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Author Topic: Best Political Biographies/Autobiographies  (Read 3394 times)
State Comptroller Atkins
Obamaisdabest
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« on: August 03, 2010, 01:27:03 pm »
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I've read about half of Bill Clinton's My Life and it's pretty good. Any others that you recommend?
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feeblepizza
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« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2010, 11:30:44 pm »
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Definitely read Nixonland by Rick Perlstein. It's about America from 1965-1972, and the chaotic period that ended Nixon being elected POTUS
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Senator Ben
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« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2010, 12:09:25 am »
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Read Caro's books on LBJ.  There is nothing better.
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Quote from: The Mikado on March 18, 2011, 11:12:39 pm
Obama High's debate team:

"Now let me be clear...I...I...um...uh...now let me be clear.  I strongly condemn the affirmative in the strongest possible terms, and I am closely monitoring their arguments.  Let me be clear on this."
Hashemite
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« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2010, 08:42:17 am »
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FHC's book/memoirs are really good and Richard Bourne's bio of Lula is clearly top-notch.
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20:12   oakvale   Taylor Swift's 22 was originally titled 75 in reference to her ex Flanby's proposed tax rate

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20:49   Snowstalker   yes, but i'm the kind of fascist who would have backed the allies
20:57   Snowstalker   sadly, it's a legitimate ideology tarnished by the incompetent mussolini and the vile hitler
Χahar
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« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2010, 12:34:31 am »
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Quote from: Secretary of External Affairs Ben on October 16, 2010, 12:09:25 am
Read Caro's books on LBJ.  There is nothing better.

This is correct.
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Quote from: Sibboleth on February 28, 2009, 04:08:37 pm
I'm not sure if this new tendency to appeal to the apparent inherent evil of Xahar in all things even remotely related to forum policing or this damn game is especially helpful.
The Mikado
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« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2010, 03:10:26 pm »
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Seconding Xahar/Ben on Caro, and I'd also like to suggest A Conspiracy So Immense by David Oshinsky, an INCREDIBLE bio of Joseph McCarthy.
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Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
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« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2010, 05:35:39 pm »
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I've been busy lately, but I've been trying to read Robert Kennedy: His Life by Evan Thomas and I've been liking it so far.
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http://theasianconservative.blogspot.com/
CathKhan
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« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2010, 06:07:10 pm »
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Quote from: feeblepizza on October 15, 2010, 11:30:44 pm
Definitely read Nixonland by Rick Perlstein. It's about America from 1965-1972, and the chaotic period that ended Nixon being elected POTUS

Good book, though I've only read about three chapters of it, including number 4, which was the Reagan one. It seemed kind of biased, though.
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Quote from: Comrade Shmoo on May 09, 2013, 05:55:25 pm
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Quote from: OAM on May 15, 2013, 09:18:21 pm
God (R-MI).

2000 GE: Wellstone vs. Cain vs. Nader vs. Ventura
CathKhan
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« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2010, 02:46:32 pm »
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"Right from the Beginning" by Patrick J Buchanan, the book from before he went nuts.

It was actually pretty good. It explored what Conservatives were thinking during the sixties with things such as Vietnam and the Civil rights movement.
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Quote from: Comrade Shmoo on May 09, 2013, 05:55:25 pm
You are God.

Quote from: OAM on May 15, 2013, 09:18:21 pm
God (R-MI).

2000 GE: Wellstone vs. Cain vs. Nader vs. Ventura
Senator Ben
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« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2010, 09:23:34 pm »
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Team of Rivals is absolutely incredible.  I now feel ashamed it took me 5 years to get around to reading it.
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Quote from: The Mikado on March 18, 2011, 11:12:39 pm
Obama High's debate team:

"Now let me be clear...I...I...um...uh...now let me be clear.  I strongly condemn the affirmative in the strongest possible terms, and I am closely monitoring their arguments.  Let me be clear on this."
ViaActiva
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« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2012, 05:54:27 am »
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Team of Rivals
Friends and Rivals: Healey, Crosland and Jenkins (Giles Radice)
Harold Wilson (Ben Pimlott)
Hugh Gaitskell (Brian Brivati)
Ian Macleod (Robert Shepherd)
Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan (D. Thorpe)
Gladstone (Roy Jenkins)
Disraeli (Robert Blake)
John F. Kennedy (Robert Dallek)
Robert F. Kennedy (Arthur Schlesinger)
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"I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown." - Woody Allen
norain
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« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2012, 02:15:17 pm »
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Ele Alenius : Hidden paths - An autobiograpgy
An autobiography of a Finnish author, union man and socialist politician.
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Јas
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« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2012, 07:15:29 am »
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I don't read much in this category, but I did enjoy Chris Mullins's View from the Foothills.
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Funny 'cause it's true:
Quote from: Gustaf on April 03, 2007, 08:54:07 am
Very few people seriously allow facts to affect their opinions.

Χahar
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« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2012, 10:29:34 am »
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I found RFK by Dick Schaap in the library a few years ago. I was struck by its being written by a sportswriter, so I decided to get it. It's picture-heavy and very odd, almost hagiographic, and written right before Kennedy died. It's like a window into a bygone world.
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Quote from: Sibboleth on February 28, 2009, 04:08:37 pm
I'm not sure if this new tendency to appeal to the apparent inherent evil of Xahar in all things even remotely related to forum policing or this damn game is especially helpful.
DemPGH, Atty. Gen.
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« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2012, 02:08:36 pm »
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Actually, from what I've read, U.S. Grant's Memoirs are very well done, informative, and with wry humor. Good writer, and it's amazing that he basically wrote it while dying. Interesting and complex person was Grant.
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Political Matrix:
Economic: -6.06
Social / Cultural: -8.17
CathKhan
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« Reply #15 on: December 03, 2012, 02:21:00 pm »
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Having read both of Perlstein's books, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus and Nixonland: The Making of a President and the Fracturing of America, I endorse both of them as excellent books and more importantly entertaining (for someone like me) books.
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Quote from: Comrade Shmoo on May 09, 2013, 05:55:25 pm
You are God.

Quote from: OAM on May 15, 2013, 09:18:21 pm
God (R-MI).

2000 GE: Wellstone vs. Cain vs. Nader vs. Ventura
Lasitten
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« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2013, 05:12:35 pm »
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Quote from: norain on September 22, 2012, 02:15:17 pm
Ele Alenius : Hidden paths - An autobiography
An autobiography of a Finnish author, union man and socialist politician.

I really much enjoyed reading this. Especially about the ears when Alenius was leader of the SKDL.
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“SIEG HAIL! …Oops, I slipped. I’m drunk.”
traininthedistance
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« Reply #17 on: February 19, 2013, 09:53:29 pm »
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Economic: -4.00
Social: -6.26
TNF
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« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2013, 10:02:20 pm »
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FDR by Jean Edward Smith is probably the best biography on Roosevelt, though The Defining Moment by Jonathan Alter isn't bad. I haven't finished Conrad Black's massive tome on the subject either, so I'll reserve judgment on that one.

Truman by McCullough is an absolute classic.

Nixonland is really good, too.
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Gambling man rolls the dice, working man pays the bills
It's still fat and easy up on bankers hill
Up on bankers hill the party's going strong
Down here below we're shackled and drawn
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