List of political career biographies

The following is a list of political career biographies. It is meant to complement the list of political memoirs page, with the key difference being that the books in this list are authored by persons other than the book's subject. This list is sorted by country and by the political position and last name of the book's subject:

Australia

Richard Casey

Richard Casey, Baron Casey

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC was an Australian politician, diplomat and the 16th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...

: Minister for Foreign Affairs 1951 - 1960

R G Casey, Australian Foreign Minister, Collins 1972

Ben Chifley

Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...

: Prime Minister 1945 - 1949

Ben Chifley, Things Worth Fighting For, Melbourne University Press, 1952

Sir Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

: Prime Minister 1939 - 1941; 1949 - 1966

R. G. Menzies, Afternoon Light, Cassell & Co., London, 1967

Graham Richardson

Graham Frederick Richardson , a former Australian politician, was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983–94 for the Australian Labor Party, a senior minister in Hawke and Keating governments, and is now a political lobbyist, public speaker, and media commentator. During his time in politics,...

: Senator 1983 - 1994

Graham Richardson, Whatever It Takes (Bantam, 1994)

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

: Prime Minister 1972 - 1975

Gough Whitlam, The Whitlam Government, Penguin, 1985

U.S. Cabinet

Albright, Madeleine

Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...

: Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

under President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, 1997-2001

Madeleine Albright : A Twentieth-Century Odyssey (2000) by Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs, Baron Dobbs is a British Conservative politician and best-selling author.-Background:Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the son of nurseryman Eric and Eileen Dobbs. He was educated at Hertford Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford University....

Brown, Ron

Ron Brown (U.S. politician)

Ronald Harmon "Ron" Brown was the United States Secretary of Commerce, serving during the first term of President Bill Clinton. He was the first African American to hold this position...

: Secretary of Commerce

United States Secretary of Commerce

The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...

under President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

, 1993-1996

Ron Brown: An Uncommon Life (2001) by Steven A. Holmes

Byrnes, James F.

James F. Byrnes

James Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...

: Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

under President Harry Truman, 1945-1947

Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes (1994; ISBN 0-393-03367-8) by David Robertson

Connally, John

John Connally

John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...

: Secretary of the Treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

under President Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, 1971-1972

The Lone Star: The Life of John Connally (1989) by James Reston Jr.
James Reston Jr.
James Reston Jr. is an American author and journalist. His father was the American journalist James Reston.Reston was raised in Washington, D.C. He earned his BA in philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while on a Morehead Scholarship...

Dulles, John Foster

John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...

: Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...

under President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, 1953-1959

Power and Peace: The Diplomacy of John Foster Dulles (1995) by Frederick Marks
John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (1998) by Richard H. Immerman

Forrestal,James

James Forrestal

James Vincent Forrestal was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense....

: Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

under President Harry Truman, 1947-1949

Driven Patriot : The Life and Times of James Forrestal (1992) by Townsend Hoopes
Townsend Hoopes
Townsend Walter Hoopes II was an American historian, who reached the height of his career as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 1967 to 1969.-Biography:Hoopes, known as Tim, was born in Duluth, Minnesota...

Johnson, Louis

Louis A. Johnson

Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....

: Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

under President Harry Truman, 1949-1950

Louis Johnson And the Arming of America: The Roosevelt And Truman Years (2005) by Keith D. McFarland and David L. Roll

Kissinger, Henry

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

: Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

under Presidents Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

and Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

, 1973-1977

Kissinger Transcripts: The Top Secret Talks With Beijing and Moscow (1999) by William Burr
The Flawed Architect : Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy (2004) by Jussi M. Hanhimaki
The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983) by Seymour M. Hersh
Sideshow, Revised Edition : Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (2002) by William Shawcross
William Shawcross
William Hartley Hume Shawcross, CVO is a British writer and commentator.-Career:Shawcross was educated at St. Aubyns Preparatory School, Rottingdean, Eton College and University College, Oxford. He attended St. Martin's Art School to study sculpture after leaving Oxford. He worked as a journalist...
The Nixon-Kissinger Years: Reshaping of America's Foreign Policy (1989) by Richard C. Thornton

Marshall, George C.: Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

, 1947-1949, and Secretary of Defense, 1950-1951, under President Harry Truman

George C. Marshall: Statesman 1945-1959 (1987) by Forrest Pogue
Forrest Pogue
Forrest Carlisle Pogue Jr. . Forrest C. Pogue was an official United States Army historian during World War II, and attained the rank of Master Sergeant. He may well have been one of the best-educated sergeants in the U.S. Army in World War II...

McNamara, Robert

Robert McNamara

Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...

: Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

under Presidents John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

and Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

, 1961-68

Promise and Power: The Life and Times of Robert McNamara (1993) by Deborah Shapely

O'Neill, Paul: Secretary of the Treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

under President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, 2001-2002

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill (2004) by Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and best-selling author. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000 and has published the books A Hope in the Unseen, The Price of Loyalty, The One Percent Doctrine, The Way of the World and...

Rumsfeld, Donald

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

: Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense

under President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

, 2001-present

Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander (2004) by Rowan Scarborough
Rowan Scarborough
Rowan Scarborough was formerly a Washington Times reporter for nearly two decades who wrote a weekly column with fellow reporter Bill Gertz called "Inside the Ring." In February 2007, he joined the Washington Examiner as its national security correspondent...

Vance, Cyrus

Cyrus Vance

Cyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980...

: Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

under President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, 1977-1980

Cyrus Vance (19850 by David S. McLellan

U.S. Supreme Court

Blackmun, Harry

Harry Blackmun

Harold Andrew Blackmun was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. He is best known as the author of Roe v. Wade.- Early years and professional career :...

: 98th Supreme Court Justice, 1970-1994

Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey (2005; ISBN 0-8050-7791-X) by Linda Greenhouse
Linda Greenhouse
Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Senior Fellow at Yale Law School...

Marshall, Thurgood

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...

: 96th Supreme Court Justice, 1967-1991

Thurgood Marshall: Justice for All (1992; ISBN 0-88184-805-0) by Roger Goldman and David Gallen
Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall (1993; ISBN 0-316-75979-1) by Carl T. Rowan
Thurgood Marshall : American Revolutionary (2000; ISBN 0-8129-3299-4) by Juan Williams
Juan Williams
Juan Williams is an American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel, he was born in Panama on April 10, 1954. He also writes for several newspapers including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and has been published in magazines such as The Atlantic...

O'Connor, Sandra Day

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...

: 102nd Supreme Court Justice, 1981-2006

Sandra Day O'Connor : How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice (2005; ISBN 0-06-059018-1) by Joan Biskupic
Joan Biskupic
Joan Biskupic is an American journalist, author, and lawyer who has covered the United States Supreme Court since 1989. She has been the Legal Affairs Correspondent for USA Today since June 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she was the Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, and from 1989 to 1992...

Scalia, Antonin

Antonin Scalia

Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...

: 103rd Supreme Court Justice, 1986-present

Justice Antonin Scalia and the Conservative Revival (1998; ISBN 0-8018-6094-6) by Richard A. Brisbin Jr.
Scalia Dissents : Writings of the Supreme Court's Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice (2004; ISBN 0-89526-053-0) by Kevin A. Ring
Kevin A. Ring
Kevin A. Ring is a former lobbyist and Republican Congressional staffer. He was a figure in the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal scandal. After leaving Team Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig in 2005, he joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP law firm in Washington, DC...
American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (2009; ISBN 978-0-374-20289-7) by Joan Biskupic
Joan Biskupic
Joan Biskupic is an American journalist, author, and lawyer who has covered the United States Supreme Court since 1989. She has been the Legal Affairs Correspondent for USA Today since June 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she was the Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, and from 1989 to 1992...

Souter, David

David Souter

David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...

: 105th Supreme Court Justice, 1990-present

David Hackett Souter: Traditional Republican On The Rehnquist Court (2005; ISBN 0-19-515933-0) by Tinsley E. Yarbrough

Thomas, Clarence

Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....

: 106th Supreme Court Justice, 1991-present

The Prince and the Pauper: The Case Against Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2001; ISBN 0-595-17179-6) by John L. Cooper and Armin Cooper
Judging Thomas : The Life and Times of Clarence Thomas (2004; ISBN 0-06-052721-8) by Ken Foskett
Supreme Discomfort : The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas (2006; ISBN 0-385-51080-2) by Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher
Clarence Thomas: A Biography (2001; ISBN 1-893554-36-8) by Andrew Peyton Thomas

Australia

U.S. Cabinet

U.S. Supreme Court

See also