Favorite Political Books and Biographies

We are only a pebble throw away from 2008, and if you want high political drama, all you need to do is read the newspaper. But if you are just catching the political bug, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the politics of both the distant and recent past. Here are a few great political reads to prime you for 2008...

1) The Making of the President: 1960, By Theodore H. White. This is one of my favorite books of all time. To understand the primary system we have today, you have to go back to John F. Kennedy's historic run for the Democratic nomination and how he was inspired to seek the nomination through the primaries. Furthermore, the race between Kennedy and Nixon has modern resonance because of the important technological and demographic changes occuring at the time. The thing I loved most about this book is the way that White describes his characters--you truly hear the voice of a 1960's "newsman" as he describes the virtues and flaws of the candidates and describes the humor and intellect of the "Kennedy Brain Trust." It has been twelve years since I read this book, but I plan to dust it off this coming year.

2) First in His Class, by David Maraniss. It's a funny thing how one book can lead you to another. I was reading this book in high school and it mentioned a young Bill Clinton reading "The Making of the President: 1960." Sometime later I was browsing the bargain book table at the library and found "The Making of..." sitting there. I bought it, read it and still own that copy.

"First in His Class" is a rich, well-researched biography of the pre-presidential years of Bill Clinton. While officially "unauthorized", this book is the product of many interviews with associates of Bill Clinton and is quite even-handed. It talks about Clinton's student elections in Arkansas and at Georgetown, his dating Hillary Rodham, his time at Oxford and Yale, his unsuccessful run for Congress, travels and more. Reading this book gave me the sense of thinking I know what makes Bill Clinton tick.

3) All Too Human, by George Stephanopoulos. What a read! I remember when this book came out and some journalists were asking if it was too personal and unfair to the Clintons. I did not feel that way at all. Stephanopoulos not only shows the "human" side of the Clintons but also his own human side, including the enormous stress he bore and the sense he conveys that there were times when he felt out of his league.

4) Kennedy and Nixon, by Chris Matthews. I have never had anything against Chris Matthews, but before reading this book, I assumed you could not be a pundit and a historian at the same time. Matthews' thesis is that Nixon's old rivalry (and never ending paranoia) with the Kennedys shaped his actions all the way through Watergate. Even after Chappaquiddick, Nixon thought that Ted Kennedy might rob him of a second term, and this paranoia was apparently part of what drove him to some of his Watergate sins.

5) The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940 by William Manchester. Speaking of Chris Matthews (and being led to books by reading books), it was in "Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think", that Matthews recommended William Manchester as a great American biographer of Sir Winson Churchill. I read "Alone" just after reading Manchester's biography of Churchill's youth ("Visions of Glory") and could not put the book down. This book is about the years when Winston Churchill was a political pariah, but would not stop warning Britain about the Nazi menace. It is the true story of political courage.

6) Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, by Chris Matthews. Ah, what the heck. I'll throw this one in too. There are many great lessons in this book, but the most salient one is a line that goes something like this: The person who is going to win the presidency is going to be the man with the sun in his face. With Hillary Clinton a major (perhaps the major) contender in 2008, I would like to say that the winner will likely be the man or woman with the sun in his or her face. Matthews is talking about optimism and how winning presidents have always made America feel good about ourselves and them. Strident activists in both parties are usually angry about something or they wouldn't be involved. But the Commander-in-Chief will actually have to stop fighting "city hall" and run it the day he or she is elected. That is why anger-fueled movements can only vault a candidate so far--and probably not to a general election win. I think Obama has the sun in his face and Romney has glints of it too. If Hillary can somehow project the suny optimism that her husband has mastered, I think her chances would improve dramatically.

7) Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I confess, I just started reading this but I am being held in rapt attention. Goodwin makes a departure from earlier Lincoln biographies to also biographize Lincoln's greatest rivals--men who he included in his inner circle because of both his shrewdness and humility. The nation was blessed because of the actions of Abraham Lincoln. What more can I say? Abraham Lincoln: what a man!

8) Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War, by Peter Stothard. A fascinating read about a man trying to get his party and countrymen to move in a direction that many of them don't want to go. This books is about Tony Blair during the run-up to the Iraq War, told by a British journalist.

9) Big Russ & Me, by Tim Russert. This is ostensibly a book about a father and a son, but is really a book about influential figures in Tim Russerts life--and primarily his dad of course. It is also a book about the events and ideas that influenced a young Russert, a man who grew up in a working-class household and who now holds tremendous political clout himself. In this book are a lot of great anecdotes about people like Daniel Patrick Moynihan and other mentors of Russert--most of whom exhibited great wisdom about life or politics.

10) The Choice, by Bob Woodward. I know, you are w0ndering what a book about the 1996 Presidential race has to offer today (I mean, wasn't 1996 about a millinium of dog years ago?). In all seriousness, you can learn a lot about the upcoming presidential race by reading about any one of them from the past. You realize that the same gaffes (like, oops, I guess so and so didn't endorse me after all) happen over and over. Also, whenever a veteran reporter follows an entire race, you begin to get a sense of the human element on both sides of the battle--not just a one-sided run down of the political laundry list.

Winston Churchill and John McCain

I am aware that many Americans (including not a few conservatives) have read and enjoyed William Manchester's "Last Lion" series on the life of Sir Winston Churchill. In them, Manchester recounts the life of Churchill, a man born during Victoria’s reign and who lived to see his own political career dashed more than once—partly because of his connection with a bygone era but also because of controversial actions that put him at odds with leaders of his own party and the electorate at large.

When I read David Brooks’ recent column on John McCain (“The Character Factor”) I found that Brooks had put into words some thoughts I have had about John McCain over the past few months—thoughts of whether McCain might be America’s Last Lion. Of course, no analogy is perfect and the things that got Churchill in trouble—his management of Gallipoli, his old-school loyalty to Edward VIII and his outdated views on India—are different from those things that have made McCain an occasional pariah—like his stand on immigration reform and his views on torture.

The differences don’t end there, but the similarities are striking nonetheless.

History will view both men as having gruff personalities and even occasional temper tantrums. Both men experienced war first hand and spent time as prisoners (although McCain's experience was far, far more lengthy and grueling). Both had a tendency to rankle the powers that be, but also had a sense of when it was time to shut up and support the man at the helm—such as in wartime. In that vein, Manchester tells a story about Churchill, who, just after the invasian of Poland, surprised a dinner guest by denouncing a family member who had cracked a joke at the expense of Prime Minister Chamberlain. Churchill’s public and unqualified show of loyalty to a man whose policies he had strongly criticized and whom he had previously told many jokes about himself, was indicative of his sense of propriety per the times. Having watched the ceaseless mockery of our own Commander-in-Chief in a time of war by the likes of David Letterman, I have wondered what we have most forgotten as a Nation—the fact that we are at war or the principles that guide men like Winston Churchill and John McCain.

The character trait historians will find in both Churchill and McCain—a trait that was waning in the 20th Century and that is arguably near extinct now was described by David Brooks as "ancient honor." What is ancient honor? Well, it’s hard to explain, but I’ll give you an example. When McCain was a POW in North Vietnam—wounded and subject to extreme mistreatment–he was offered to go home because of the status of his father, a top Admiral in the U.S. Navy. McCain refused special treatment and spent over five years as a POW. Knowing what I know about John McCain, I have more than a hunch that he never would have shook hands with Mr. Ahmadinejad as did 15 Royal Navy personnel earlier this year—an act that surely had Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill turning in their graves. While I don’t doubt that a week of captivity, being blindfolded and hearing guns cocked would rattle many, I sense that Western Civilization has grown to believe that anything is better than even the threat of pain. But that is where John McCain is different from most of us.

At the core of “ancient honor” is the notion that deprivation and even death are not as frightening as absconding one's principles. Maybe that is why McCain--who has actually stared death and torture in the face--has been a gadfly on the torture issue. Perhaps to him, America's honor at times even trumps its safety. But this is not to say McCain is weak, for of all the presidential candidates, only McCain has vowed to follow Osama bin Laden to the Gates of Hell. Just as Churchill was born to face the greatest madman of his generation, perhaps McCain is the one who born to face the modern menace of terrorism. I am confident that if there is one person in America who has the proverbial stiff upper lip, who is not in the slightest frightened by Osama bin Laden, and who is not rattled by Islamist threats, it is the Arizonan John McCain.

Churchill was considered an over the hill relic whose time had passed years before he led Britain through its finest hour. Similarly, we hear numskulls ask if Senator McCain is too old to be President. I am not sure whether to laugh or weep when I hear that question. My only response is that Senator McCain is neither overqualified nor over experienced for the job he seeks; rather he is indisputably the one candidate that has more experience for being Commander-in-Chief than any other.

Folks can fret over immigration (I fret over it myself), but the problem only gets worse while the diehards on both sides refuse to compromise. Senator McCain (unlike Churchill on India) may actually see the writing on the wall and realize that there will be no improvement in this mess until all sides realize they will never get exactly what they want.

Ultimately, it is McCain's honor and peculiar traits that intrigue me in these troubled times. Admittedly, a different candidate is my favorite, but for the past few months I have not been able to shake the image of two extraordinary men who seemed to have been groomed for extraordinary times: Winston Churchill and John McCain.

Will these thoughts change my vote? It’s a possibility.