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Pirates of Liberty

By Dorothy Anne Seese

 

Political USA Political Columnists
Kirsten Andersen

Brent Barksdale
Paul Conroy
Joe Giardiello

Mario Giardiello

Scott Gillette

Marc Levin
Rachel Marsden
Tom McClintock
Dorothy Seese
Debbie Schlussel

Dr. Jack Wheeler

Hans Zeiger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Biographies
                                  
The Political Bookstore presents the biographies of some of the most intriguing lives from the present day and from history.  You'll find books about U.S. and world leaders.  Those holding power and those that held power.  And those in the thick of modern politics and those on the outside looking in.   


Click on the book cover for reviews, pricing, and to order!

 

With its gripping tale of a privileged ugly duckling turned socially conscious swan with the help of strong female friends -- many of whom were lesbians and one of whom was probably her lover -- the first volume of Blanche Wiesen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt won awards and made headlines. That book followed its subject from her birth in 1884 through her husband Franklin's election to the presidency in 1933. Volume 2, which chronicles Roosevelt's first six years as America's most controversial first lady (Hillary Clinton doesn't even come close), maps her contributions to the New Deal, which Cook convincingly argues was primarily the fulfillment of a political agenda promoted by female reformers as early as 1912. Eleanor's turbulent relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok gets more space here than it probably deserves, and the story isn't as inherently exciting as the first volume's drama of a woman's coming of age.  Nonetheless, Cook's subtle analyses of everything from Roosevelt's exceedingly complex marriage to her role as warm-up act for the New Deal's most radical programs are bracingly intelligent, her evocation of a remarkable personality rivetingly vivid. Eleanor emerges as neither the liberals' saint nor the conservatives' Satan, but an entirely human bundle of contradictions:  warm-hearted, yet ice-cold when hurt; happiest in the public arena, yet needing the comfort of private relationships.   --Wendy Smith

Also by Cook: 
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1933 (Vol 1)

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Eleanor Roosevelt 1933-38 (Vol 2)
by Blanche Wiesen Cook

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The First Partner Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Biography

by Joyce Milton

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In 1998, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the most admired woman in America while also becoming the most visibly wronged wife in the world. Standing by her husband, President Bill Clinton, as she and the nation learned the truth behind the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the First Lady assumed two roles--dutiful spouse and passionate defense attorney--which she had played on numerous occasions during the course of their tumultuous yet politically unified relationship.

Now esteemed biographer and journalist Joyce Milton examines this formidable, fascinating woman, giving probing insight into the First Lady's character, her values and her career. In The First Partner, Milton goes behind the scenes at the Clinton White House and explores the First Lady's involvement in Travelgate, Filegate, the Health Care Task Force fiasco and fund-raising for the 1996 presidential campaign, showing how these controversies grew out of the tensions in  political partnership with Bill Clinton. Milton also describes how Mrs. Clinton's defensive reactions to her husband's chronic infidelities have often misfired and have sometimes enabled his bad behavior. She examines the differing psychologies of the President and First Lady, yet shows that when faced with political accusations, they take a similar approach of telling only as much of the truth as is necessary--a reaction that has increasingly gotten them into trouble.

 

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Bill and Hillary:  The Marriage
by Christopher Andersen

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Dutch, A Memoir of Ronald Reagan
by Edmund Morris

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Churchill
by Martin Gilbert


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Worth Fighting For
by Dan Quayle

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In this enlightening new look at one of our most successful, most popular, and least understood presidents, bestselling author and former Reagan aide Dinesh D'Souza shows how this "ordinary" man was able to transform the political landscape in a way that made a permanent impact on America and the world. Ronald Reagan is a thoughtful and honest assessment of how this under- estimated president became a truly extraordinary leader.

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Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader
by Dinesh D'Souza

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Also by D'Souza:
The End of Racism: Principles for a Multiracial Society

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The Roosevelt Women
by Betty Boyd Caroli

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First Ladies Eleanor and Edith are both subjects of full biographies, and Theodore's daughter Alice Roosevelt Long- worth is legendary for her caustic wit. In this book, historian Betty Boyd Caroli looks at seven additional Roosevelt women and notes some intriguing similarities despite the political differences that divided "Theodores" (Republicans like Corinne Roosevelt Robinson) and "Franklins" (Democrats such as Sara Delano Roosevelt).

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The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin: A Novel
by Richard Lourie

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Betty Friedan: Her Life
by Judith Adler Hennessee

 

A sympathetic oral history of the Republican president who
revitalized American conservatism, follows a pair of similar books by the Strobers on JFK and Nixon.  For this volume, the authors interviewed 108 political insiders and others who knew their subject well, with everybody's insider perspective -  from George Bush and Jordan's King Hussein down to the
family astrologer, Joan Quigley--taken at face value. While the book does offer important insights on the 40th president's character and management style, and juicy first-person accounts such as Gerald Ford's take on the failed negotiations to have him join Reagan's ticket as a virtual "co-president," it is by no means a comprehensive history of the Reagan administration.
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Reagan: The Man and His Presidency
by Deborah Hart Strober

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Harp Song for a Radical: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs
by Marguerite Young

The epic life and times of the great labor leader, Eugene Victor Debs, is lyrically profiled by the author of "Miss Macintosh, My Darling".

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It's possible William Knowland, an introvert seemingly unsuited for the glad-handing necessary of a politician, had a greater impact on the nation than any other Californian with the notable exception of Ronald Reagan.  As the Senate Majority Leader in the 1950's, Knowland helped steer the nation through the early days of the Cold War.  He was the key figure in having Earl Warren appointed to the Supreme Court.  And his defeat in the 1958 Gubernatorial race, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to the White House, cleared the path for his party rival, Richard Nixon.  Yet this book is about more than a political life.  It is about the triumphs and failures of a prominent publishing family and the eventual demise of its most prominent member. 0520211944_knowland_bf8.gif (3630 bytes)

One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F.
Knowland
by Gayle B. Montgomery

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The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House
by Douglas Brinkley

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Paperback also available

Many Americans admire Carter for his work building homes in the United States with the group Habitat for Humanity, but the 39th president is known and respected throughout the world for attempting to negotiate peace in trouble spots such as Haiti, North Korea, and the Middle East.  "Carter," writes Douglas Brinkley, "has become a true citizen of the world." Noteworthy sections of this unauthorized biography  include the story of how Carter worked relentlessly to undermine President Bush in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, as well as Carter's difficult relations with President Clinton. Also, Brinkley appreciates, and treats seriously, Carter's religious faith in a way many previous analysts have not.  An excellent portrait of a complicated man. --John J. Miller

 

The Washington Post Book World, James G. Blight-   Bird has written a balanced, highly original extended essay in which he shows considerable empathy with the Bundy brothers, whom he admits he passionately despised as a college student during the war. One senses that this book began as an indictment. But having gotten deeply inside the brothers' milieu -- wealthy, Anglophile, Boston Brahmin, Groton, Yale, public service--in the end, Bird depicts them with nuance and sympathy.

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The Color of Truth: McGeorge & William Bundy
by Kai Bird

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See by William Bundy:
Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency

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Seasons of Her Life: A Biography of Madeline Albright
by Ann Blackman

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Through a peripatetic childhood, marriage and divorce, and the increasing demands of her work as a Ph.D. candidate, professor, and United States ambassador to the United Nations, Albright is revealed to be driven and demanding, a savvy diplomat who has forged relationships with world leaders and with a small, sustaining group of powerful American women. Extensively researched and enlivened by anecdote, it is a fascinating study of a very unusual and dynamic woman's rise to power. --Maria Dolan

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Conservatives in the United States frequently celebrate the Reagan revolution in the 1980s. Yet, as Lee Edwards shows in this definitive biography, Reagan might never have made it to the White House if Barry Goldwater had not won the Republican nomination for president in 1964. Goldwater lost to President Johnson by a wide margin that year, but he fundamentally reshaped the GOP in the process.   The scrappy Arizona senator is best known for his raw, Western-style conservatism that featured strong libertarian  leanings and a devil - may - care wit. When he retired after serving six terms, Washington, D.C., suddenly became a less interesting place. Edwards writes as a sympathizer, but also offers a nuanced understanding of the man who famously declared, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.... Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!" 0895264307_Goldwater_bf32.gif (5480 bytes)

Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution
by Lee Edwards

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A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan
by Robert W. Cherny

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William Jennings Bryan is one of the most influential "failures" of American politics: a three-time
Democratic nominee for president who, although he never won the office, transformed his party into
an institution "pledged," in biographer Robert W. Cherny's words, "to use the power of government on behalf of those displaced and disadvantaged by the advance of industrialization and the emergence of corporate behemoths." Although he is best remembered for two events--his electrifying "cross of gold" speech at the 1896 Democratic convention and his work for the prosecution in the Scopes trial of 1925--his career was extremely rich in incident. Cherny draws amply upon Bryan's own writings and correspondence to produce a portrait of the lifelong political crusader that, while comparatively short in length, offers a substantial evaluation of his legacy.

 

Pat Schroeder's memoir of 24 years in politics is so enthusiastic it is easy to forget how difficult her work must have been. She was Colorado's first congresswoman and one of only 14 female representatives to the House when she was elected in 1972. "The women in Congress had to wage virtually every battle alone," she remembers of those early years, "whether we were fighting for female pages (there were none) or a place where we could pee."

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24 Years of House Work...and the Place is Still a Mess
by Patricia Schroeder

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Ol' Strom: The Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond
by Jack Bass and Marilyn Thompson

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The name Strom Thurmond conjures up strong feelings in every American soul with an interest in politics. A larger - than - life, bold and colorful rogue, Strom Thurmond at 95 is the nation's oldest and longest serving senator.   Expert biographers spin the always fascinating, and sometimes shocking, role that Thurmond has played in shaping the politics of this time.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer, Steve Suitts - "...a simple, fascinating chronicle of the South's modern freedom movement and its aftermath--a wise, moving, and personal account that stirs with unusual honesty and directness.... Through the pages of Walking With the Wind, John Lewis passes before contemporary America not as a living saint, but even better, as living proof that the noble ideals of nonviolence and interracial democracy are within the human power of most of us to realize."

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Walking With
the Wind:
A Memoir of
the Movement
by John Lewis

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Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography
of Nelson
Mandela
by Nelson Mandela

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Begun during Mandela's 27 years behind bars, this acclaimed autobiography reveals the dramatic human story of a great moral leader. From Mandela's traditional tribal childhood to his triumphant release from prison and rise to power, this book takes readers inside "one of the most remarkable lives of the twentieth century"

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The long-awaited second volume of the best Churchill biography reveals the true portrait of this ambitious world leader. Discussion centers on the alarm he sounded about the terrible plot being hatched inside Hitler's deranged mind.

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The Last Lion
by William Manchester

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Also by Manchester:
The Last Lion
(Vol 1): Visions of Glory

 

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Winston and
Clementine:
The Personal Letters
of the Churchills

by Winston Churchill

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"WINSTON AND CLEMENTINE is a fascinating view into the public and private life of one of this century's defining figures. It is also a deeply moving love story that spanned more than a half century. Churchill's beloved "Clemmie" deserves a place in history next to his own."

-- Dr. Henry Kissinger

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World Policy Journal editor James Chace has produced a balanced, intricate portrait of Secretary of State Dean Acheson, one of the chief architects of America's foreign policy in the mid - 20th century.  Harry Truman rewarded Acheson with the offer of secretary of state, a position he took with some initial reluc- tance, protesting that he was not adequate to the requirements of the job at such a critical junc- ture in history. He proved himself wrong with his decisive role in the shaping of the Tru- man Doctrine and the NATO alliance, averting war with the Soviet bloc on the European front.

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Acheson
by James Chace

 

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Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy
by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

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From the private journals of Robert F. Kennedy come words that spark the imagination and touch the heart, accompanied by photos, some previously unpublished, of both the public and private Kennedy. The late senator's son, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, opens his father's journals to offer readers the quintessence of his thought.

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