For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author, Seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).
Awarded to "Master of the Senate" by Robert A. Caro (Alfred A. Knopf).
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "The Fly Swatter" by Nicholas Dawidoff (Pantheon Books), and "Beethoven: The Music and the Life" by Lewis Lockwood (W.W. Norton).