And the winner is...
Jon was a college classmate of mine. The 2009 Pulizer Prize for a distinguished and appropriately documented biography or autobiography by an American author, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Awarded to “ American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House ,” by Jon Meacham ( Random House ), an unflinching portrait of a not always admirable democrat but a pivotal president, written with an agile prose that brings the Jackson saga to life. Finalists: Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “ Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ,” by H.W. Brands ( Doubleday ), a richly textured and highly readable exploration of the inner Roosevelt , presented with analytical acuity and flashes of originality; and “ The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century ,” by Steve Coll ( The Penguin Press ), an epic tale extending far beyond Osama Bin Laden and the calamity of 9/11, rooted in meticulous research and written with ...