"Politics and Poker, Politics and Poker
Playing for a pot that's mediocre
Politics and Poker running neck and neck
If politics seems more predictable...
That's because usually
You can stack the deck”

--from the musical, “Fiorello”

Allen Drury
Advise and Consent. Doubleday, 1959.
The President’s choice for Secretary of State is a sure thing, until an honest young senator’s inquiries threaten to derail the appointment. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Followed by: A Shade of Difference. (1962)

Ward S. Just
Echo House. HM, 1997.
Three powerful generations of the Behl family in Washington, D.C. pursue power, money, and women while striving to protect their many dangerous secrets.

Joe Klein
Primary Colors. RH, 1996.
Henry Burton, a black man, rises quickly to a key position on the presidential primary campaign staff of Jack Stanton, governor of a small Southern state.

Joe Klein
The Running Mate. Dial, 2000.
Senator Charlie Mann confronts the twin problems of an unscrupulous political opponent and an unconventional woman who loves him but is appalled by his life's work

Peter Lefcourt
The Woody. S&S,1998.
A philandering but charismatic senator from Vermont as had a lot on his mind--reelection, two ethics investigations, and the little matter of his wife's adultery. But these pale in comparison to his problem with impotence

James Lehrer
The Last Debate. RH, 1995.
Four journalists moderating a debate between two presidential candidates conspire to ruin one of the candidates by airing his dirty laundry and thereby affect the outcome of the election.

Tom Lowe
Spin. Pocket, 1998.
Hired to help a California Republican win a seat in the U.S. Senate, a young political strategist experiences the rewards--money, sex, and power--of campaigning, only to take up his own campaign against political corruption

David Mizner
Political Animal. Soho, 2004.
If only Ben Bergin would put as much effort into getting Arnie Schecter elected to the New York senate as he does pursuing fellow staffer, Calliope Berkowitz.

Edwin O’Connor
The Last Hurrah. LB, 1956.
Inspired by the career of longtime Boston Mayor James M. Curley, this novels portrays Irish-American political boss Frank Skeffington as a demagogue and a rogue who nonetheless deeply understands his constituents. By the same author: All in the Family (LB, 1966).

Richard North Patterson
No Safe Place. Knopf, 1998.
Embroiled in a close race with the Vice President for the Democratic presidential nomination, Catholic senator Kerry Kilcannon struggles to maintain his honesty and integrity during an increasingly sleazy campaign.

William Safire
Scandalmonger. S&S, 2000.
Down and dirty politics, 18th-century style. James Thomson Callender, an ambitious gossip-peddling editor secretly hired by Thomas Jefferson as a political weapon, successfully damages Alexander Hamilton's reputation, thereby paving the way for Jefferson's success. But when he is shunned by the very politicians on whose behalf he was jailed for sedition, Callender seeks revenge against Jefferson by exposing his affair with his slave Sally Hemmings.

Sidney Sheldon
The Best Laid Plans. Morrow, 1997.
Oliver Russell, a promising young attorney-cum-gubernatorial candidate is poised to marry his PR manager until Russell's mentor, Senator Todd Davis, offers to make him president—if he will marry his daughter. Big mistake!

John Updike
Memories of the Ford Administration. Knopf, 1992.
Alfred Clayton, a history instructor at Wayward Junior College in New Hampshire, juxtaposes his memories and impressions of Gerald Ford's administration with pages from his unpublished biography of James Buchanan.

Gore Vidal
American Chronicle Series.
A unique fictional portrait of our nation and the ambitious men and women—both fictional and real--who shaped it from its founding through the end of the Korean War. The titles are listed in order of publication.

Washington, D.C. LB, 1967.
During the years1937 to 1952 helped to transform the American republic into a world power. A senator's ambitions are defeated when Franklin Roosevelt decides to run for a third term.

Burr. Ballantine, 1973.
Jacksonian America comes to life in the story of the complex and fascinating politician who was considered a schemer and traitor by many.

1876. RH, 1976.
Seeking to restore his financial assets which were lost in the financial crash of 1872, political journalist Charlie Schuyler returns to America to arrange an advantageous marriage for his daughter. Both soon find themselves at the center of American social and political power.

Lincoln. RH, 1984.
An insider’s view of the president who made it his mission to unite a nation spilt apart by slavery, but who was derided and plotted against by members his own Party.

Empire. RH, 1987.
Turn-of-the-century America in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War and McKinley’s assassination serve as the backdrop for the personal story of ambitious Caroline Sanford, owner of the Washington Tribune.

The Golden Age. Doubleday, 2000.
The epochal events of World War II, the beginnings of the Cold War, and the rise of Communism as seen through the eyes of newspaperwoman-turned-Hollywood producer Caroline Sanford and her publisher nephew.

Irving Wallace
The Man. S&S, 1964.
After the deaths of the President, Vice-President and Speaker of the House, a black senator becomes the first African-American president of the United States.

Robert Penn Warren
All the King’s Men. HBJ, 1946.
In the 1930s, Willie Stark, an upstart farm boy, rises through sheer force of will and personality to become governor. He begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people, but eventually becomes corrupted by success and his lust for power.

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