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America's Best Political Memoirs

Sarah Palin hasn't got anything on Ulysses S. Grant

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 19, 2009 4:38 PM CST
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(Newser) – With Going Rogue flying off the shelves, Time looks back on the best political memoirs ever, including:

  • Ulysses S. Grant—The first presidential memoir to take the nation by storm, Grant finished his book just days before he died, and loaded it with thoughtful reflections and Civil War action.

  • Richard Clarke—Bush’s former counterterrorism adviser’s bestselling 2004 book Against All Enemies was packed with damning accusations against his ex-boss, including his eagerness to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11.
  • Barack Obama—Okay, so he wasn’t in politics when he wrote Dreams from My Father. But it laid the foundation for his career, and no less than Toni Morrison praised its “big, strong, artful sentences.”
  • Dwight Eisenhower—His last memoir, At Ease: Stories I Tell To Friends was a lively collection of colorful anecdotes that drew a great portrait of the popular hero.
  • John McCain—Faith of Our Fathers cemented his (somewhat reluctant) war hero image, and became a best-seller and even a made-for-TV movie.
For more, click here.

The cover of Dreams From My Father, Barack Obama's pre-political memoir.
The cover of "Dreams From My Father," Barack Obama's pre-political memoir.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
The personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, Union general and later the eighteenth President of the United States.
The personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, Union general and later the eighteenth President of the United States.   (Getty Images)
Ulysses S. Grant, in his official White House portrait.
Ulysses S. Grant, in his official White House portrait.   (Wikimedia Commons)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
ronimaca
Nov 20, 2009 12:58 PM CST
ditto ditto ditto
ronimaca
Nov 20, 2009 12:57 PM CST
can you post anything that does not include hatred for our President?
ronimaca
Nov 20, 2009 12:56 PM CST
US Grant retired to NYC and actually wrote it himself, no ghost writer for him.

 
Barack Obama • memoir • autobiography • Richard Clarke • Ulysses Grant • Dwight Eisenhower • Sarah Palin Going Rogue

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