid=1144699810/ref=sr_1_1/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)[/li] [li] Hunter S. Thompson, [_Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0000020532/ref=ed_oe_h/104-2756609-0115148?%5Fencoding=UTF8)[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] [Plunkitt Of Tammany Hall,](http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/plunkett-george/tammany-hall/) William L. Riordan. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/3 "2006-04-10T21:14:52Z")
Great idea for a thread. [Public Opinion](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684833271/qid=1144703544/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Walter Lippmann [Democracy and Distrust](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674196376/qid=1144703591/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by John Hart Ely ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/4 "2006-04-10T21:18:35Z")
Two more: [The American Political Tradition](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679723153/qid=1144703725/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Richard Hofstadter [The Strange Career of Jim Crow](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195146905/qid=1144703855/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by C. Vann Woodward ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/5 "2006-04-10T21:28:25Z")
[Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486447359/qid=1144704029/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Woodrow Wilson [The American Voter](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226092542/ref=pd_sim_b_2/002-6171952-3068864?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) by Angus Campbell, et al. [An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560008563/qid=1144704443/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6171952-3068864?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Gunnar Myrdal (this book, like _Public Opinion_, I cannot recommend highly enough) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/6 "2006-04-10T21:36:52Z")
[The Best and The Brightest](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449908704/sr=8-2/qid=1144704803/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-4901724-4306312?%5Fencoding=UTF8) - Davis Halberstam [Something To Die For](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380713225/qid=1144704869/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-4901724-4306312?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) - James Webb [Parliament of Whores](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802139701/qid=1144704970/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-4901724-4306312?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) - P. J. O’Rourke ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/7 "2006-04-10T21:42:30Z")
The Hofstadter book, by the way, deserves extra credit for potentially influencing Bill Watterson with its very first sentence: > [@](#): > > Long ago Horace White observed that the Constitution of the United States is based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/8 "2006-04-10T21:45:35Z")
[The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0060505915&itm=5) by Eric Hoffer ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/9 "2006-04-10T21:52:05Z")
Nice one, **mbh**. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/10 "2006-04-10T22:09:30Z")
[An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0029024803/sr=8-1/qid=1144706137/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9159561-7279216?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Charles Beard “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” by Frederick Jackson Turner Seymor Martin Lipset’s “The First New Nation”. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/11 "2006-04-11T00:30:27Z")
[The Supreme Court](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375409432/qid=1144715262/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-1555953-2904006?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by William H. Rehnquist ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/12 "2006-04-11T00:35:21Z")
_The Next American Nation_ by Michael Lind. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684825031/sr=1-1/qid=1144715690/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/104-1964943-3726312?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684825031/sr=1-1/qid=1144715690/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1964943-3726312?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/13 "2006-04-11T02:19:07Z")
A couple of bookends: [The Triumph of Politics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060155604/sr=1-1/qid=1144721832/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3131044-2082366?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) by David Stockman [Locked in the Cabinet](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375700617/sr=1-7/qid=1144721883/ref=sr_1_7/104-3131044-2082366?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) by Robert Reich They explore what happens (to a conservative and liberal, respectively) when ideals collide head on with pragmaticism. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/14 "2006-04-11T07:23:21Z")
While not a book, I think George Kennan’s Mr. X article in Foreign Affairs is one of the most important political documents of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/15 "2006-04-11T07:44:46Z")
Some outstanding suggestions so far. Of the books already nominated, those that might well make my own top 10 list include: Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, _The Federalist Papers_. Beard, _Economic Interpretation of the Constitution_. Myrdal, _An American Dilemma_. Tocqueville, _Democracy in America_. Hofstadter, _The American Political Tradition_. Lippmann, _Public Opinion_. Turner, _The Sginificance of the Frontier in American History_. Some others that i’d think about adding: John Dewey, _The Public and Its Problems_ (1927), which was really a response to Lippmann. The two books can usefully be read together. Some more works from the period around the Revolution:[ul] [li]Thomas Jefferson, _Notes on the State of Virginia_ (1787).[/li][li]Thomas Paine, _Common Sense_ (1776).[/li][li]John Adams, _A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law_ (1765).[/ul][/li] For those looking for works with a libertarian bent:[ul] [li]F.A. Hayek, _The Road to Serfdom_ (1945).[/li][li]Milton Friedman, _Capitalism and Freedom_ (1962).[/ul][/li] For those interested in conservative thought:[ul] [li]Russell Kirk, _The Conservative Mind_ (1953)[/li][li]William F. Buckley, Jr., _God and Man at Yale_ (1951)[/li][li]Allam Bloom, _The Closing of the Ameircan Mind_ (1987)[/ul][/li] For Cold War liberalism:[ul] [li]Daniel Bell, _The End of Ideology_[/li][li]Walt W. Rostow, _The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto_ (1960)[/ul][/li]An outstanding recent book about postwar thought in America: S.M. Amadae, _Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins of Rational Choice Liberalism_ (2003). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/16 "2006-04-11T14:18:54Z")
I’m guessing that you consider “Civil Disobedience”, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” primary sources? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/17 "2006-04-11T14:21:27Z")
“A People’s History of the United States,” Howard Zinn. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/18 "2006-04-11T14:21:29Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I’m guessing that you consider “Civil Disobedience”, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” primary sources? No. I actually think that they make pretty good additions to the list. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/19 "2006-04-11T14:22:15Z")
_The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America,_ by John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge – [url6http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008EH6LE/sr=1-1/qid=1144763972/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books] Very comprehensive and insightful account about gradual the rise of the conservative movement to power from the 1964 Goldwater campaign to the present. The authors are British, giving them a fresh outsider’s perspective. _The World Turned Right Side Up: A History of the Conservative Ascendancy in America,_ by Jeffrey Hodgson – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395822939/sr=1-1/qid=1144764115/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/002-6905602-3394450?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395822939/sr=1-1/qid=1144764115/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) Goes back further, to Rand and Buckley and Russell Kirk in the '50s. _The Emerging Democratic Majority_ by John B. Judis and Ray Teixeira – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743254783/sr=1-1/qid=1144764738/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/002-6905602-3394450?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743254783/sr=1-1/qid=1144764738/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) Rather dry but very detailed demographic analysis of voting patterns shows why the authors expect Democrats to dominate the coming decade in American politics. _Spoiling for a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America,_ by Micah Sifry – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415931428/sr=1-2/qid=1144765047/ref=pd\_bbs\_2/002-6905602-3394450?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415931428/sr=1-2/qid=1144765047/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) Focuses in third-party movements in the past 10-20 years. Includes the whole story of the Reform Party’s rise and fall. From the left end: _The Collapse of Liberalism: Why America Needs a New Left,_ by Charles Noble – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0742527573/sr=8-1/qid=1144763741/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/002-6905602-3394450?\_encoding=UTF8](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0742527573/sr=8-1/qid=1144763741/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8) _The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left,_ by James Weinstein – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007UDZ2S/sr=1-1/qid=1144763894/ref=pd\_bbs\_1/002-6905602-3394450?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007UDZ2S/sr=1-1/qid=1144763894/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6905602-3394450?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132/20 "2006-04-11T14:59:52Z")
_The Making of the President, 1960_, by Theodore White. Informative for the story itself and also for the attitude of the author. It’s classic 50s-style inside journalism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canon-of-american-political-books/352132.md?page=2)