Almond was born on January 12, 1911, in Rock Island, Illinois, the son of Russian-Jewish and Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants, raised "in a strict orthodox Jewish home.

In 1981, he received APSA's James Madison Award, which is given to a political scientist who has made a "distinguished scholarly contribution" during his or her career.

Almond's research eventually covered many topics, including the politics of developing countries, communism, and religious fundamentalism.

[citation needed] Almond was a prolific author, publishing 18 books and numerous journal articles, and co-writing many others.

It popularized the idea of a political culture – a concept that includes national character and how people choose to govern themselves – as a fundamental aspect of society.

In Comparative Politics: A Developmental Approach (1966), Almond and G. Bingham Powell proposed a variety of cultural and functional ways to measure the development of societies.