9 Books about American Elections Throughout History
From CNN’s Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, the fast-paced story of the extraordinary election that led to hundreds of murders, warfare in the streets of New Orleans, two governors of Louisiana—and changed the course of politics in our country.
With an election rapidly approaching in the United States, we often hear “unprecedented” thrown around. When you read the history of American elections, you can see murmurs of “unprecedented” throughout the decades, from local council elections to presidential elections. “Unprecedented” can apply to a variety of different things, but in recent years, it usually applies to unexpected candidates making headway in the top political offices. In addition to these personalities, the history of American elections reveals how American politics are obsessed with image and why politics have such a sports-like attitude. The elections that historians write about always have fascinating moments within them — the deeper you go, the more you’ll find in books about American elections throughout history.
The particular strangeness of American elections has really developed in tandem with the advent of cable news. Newspaper journalism and television punditry both work on 24-hour cycles these days, and every major political event gets constant live updates. Some books on this list come from political journalists who had close access to candidates, while others are from historians taking a long view approach to the history of the election. In setting the stage for the current “unprecedented” American election, there are multiple books that resonate with contemporary issues, and these are great places to start to contextualize our current political moment.
Accounts of Presidential Elections
Jefferson’s Second Revolution: The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism by Susan Dunn
1800 was a watershed election for the United States, because the still-recently formed political parties were jockeying for power. Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans pushed against the Federalist incumbent John Adams, and because Jefferson tied with Aaron Burr in a number of electorate votes, a major constitutional crisis ensued where the Federalist-filled Congress was tasked with confirming the win for their rival party. In the early days of American history, the future of the country was at stake, and no one knew what would happen next.
1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler—the Election amid the Storm by Susan Dunn
With the backdrop of the Nazis in full control of Germany and encroaching into other countries in Europe, this American election was deeply important, and people were divided on how to approach international politics. Democratic President Roosevelt was finishing up his second term, and in defiance of past rules, he chose to run again. His opposition was a Republican businessman named Wendell Willkie. However, both men had to contend with the popularity of the military personality Charles Lindbergh, who called for a strict America-first, isolationist approach.
The Selling of the President 1968 by Joe McGinniss
Have you ever seen footage of Nixon being awkward and thought, “Really, this guy?” This book helps contend with how Nixon and his team sold an image over his personality. In addition to political strategists, Nixon’s team employed an advertiser named Harry Treleaven, former CBS executive Frank Shakespeare, and Roger Ailes, who went on to found Fox News. After his aggressive failure in 1960, this team repackaged and reintroduced Nixon to America as a stabilizing force that appealed to Americans who were put off by the newness of the 1960s.
Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women by Rebecca Traister
While covering the 2008 election, journalists like Rebecca Traister weren’t just covering the prospective candidates, but how race and gender were affecting all these conversations. Though Barack Obama would ultimately win, 2008 was initially thought to be a lock for Hillary Clinton. Big Girls Don’t Cry covers all of these conflicting issues and sorts through the generational differences between young and old voters, especially women.
Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History-Making Presidential Campaign by Scout Tufankjian
In 2008, photojournalist Scout Tufankjian followed and photographed Barack Obama’s entire campaign. As the first Black nominee for the Democratic party, he made waves, and Tufankjian captured many iconic moments of his out on the campaign trail. Reliving this time and the excitement that many Americans were feeling is a reminder of why his election was so exciting.
Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur
While dealing with a presidential candidate who ignored facts, Katy Tur had the excitement of being the first woman to lead her NBC News team. However, she was also covering the most unprecedented and journalist-hating candidate in recent American history. While she reported on the increasingly unsettling rallies and fact-checked all of Donald Trump’s lies, Trump called her out in front of his cultish supporters in a way meant to intimidate her.
Outside of Presidential Election Day
AOC: Fighter, Phenom, Changemaker by Prachi Gupta
Important elections occur outside of just the presidential ones in the U.S. as well. In New York in 2018, an unlikely challenger beat out a ten-term congressman with her optimism and progressive values. Her political rise captured the attention of political journalists and even late-night talk show hosts, as she represented excitement and change from youthful progressives that no one was expecting.
The Good Fight by Shirley Chisholm
This book is named after the campaign slogan for Shirley Chisholm’s first Congressional campaign. As a politician, she has always represented challenging the political establishment and working for the people. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, and in 1972, she became the first Black woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. She continued her work in Congress after that, and worked for the underdog for the rest of her career.
Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics by Cathy J. Cohen
For this book released in 2010, author Cathy J. Cohen spoke to Black Americans around the country and across class lines to find out what they were really looking for in their lives and what they want from politicians representing them moving forward, looking into how they would vote after Obama’s election. During a difficult economic moment and an exciting political one, this was a crucial book for understanding what young Black voters envisioned for the country.
If you’re interested in reading more nonfiction about politics, you can dive into political memoirs, books about understanding the US political system, and books about international politics. For fiction, you can try political satire, political thrillers, and political YA fiction.