American political history is well-represented in the National Library of Scotland's United States collections, with material dating from the colonial era to the present day.
Founding Fathers
[Shelfmark: L.C.1345]
We collect publications by and about politicians from all periods of American history. Series of published papers relating to the Founding Fathers are extensively collected, including:
- 'Papers of George Washington', published by the University of Virginia Press
- 'Papers of James Madison', published by the University of Virginia Press
- 'Papers of Benjamin Franklin', published by Yale University Press
- 'Papers of Thomas Jefferson', published by Princeton University Press.
Women in politics
Our collections give insight into women in American politics, through academic texts, biographies, autobiographies, diaries and artistic works such as novels. The collections include:
- Works on the importance and influence of First Ladies such as Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama
- Numerous texts on women in politics, including over 50 books about Hillary Clinton and more than 60 books about Eleanor Roosevelt
- Works on women and the Civil Rights Movement
- Scholarly research into women in early American history
- Henrietta Liston's North American journals. The journals record Henrietta's first impressions on meeting First Lady Martha Washington, and her experience of visiting Martha after George Washington's death [Library reference: MS.5698]
- Books relating to First Ladies and fashion, such as 'Nancy Reagan: Fashion with paper dolls in full color', by Tom Tierney, 1983 [Shelfmark: WP4.84.73], and 'Dresses worn by the "First Ladies" of the White House: Paper doll cut outs', by Maybelle Mercer, 1937 [Shelfmark: 6.191].
Political history journals
A wide range of academic journals with content on American politics and political history are available in the Library's collection, including:
- 'American politics research'
- 'American studies'
- 'Journal of social, political and economic studies'
- 'Foreign affairs'.
Some journals are available through our eResources, such as JSTOR. These are available to registered readers within Scotland.
Magazines and newspapers
in our collections.
Historical and modern magazines and newspapers chart American current affairs and history, including:
- 'Time' magazine from 1946 to 1984, and from 1990 to the latest issue. Notable issues include 18 February 1957, with Martin Luther King Jr on the front cover
- 'The New York Times' from September 1950 to May 1967. Issues from autumn 1962 chart the development of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- 'Newsweek' from December 1970 until December 2012
- 'The New York Herald Tribune' from 1945 to 1967
- 'The Atlantic' from 1932 to the latest issues
- Issues of 'The Los Angeles Times', 'The New York Times', and 'The Washington Post' were collected between 18 and 22 September 2014 as part of the Scottish Independence Referendum collection.