If you usually find your nose in the history or political sections of your favorite bookstore, you might find these new releases interesting.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, A LIFE, by Nathan Miller, Morrow Books, 624 pages, $27.50.

Theodore Roosevelt was destined to become a part of American history and lore, even if he had chosen only one of the careers he had followed.

TR’s metamorphosis from a wealthy, sickly child to a hyperactive self-made man who devoured life, already is well known to most readers of history.

Nathan Miller’s account is the first comprehensive one-volume biography in 30 years of our 26th president, who, at 42, also was our youngest. Here among Miller’s pages is the Roosevelt who published serious history just out of Harvard, who spent three years in the strenuous life of a cattle rancher, who led the Rough Riders’ victory in Cuba, who suffered the death of his mother and wife on the same day, and who launched an unprecedented independent run for the presidency in 1912 to remove his annointed successor, the bumbling Howard Taft, from the White House.

“A Life” is more than just biography — it is an account of a storybook life enjoyed by a man who lived up to his billing.

It is, simply, “bully!” and TR’s unbridled energy bursts from each page.

THE LIFE AND SELECTED WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden, Random House, 691 pages, $12.

Even if Teddy Roosevelt considered Jefferson overrated, most historians still believe the Sage of Monticello to be American’s most defined example of the Renaissance Man.

There are, of course, plenty of books about Jefferson, but this inexpensive paperback is a handy library addition that includes his famed “Notes on Virginia,” the Declaration of Independence, his inaugural addresses, and other works framed by his own life’s history.

JFK REMEMBERED, by Jacques Lowe, 191 pages, Random House, $37.50.

As a lover of history, John F. Kennedy kept the counsel of historians in his quest to become a part of his country’s lore.

In 1958, long before his campaign stops were met by thousands of screaming fans, Kennedy hired Jacques Lowe, a young but talented photographer, just in case. With unusual access, a keen eye, and a brilliant ability to capture the mood of the moment, Lowe was to record the beginnings of Camelot before the court was sired by success.

Some of the most famous photographs of Kennedy and his family were taken by Lowe’s camera, and the entire journey from dark-horse wannabe to a martyred president are now collected in the photographer’s pictorial memoir, “JFK Remembered.”

There are a few drawbacks, such as incorrect dates associated with the photos, and the text doesn’t always coincide with the shots shown. But “JFK Remembered,” a coffee-table book, is a must for anyone who is an aficionado of Kennedy, the 1960s, or exquisite photography.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY: Profile of Power, by Richard Reeves, Simon & Schuster, 798 pages, $30.

Fewer than 50 men have ever understood the awesome power and responsibility that comes with being president.

Although thousands of books have been written about JFK, Reeves set out to go beyond the assassination and political angles by studying the day-to-day trials of a commander-in-chief. While the book revives much previous information by detailing the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, and other Cold War problems, Reeves helps the reader to come that much closer to sitting in the Oval Office, the complaints of the country and world before him.

An enjoyable and worthwhile read, Profile of Power will be even more so when the cheaper paperback edition comes out.

STRANGERS IN THE SENATE, by Sen. Barbara Boxer with Nicole Boxer, National Press Books, 256 pages, $23.95.

If you can overlook the sappy prose of the able Sen. Boxer, her book is a fine primer on the history of women in what typically has been a man’s domain — the U.S. Senate.

While there have been a few token women in the Senate, the past year or so can truly be called an American political revolution. Only 19 women have ever served in the Senate, and the 1936 record of two women senators sitting simultaneously, was not broken until 1992.

Boxer’s book gets a bit tedious when she writes about her life story, but it’s still worth a read because of her inside account of the so-called Year of the Woman. She also gives considerable due to Margaret Chase Smith, probably the best-known female senator before last year.

A CALL FOR REVOLUTION, by Martin L. Gross, Ballantine Books, 278 pages, $10.

If the election of a record number of women to the Senate was a revolution, Martin Gross is trying to start another.

Polls show that most voters hold the government in low regard, and Gross will show you why.

A warning, though: There is no good news here, and reading this book will make you angry at Washington (if you’re not already).

The juiciest section is the list of pork passed by Congress, including $1 million to study brown tree snakes, $119 million annually for newspapers and periodicals for the Pentagon, $29 million in vehicles and other equipment that the Bureau of Indian Affairs can’t find, and $2 billion spent annually on furniture for government offices.

Even if most of these were legitimate, the fraction that aren’t is enough to make readers shake their heads in amazement. But the book goes beyond the well-documented gripes of misspent millions, delving into the structural problems of the U.S. government and how unfunded mandates are being passed down the line.

A good pre-voting primer.

THE FIRST DISSIDENT: The Book of Job in Today’s Politics, by William Safire, Random House, 304 pages, $12.

There are not many books that marry Richard Nixon and the Bible.

But Safire, The New York Times pundit and former Nixon speechwriter, found a way to connect two of his passions — politics and the book of Job.

If this sounds like a dry, academic run at a mildly interesting issue, it’s not. Usually humorous and always insightful, Safire brings to modern times the ancient debate over when and how orders from above should be followed.

TIME AND CHANGE: GERALD FORD’S APPOINTMENT WITH HISTORY, By James Cannon, HarperCollins, 496 pages, $25.

Much like the man himself, this latest book about Gerald Ford is exciting only when it concerns Richard Nixon.

But that, some might argue, is precisely the point: Ford has earned himself a solid role in American history as a bridge between turbulent and secure times. By watching Ford, the public went from witnessing the fall of a president and a weakening of the presidency to enjoying a man who toasted his own English muffins in the White House.

It is Ford’s career as peacemaker that serves as the primary theme for Cannon’s book, which at times is blatantly partisan towards its subject. But if a reader can make it through the excrutiating slow story of Ford’s younger life, there awaits a well-written and fascinating account of how Ford inherited the job he never sought and how he served the purpose that was designed for him.

John Ripley covers legal affairs for the NEWS.