Political Biographies

Political biographies constitute a number of works from famous people in history, from military to governmental figures. Popular political biographies center around those in power or who have experienced great struggle. Benjamin Franklin and Margaret Thatcher's biographies are such stories. As well, Nelson Mandela's story of his struggle for nearly 30 years in a South African prison interests millions of readers.

Political biographies are also a great way to learn how the legislation and government process works. Political insight from former presidents, senators, representatives and lobbyists are extremely helpful to students interested in getting into politics. These sorts of books, such as David McCullough's John Adams, are often listed on the New York Times Bestseller List.

History of Political Biographies
Political biographies date back to the time of Caesar and reach as far forward as the current American president. However, this sort of text reached increasing popularity in the early 18th century when writing took on a distinctly political edge. Books like Gulliver's Travels and The New Atlantis made politics into fiction popular. This spawned marked interest in political biographies. Writings of the period began to focus on the history of political figures and provided unprecedented insight into government and political lives.

The entire life story of a political figure is often told throughout these books, which can make them quite lengthy. Biographies are told in the third person, not first person, as is an autobiography. It is now expected that a president will write an autobiography or memoirs once out of office, such as former president Bill Clinton's autobiography, My Life, and biographies will be written as well.