Quest for the Presidency: The Storied and Surprising History of Presidential Campaigns in America

National Archives Museum
Online

In Quest for the Presidency, author Bob Riel gathers in a single volume the compelling stories behind every Presidential campaign in American history, from 1789 through 2020. Riel takes us inside the 1800 clash between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the 1860 election that launched the Civil War, the 1948 whistle-stop comeback of Harry Truman, the Kennedy-Nixon drama of 1960, the 1980 Reagan Revolution, the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama, the turbulent 2020 battle between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and everything in between.

This book includes a trove of entertaining stories about campaigns and candidates, and it goes beyond the campaign tales to also consider the threads that link elections across time. It sheds light on the continually evolving story of American democracy. Joining the author in conversation will be journalist and author Tom Zoellner.