Best writers among politicians

[Ecurb]

Most books written by politicians (or their ghosts) are horrible. I never read Obama's Dreams of My Father, mainly because I read Audacity of Hope first, and it was a typical, ghost-written hagiography. Nonetheless, there have been some politicians whose pens were as mighty as their swords. Here's my list.

Classical:

Julius Caesar and Marcus Aurelius. Meditations has never been out of print, and Caesar has long been feted for his literary skills. I'm sure there were others I haven't considered. Feel free to add.

Russia

Lenin was a brilliant pamphleteer. And Stalin was a published poet. He rose in the ranks of the Communist party by editing Pravda.

Italy

Frederick 2's book on Falconry has never been out of print.

China

Mao's "little Red Book" was a best seller.

Britain

Disraeli was a novelist (I've never read his novels). Churchill wrote the voluminous history of WW2 (I read an abridged version).

United States

Kennedy won a Pulitzer -- but he didn't write Profiles in Courage. Jefferson cribbed most of the Declaration from Locke. My vote for best writer who was President: U.S. Grant. His autobiography -- which he wrote while dying of cancer -- is superb. It was so good that many people thought his buddy Sam Clemens wrote it. I've read some of his battlefield reports. They are elegant, descriptive, dramatic and short. He gets my vote.

I'm sure I've overlooked some excellent choices. Any suggestions?

[Sancho]

I liked Jimmy Carter’s An Hour Before Daylight. It’s mostly about growing up in rural Georgia and it’s written in his distinctive voice. In fact it’s one of the only books I’ve ever listened to rather than read. The audio book is narrated by Jimmy himself. I figured I’d never had a President of the United States read a book to me. So there you go. I could hear him smile that beaming Jimmy Carter smile.

[Danik 2016]

I like him and my mother who wasn't interested in politics, was a huge fan of Jimmy Carter.