Books from the Campaign Period

Each cycle (see below), a new crop of political tomes by potential presidential candidates  and cancidates hits the bookstores.  These include straight biographies, expositions on the issues of the day, and most typically books which blend the two.  Many or most of these books are not great reads, but every so often one will strike a chord, as did Sen. John McCain's Faith of My Fathers, written with Mark Salter (1999). 

Writing, or as is most often the case, co-writing a book allows a political figure to present himself or herself as a thoughtful person, and maybe even make a few bucks along the way.  Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, was  reporrted to be receiving an advance of close to $1.5 million for the book he wrote.  Once the book is done, there is the opportunity to do book tour, during which the presidential prospect can connect with potential supporters.  Even if a potential candidate does not have a new book in the works, an upcoming campaign may be a good time to reissue a book he or she has previously written.  A book is a perhaps the ultimate form of campaign literature, a tri-fold brochure or palm card taken to two hundred, three hundred, or more pages.1  In the digital age, however, some candidates opt for the e-book over the printed page as did Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Gov. Jeb Bush. 

In addition to books by the candidates themselves, books written by journalists and others also offer insights on the leading candidates and the campaign.  For example, books on Trump included Never Enough (St. Martin's Press, Oct. 2015) by Michael D'Antonio, The Making of Donald Trump (Melville House, Aug. 2016) by David Cay Johnston, Trump Revealed (Simon & Schuster, Aug. 2016) by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher, and a graphic novel by Ted Rall (Seven Stories Press, July 2016).  A broader look at the campaign came in The Year of Voting Dangerously (Grand Central Publishing, Sept. 2016), a collection by the New York Times' Maureen Dowd.

There is a large, ever-growing oeuvre of anti-Clinton books.2 For example, Clinton allies issued detailed rebuttals to Peter Schweizer's Clinton Cash (Harper, May 2015) (1; 2. 3 [PDF]), and errors in the book prompted the publisher to make "significant revisions," yet the book served as a mainstay of Donald Trump's June 22, 2016 speech on the stakes of the election and was made into a movie.  Gary J. Byrne, Dinesh D'Souza and Ed Klein (two books) also contributed to the genre; many of these books are published by Regnery Publishing.

Notes
1. There are limits to what politicians can do to promote and distribute their books.  In 2013 Rep. Michele Bachmann came under investigation for charges that she "used funds from her presidential campaign to promote her book, and may have used book promotional activities paid for by the publisher to promote her presidential campaign."  See also Federal Election Commission AO 2014-06, iissued July 23, 2014, in which the FEC issued an opinion on the propriety of Rep. Paul Ryan's campaign committee and leadership PAC promoting and distributing copies of his book The Way Forward.

Also note that before the campaign gets underway, there are figures who are subject of intense presidential speculation but who ultimately do not run; presidential buzz can substantially help boost their book sales.  Examples from this cycle include Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Cuomo and Paul Ryan. 

2. There are already numerous books about Hillary Clinton from the time of her previous campaign, including works which fit into the "hatchet job" category.