At USA Today they offer Daniel Lefferts' list of The 7 most literary politicians in history (pretty much what he originally offered at Bookish in The Most Literary Politicians in History, just without specific mention of a title in each case).
I usually don't bother pointing you to these sorts of literary lists, but when they're this aggravating I sometimes can't help myself.
It's unclear whether or not the choices are meant to be ranked, but they are numbered 1 through 7 and the top choice is called: "one of the stars of this class" ("of true literary figures"), suggesting that they are.
One can quibble about that top choice -- Winston Churchill -- but his Nobel Prize in Literature is enough to earn him an honorary spot on any such list; still, without any fiction of note under his belt (Savrola, anyone ? maybe not ...), his literary fame rests entirely on the non-fiction. And while that can be enough to make someone a 'literary figure' ... well .....
Anyway, the obvious top dog, a real novelist (and real politician), Disraeli, only comes up at number five. Meanwhile, only one non-English-writing 'author' cracks the list -- the admittedly deserving Václav Havel.
As to the rest ... sure, Grant's memoirs are fine works -- but do those really make him a 'literary figure' ? And Obama ? Lincoln ? I'm not so sure about their legacy in purely literary terms. Meanwhile, surely any number of foreign statesmen have impressed more.
My personal choices would include the much-overlooked Henri Lopès -- one-time prime minister of Congo-Brazzaville, and author of several impressive works of fiction -- and, especially, A Thousand Deaths Plus One-author Sergio Ramírez, vice-president of Nicaragua from 1985-1990. But many other well-regarded authors have also held high office, such as Hungarian president Göncz Árpád (1990-2000).
And don't forget that Mao Tse-Tung was a poet (the University of California Press recently brought out a nice edition; see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) -- and published one of the bestselling books of all times (that little red thing ...). And then there's the novelist Mussolini, author of The Cardinal's Mistress .....
At least serial-fiction co-author Newt Gingrich didn't make Lefferts' list -- but then that stuff isn't anything that could be called 'literary'.
I usually don't bother pointing you to these sorts of literary lists, but when they're this aggravating I sometimes can't help myself.
It's unclear whether or not the choices are meant to be ranked, but they are numbered 1 through 7 and the top choice is called: "one of the stars of this class" ("of true literary figures"), suggesting that they are.
One can quibble about that top choice -- Winston Churchill -- but his Nobel Prize in Literature is enough to earn him an honorary spot on any such list; still, without any fiction of note under his belt (Savrola, anyone ? maybe not ...), his literary fame rests entirely on the non-fiction. And while that can be enough to make someone a 'literary figure' ... well .....
Anyway, the obvious top dog, a real novelist (and real politician), Disraeli, only comes up at number five. Meanwhile, only one non-English-writing 'author' cracks the list -- the admittedly deserving Václav Havel.
As to the rest ... sure, Grant's memoirs are fine works -- but do those really make him a 'literary figure' ? And Obama ? Lincoln ? I'm not so sure about their legacy in purely literary terms. Meanwhile, surely any number of foreign statesmen have impressed more.
My personal choices would include the much-overlooked Henri Lopès -- one-time prime minister of Congo-Brazzaville, and author of several impressive works of fiction -- and, especially, A Thousand Deaths Plus One-author Sergio Ramírez, vice-president of Nicaragua from 1985-1990. But many other well-regarded authors have also held high office, such as Hungarian president Göncz Árpád (1990-2000).
And don't forget that Mao Tse-Tung was a poet (the University of California Press recently brought out a nice edition; see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) -- and published one of the bestselling books of all times (that little red thing ...). And then there's the novelist Mussolini, author of The Cardinal's Mistress .....
At least serial-fiction co-author Newt Gingrich didn't make Lefferts' list -- but then that stuff isn't anything that could be called 'literary'.