For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Awarded to "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era" by William Taubman (W.W. Norton).
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Isaac Newton" by James Gleick (Pantheon Books), and "Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work" by Hayden Herrera (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).