Presidential campaign books

The presidential campaign season is upon us and soon we will elect a new president. Want to know how they did it in the past? Then check out 12 Essential Presidential Campaign Books, according to Jacket Copy at the LA Times. The list begins with the 1960 presidential campaign and ends with the 2008 one.

• "Making of the President" series by Theodore H. White [He covered the campaigns from1960 to 1972]

The making of the President, 1960
The making of the President, 1964
The making of the President, 1968
The making of the President, 1972  

• The Selling of the President, 1968 by Joe McGinniss [His coverage of Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign] 

• Miami and the Siege of Chicago; An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968 by Norman Mailer [He went to the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1968 and lived to tell the tale] 

• Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson [He covered the 1972 campaign for Rolling Stone] 

• The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse [He covered the 1972 campagin from inside the press bus]

• What it Takes: The Way to the White House by Richard Ben Cramer (His coverage of the 1988 campaign) 

• Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics [an anonymous satire based on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign] 

• American Nomad: Pop Visions, Restless Politics, and Apocalyptic Memories at the End of the Millennium by Steve Erickson [He covered the 1996 campaign for Rolling Stone] 

• Spanking the Donkey: Dispatches from the Dumb Season by Matt Taibbi [His coverage of the 2004 presidential campaign] 

• Looking Forward to It, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the American Electoral Process by Stephen Elliott [a look at the 2004 race] 

• O: A Presidential Novel [an anonymous satire of the 2008 Obama campaign]  

• Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin [They followed the 2008 presidential contenders and nominees]

This Wednesday is the first of the debates so this list will give you a chance to bone up on your election history.