As this is being written the 2020 Presidential election is less than two weeks away. All Presidential elections are important, of course, but for many voting Americans, liberal and conservative, it seems as though more than usual is riding on this election. Needless to say, the right to vote has never seemed more precious.

The Library's collection has many books for those looking for some context regarding the U.S. electoral process, presidential campaigns, voting rights and the efforts to suppress them, election corruption, suffrage movements, and more. Contemporary observations and analysis, embedded investigative journalism, inside scoops, historical treatments, and prognostication are represented. The reading list below includes only a very small portion of what the Library holds in its collection. To see more, try browsing our online catalog using the following subject headings: Voting -- United States; Elections -- United States; Democracy -- United States; Political Campaigns -- United States; Presidents -- United States -- Election (subdivided by election years); Political Campaigns -- United States; Elections -- Corrupt practices -- United States; Campaign debates -- United States; Campaign Funds. Don't forget to explore linked subject headings in the catalog records, and always remember to check what is on the shelf next to the book you were looking for. You never know what you might find. Most importantly, remember to put the book down and go vote on November 3rd. 

Below the reading list, you will find responses to the one question survey in our October e-newsletters: "What's your favorite U.S. president-related book? Biography, letters, reportage - all welcome."

• The First Presidential Contest: 1796 And The Founding Of American Democracy | Jeffrey L. Pasley
• The First Modern Campaign: Kennedy, Nixon, And The Election Of 1960 | Gary A. Donaldson
• American Political Parties And Elections: A Very Short Introduction | Louis Sandy Maisel
• Running On Race: Racial Politics In Presidential Campaigns, 1960-2000 | Jeremy D. Mayer
• Buying The Vote: A History Of Campaign Finance Reform | Robert E. Mutch
• Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail Risky Business on the Campaign Trail | Alan Schroeder
• Attack Politics: Negativity In Presidential Campaigns Since 1960 | Emmett H. Buell Jr. and Lee Sigelman
• Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, The Supreme Court, And The Distortion of American Elections | Richard L. Hasen
• Will He Go?: Trump And The Looming Election Meltdown In 2020 | Lawrence Douglas
• Meddling In The Ballot Box: The Causes And Effects Of Partisan Electoral Interventions | Dov H. Levin
• Dollarocracy: How The Money-And-Media Election Complex Is Destroying America | John Nichols And Robert W. Mcchesney
• Rigged: America, Russia, And One Hundred Years Of Covert Electoral Interference | David Shimer
• Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle For Voting Rights In America | Ari Berman
• Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act And The Transformation Of American Democracy | Gary May
• Let The People Pick The President: The Case For Abolishing The Electoral College | Jesse Wegman
• Campaigns And Elections: What Everyone Needs To Know | Dennis W. Johnson
• Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, And The Fight For A Fair America | Stacey Abrams
• Blackballed: The Black Vote And US Democracy | Darryl Pinckney
• Gaming The Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (And What We Can Do About It) | William Poundstone
• The Embattled Vote In America: From The Founding To The Present | Allan J. Lichtman
• The First Liberty; A History Of The Right To Vote In America,1619-1850 | Marchette Chute
• The Right To Vote: The Contested History Of Democracy In The United States | Alexander Keyssar
• One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy | Carol Anderson
• What You Need To Know About Voting & Why | Kim Wehle
• Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won The Vote, And Insisted On Equality For All | Martha S. Jones
• Fighting Chance: The Struggle Over Woman Suffrage And Black Suffrage In Reconstruction America | Faye E. Dudden

The Women's Suffrage Movement

2020 marks the centennial of women gaining their right to vote in the United States. The list below includes some recent books on the heroic struggle. To see more, try the following subject headings: Suffragists -- United States -- History; Suffragists -- United States -- Biography; Women -- Suffrage -- United States.

• American Women's Suffrage: Voices From The Long Struggle For The Vote 1776-1965 | Susan Ware, Editor (2020 Library Of America Collection)
• Suffrage: Women's Long Battle For The Vote | Ellen Carol Dubois
• Votes For Women!: A Portrait Of Persistence | Kate Clarke Lemay
• The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight To Win The Vote | Elaine Weiss
• Why They Marched: Untold Stories Of The Women Who Fought For The Right To Vote | Susan Ware
• The Women's Suffrage Movement | edited with an introduction by Sally Roesch Wagner
• The Suffragents: How Women Used Men To Get The Vote | Brooke Kroeger
• Suffrage And The City: New York Women Battle For The Ballot | Lauren C. Santangelo

Library Members' Favorite Presidential Books

In our October newsletters, we asked members "What's your favorite U.S. president-related book? Biography, letters, reportage - all welcome." Here are the results. To read more about U.S. Presidents and the books they read, the books they wrote, the books about them, and more, take a look at this 2018 Presidents' Day blog post. 

Fiction

• Advise and Consent: A Novel of Washington Politics | Allen Drury (mentioned by two members)
• U.S.A. | John Dos Passos 
• Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics | Anonymous 

Overviews

• Grover Cleveland, Again!: A Treasury of American Presidents | Ken Burns with David Blistein and Cauley Powell (children's book)
• The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels | Jon Meacham 
• What It Takes: The Way to the White House | Richard Ben Cramer 

In chronological order by administration

• George Washington’s Teeth | Deborah Chandra, Madeleine Comora, and Brock Cole (children's book)
• Washington’s Crossing | David Hackett Fischer  (mentioned by two members)
• John Adams | David McCullough (audiobook available) (mentioned by five members)
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln | Doris Kearns Goodwin (five mentions)
• Grant | Ron Chernow (ebook available) (two votes) 
• The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant complete annotated edition | Ulysses S. Grant (other editions available) (two votes)
• Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President | Candice Millard (about James Garfield)
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and its sequels | Edmund Morris  (three votes)
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey | Candice Millard (two votes)
• Mornings on Horseback | David McCullough (about Theodore Roosevelt)
• No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II | Doris Kearns Goodwin (five votes)
• Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage | Hazel Rowley (recording of 2011 author event at NYSL)
• Eleanor and Franklin | Joseph P. Lash
• Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour | Lynne Olson (involves the FDR administration)
• Truman | David McCullough
• The Years of Lyndon Johnson | Robert A. Caro (also available as ebooks and audiobooks) (four votes)
• A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told By Those Who Know Him | Michael Takiff 
• Whatever It Takes: The Real Struggle for Political Power in America | Elizabeth Drew (about Bill Clinton)
• Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance | Barack Obama 
• Rage | Bob Woodward (ebook) (two votes) (about Donald Trump)