James L. Swanson received a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Chicago and a law degree from the University of California-Los Angeles. An expert on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he wrote the non-fiction history Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer (2006), Bloody Crimes: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Chase for Jefferson Davis (2010), and Bloody Times (2010), which was another version of Bloody Crimes written for teens. Bloody Crimes won the Edgar Award in 2010, which is rewarded to non-fiction books about historical crimes. He also wrote with Daniel Weinberg a pictorial book, Lincoln’s Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (2001).

Swanson has also been involved in publicity and historical preservation for matters related to President Lincoln. He was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which was formed by the U.S. Congress in 2000 to commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday. He is on the advisory board of the Ford’s Theatre Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Ford’s Theatre, the site of Lincoln’s assassination. Outside his historical work, Swanson has worked for U.S. government offices and various political advocacy groups. Currently, he is a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a socially and economically conservative political advocacy organization.