Reagan's Disciple: George W. Bush's Quest for a Presidential Legacy By Lou Cannon and Carl M. Cannon PublicAffairs, 364 pp., $27.95
Although President George W. Bush is part of an Oval Office father-son dynasty, he doesn't draw much ideological inspiration from his namesake. The best way to contextualize his presidency is to compare it to the eight-year tenure of Ronald Reagan. Both men both came to office advocating smaller government, a strong defense and a devotion to judicial and social conservatism. But their paths sometimes diverged.
In office, both presided over tax cuts, a military buildup and a rightward tilt of the federal judiciary. But while Reagan avoided major growth of domestic programs, Bush presided over a record expansion of Medicare and of federal oversight on education. On foreign policy, Reagan signed arms control treaties with former enemies; Bush has been adamant about not wanting to meet with the heads of enemy nations—three of whom he famously said constitute an axis of evil.
Who better to sort out this subject than the father-and-son team of Lou and Carl Cannon? Lou Cannon covered Reagan for The Washington Post and other papers and has written five books about him. Carl Cannon covered the current president for the National Journal and has written a biography of Bush's political guru Karl Rove. Their first joint literary effort, Reagan's Disciple draws on both their Rolodexes and on some of the best historical scholarship out there.
The Cannons conclude that while Bush indeed owes much to Reagan, including a strong conservative worldview, he lacks some of Reagan's political and communication skills. They predict that history will be kinder to the Gipper.
"Bush was Reagan's disciple, to be sure, but he did not face the seminal crises of his administration—especially the Iraq war—with the blend of principle and pragmatism that was the hallmark of Reagan's dealings with the Soviet Union. We do not fault Bush's intentions, but noble intentions do not excuse his performance in Iraq or the domestic failures of his second term,'' they write.
The Cannons corroborate their conclusions by analyzing scholarly literature on presidential war-making. They debunk the argument offered by some Bush supporters that the Iraq war was an example of Bush borrowing from the Woodrow Wilson playbook. They quote renowned Stanford University historian David Kennedy's characterization of Bush's desire to spread democracy in the Middle East as "Wilsonism on steroids," but point out that Wilson favored having the United States help create conditions in which democracy could flourish—not necessarily create democracies itself.
Claude R. Marx is the author of a chapter on media and politics in The Sixth-Year Itch, edited by Larry Sabato.
Quick Picks
In the Ring: The Trials of a Washington Lawyer
Robert S. Bennett
400 pages, Random House, $27.50
In his new memoir, Robert S. Bennett says that law is the magic carpet that has led him to the powerful people he's worked with. He claims his attitude as a "street fighter" made him take on clients ranging from bookies to former President Bill Clinton. Bennett shares behind-the-scenes color about his high-profile cases, from Iran-Contra to Plamegate to the Keating Five scandal. The chapter on Abraham Zapruder's film of the Kennedy assassination, for example, details how Zapruder's last-minute decision to view the presidential motorcade affected his family.
—Corinne Minard
Safire's Political Dictionary
William Safire
880 pages, Oxford University Press, $22.95
William Safire's Language and Politics has long been used as a source of definitions for insider words and phrases commonly used in politics. Updated and expanded for the first time since 1993, Safire renames the book and adds items like "war on terror," "chad" and "axis of evil" to the collection. Containing not only words' definitions, but also their history, Safire explains each entry in an informative, witty and easy-to-read way.
—Corinne Minard
The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country
Laton McCartney
Random House, 351 pages, $27
—Lauren Zingarelli
Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi's Life, Times, and Rise to Speaker By Marc Sandalow Rodale, 224 pp., $25.95
Political images are sometimes misleading. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is often depicted by political adversaries as an inflexibly ideological liberal more interested in scoring partisan points than building consensus. The reality is more complicated and nuanced.To be sure, Pelosi's political philosophy is closely aligned with her liberal San Francisco district. Yet the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is also an incredibly shrewd tactician and dealmaker who wants to win at almost all costs.
Former San Francisco Chronicle Washington bureau chief Marc Sandalow nicely captures the collection of contradictions that is Pelosi in his new biography. Although Pelosi declined to talk to him for the book, Sandalow draws on his earlier interviews with her to help create a balanced account.
Sandalow allows the facts to speak for themselves and doesn't show much of his voice during the often bland narrative. He seems to respect Pelosi's political skills, but the frequent descriptions of her as "brusque" leads one to conclude that he doesn't much like her.
Pelosi's strengths include a Midas touch with fundraising and an extraordinary ability to persuade. Those skills—learned at the knee of her father, former Baltimore mayor and congressman Thomas D'Alesandro—helped her rise to the House's top spot. "She understood the mannerisms and the tempo of the House. She had a way with older members. She could chop her opponents off at the knee in a policy dispute. In a social setting, she would never come across as menacing," Sandalow writes.
He notes that while Pelosi is a solid liberal, she has declined to push the agenda of those who favor an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or impeaching President Bush. That direction, she calculates, would risk her party's long-term health.
While Pelosi has had some legislative successes—like increasing funding for AIDS research and putting pressure on China to improve its human rights policy—she does not come across as a policy heavyweight. Sandalow notes that she rarely strays from her talking points during policy discussions.
Of course, leaders need not be policy wonks. Sandalow contends that Pelosi is an expert at doing what leaders are elected to do: counting votes and enforcing party discipline. He points out that when Democrats were in the minority, she was often able to keep moderates in the fold on key votes so that Republicans had little margin for error.
We will have to wait until Pelosi's tenure in the House's top job ends for a final assessment, but Madam Speaker will be an important starting point for future books on the subject.
Claude R. Marx is author of a chapter on media and politics in The Sixth-Year Itch, edited by Larry J. Sabato.
Quick Picks
By Robert Schlesinger
Simon & Schuster, 592 pages, $30
Robert Schlesinger (son of presidential speechwriter Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and a Politics contributor) gained access to about 90 current and former White House speechwriters. The result is a richly detailed trove of anecdotes about the most memorable speeches. Michael Gerson, for example, watched the plane fly into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, then started writing speech ideas in the notebook he kept in his car. Schlesinger also dives into the profession's inherent tensions: Should speechwriters help make policy or merely promote it? Whose rhetorical preferences should hold more sway, top advisors or writers? The results offer a totally absorbing view of the modern presidency.
—Corinne Minard
Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout
By Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber
Brookings Institution Press, 225 pages, $16.95
Think that perfect storm of direct mail, robocalls and door-to-door canvassing—all timed to increase voter turnout—is effective? Think again, say two Yale political science professors in the second edition of their influential book. Their findings are sure to irk some industry insiders. With new data, Green and Gerber again cast doubt on the effectiveness of direct mail and robocalls for GOTV.
—Shane D'Aprile
Eleanor vs. Ike: A Novel
By Robin Gerber
Avon (HarperCollins), 315 pages, $13.95
—Corinne Minard
The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation
Oxford University Press, $24.95, 384 pp.Review by Claude R. Marx
Dual biographies are a tricky subgenre of nonfiction to pull off. Striking the right balance between offering straight biographical information and shedding light on the dynamics of the subjects’ relationship requires both prodigious research and a great flare for storytelling. The challenge is especially tough when you’re trying to tackle two such paradoxical, larger-than-life people as former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Fortunately, University of Oklahoma history professor Steven M. Gillon pulls it off. He has done a solid job of navigating their lives and careers. Much of his new book synthesizes the existing material on the subject, with a few new quotes tossed in for good measure. Those who have read Clinton’s memoir (My Life), John Harris’ biography of him (The Survivor) or one of several books by and about Gingrich will find much familiar material. What makes Gillon’s book worth reading is his analysis of the nuances of their relationship and his ability to look at his subjects in the context of the 1960s, when they came of age politically.
Gillon, the resident historian for the History Channel, argues that the men respected and liked, but often distrusted, one another. They were able to work together because both were willing to go against the wishes of their respective party’s most ideologically fervent members. But Clinton bested Gingrich much of the time, Gillon writes, because “Clinton possessed a much higher emotional intelligence. The president peeled Gingrich like an onion. … Gingrich lacked Clinton’s human touch. He could read a roomful of people but became tone deaf when it came to one-on-one encounters.”
The book’s most interesting revelation is the extent to which Clinton and Gingrich had planned to work together on a compromise that would have put Social Security and Medicare on firmer financial footing. Their meetings took place without the knowledge of members of their parties, whom they were afraid would object to giving the other side a big win on such an important issue. But then two words changed all that: Monica Lewinsky. The revelation made most policy progress all but impossible.
Readers will learn a lot about policy, politics and psychology, but will have to wade through Gillon’s often pedestrian writing style to do so. At times, The Pact reads like a doctoral dissertation that was turned into a book. Yet that’s a small shortcoming in an otherwise insightful and enjoyable examination of two of the most important political leaders of the late 20th century.
Claude R. Marx is author of a chapter on media and politics in The Sixth Year Itch, edited by Larry J. Sabato.
Quick Picks
Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business
By James Harding
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25, 272 pp.
Alpha Dogs is about the formation, high points and ultimate demise of Sawyer Miller, a public relations consulting firm that was one of the first professional political consulting firms in the 1970s and 1980s. Sawyer Miller helped create the modern negative ad, and saw “spin” as an essential part of the firm’s work. Harding describes Sawyer Miller’s national and international campaigns, from the speeches it crafted to how its principals badgered candidates into taking advice. Harding tells the stories of clients like President Cory Aquino of the Philippines, and what the firm had to do to not only win over the Filipino people,
but President Ronald Reagan as well.
—Corinne Minard
Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns
By Erika Falk
University of Illinois Press, $19.95, 192 pp.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama announced their presidential candidacies the same month. According to Erika Falk, Obama received far more news coverage, although he trailed Clinton in the polls. Falk looks at eight women who ran for president through 2004, comparing their media treatment with their male opponents. She concludes that the press often portrayed women as unviable candidates, while ignoring their ideas and intent. Falk argues that this different treatment challenges the assumption that men and women have equal access to power.
—Lauren Zingarelli
The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns
By D. Sunshine Hillygus and Todd G. Shields
Princeton University Press, $29.95, 268 pp.
Are swing voters really swayed by wedge issues? In this political game-theory exercise, Hillygus and Shields argue that “cross-pressured partisans” are a more complicated voting bloc than previously thought. With a look at microtargeting data and historical examples of campaign strategy, the authors conclude that candidates use controversial issues like abortion and immigration more often when they know what swing voters are thinking about.
—Ryan Reeh
Political Bookshelf
In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of WatergateBy L. Patrick Gray III with Ed Gray
Times Books, $26, 320 pages
Review by Claude Marx
When the Watergate scandal is discussed, one is sometimes tempted to think of the adage that “everything that can be said about it has been said, though not everyone has said it.’’ Not quite.
One of the few who hasn’t weighed in had a front-row seat: former Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray. He was caught between trying to clean up an agency whose reputation was in tatters because of his predecessor, J. Edgar Hoover, and trying to be loyal to Richard Nixon’s administration.
Unfortunately, the balancing act proved impossible. Gray earned the ire of Nixon and his aides because he wouldn’t go along with some of their efforts to tone down its Watergate investigation. And he was never fully trusted by the FBI’s insiders, including W. Mark Felt, who was passed over for the top spot and was later revealed as “Deep Throat.”
Nixon's Web, which Gray wrote with his son (and is being published four years after his death), is the author’s effort to settle scores. Gray comes across as a well-meaning individual who started to repair the agency’s reputation but misread the internal politics. He was also hung out to dry by Nixon’s top aides, including John Dean and John Ehrlichman.
The types of things he was pressured to do—including destroying some of the files of E. Howard Hunt, the White House aide who organized the Watergate break-in—are hair-raising. Fortunately, the events read like a novel so even Gray’s rather bland recounting of them is worth reading.
Gray strongly denies the allegation Felt made in All the President's Men that Gray blackmailed the president into naming him to the top FBI job. (Gray resigned after realizing he didn’t have the votes for Senate confirmation.) He also writes that he didn’t believe Felt was “Deep Throat,” instead arguing that the source was a composite. Ed Gray notes that All the President’s Men should be reclassified as fiction because Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein “bent the truth to fit the dramatic needs of a movie. They invented a character named ‘Deep Throat.’ And since every hero needs a villain, Pat Gray was recast as one. In All the President's Men he is a liar, a blackmailer and a conspirator. In reality he was none of those.’’
Since Gray’s perspective as been lacking in many of the previous accounts, In Nixon's Web will be welcomed by the legions of history buffs still fascinated by the subject.
Claude R. Marx has reviewed books for publications such as The Boston Globe, The Wilson Quarterly and Kirkus Reviews.
Quick Picks
By Elizabeth Anderson
Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension Between Faith and Power
Edited by Kristin E. Heyer, Mark J. Rozell and Michael A. Genovese
Georgetown University Press, 239 pages, $29.95
Using extensive research, the editors argue that there is no single Catholic “bloc” vote, politically speaking. They explore individual subgroups, like the pro-lifers, the social justice seekers, and the “cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose which church teachings they agree with. The book looks at these groups in various contexts: U.S. politics, federal government and international politics. The result is a comprehensive answer to the question of why Catholics are so spread across the ideological map. Along the way, campaigns can pick up some ideas for messaging to sympathetic voters who fall under the Catholic umbrella.
Abraham Lincoln
By George McGovern
Henry Holt, 185 pages, $22
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, George McGovern offers a glowing biography of our 16th president. Avoiding tedious detail, McGovern provides insight into Lincoln’s personality while simultaneously revealing the president’s political strategies in handling the Civil War. McGovern, the Democratic nominee for president in 1972, calls Lincoln “our greatest president,” but paints him not as a deity, simply as an exceptional human being. As part of The American Presidents Series, which was founded by the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., McGovern’s piece echoes the series’ mission to “to help tell the story of a nation.”
Democracy in the States: Experiments in Election Reform
Edited by Bruce E. Cain, Todd Donovan and Caroline J. Tolbert
Brookings Institution Press, 238 pages, $26.95
Getting supporters to the polls is what every campaign wants. With voter turnout hovering around 50 percent, many politicians are calling for election reform. The editors examine different state election policies and derive what lessons can be learned them on a local and national scale. From each case, they determine what works and what doesn’t work, in terms of attracting voters. Through these conclusions, the editors give their suggestions as to what the ideal election should consist of.
The Next Progressive Era: A Blueprint for Broad Prosperity
The Next Progressive Era: A Blueprint for Broad Prosperity
Phillip Longman and Ray Boshara
PoliPointPress, 228 pages, $22.95
Reminiscent of the climate in the early 1900s that fostered America’s progressive era, today’s troubled economy and weakened family unit invite a new progressive era. Authors Phillip Longman and Ray Boshara design a strategy for modern progressivism that is concerned with community over individualism, uses “thrift” as a mindset and champions closing the gap between rich and poor. The book channels the message and energy of Obama’s presidential campaign, which the authors say reignited this movement.
Fighting Words: A Tale of How Liberals Created Neo-Conservatism
Ben J. Wattenberg
St. Martin’s Press, 362 pages, $26.95
Liberal Democrat turned neo-conservative Ben Wattenberg says his former party is to blame for the robust brand of neo-conservative now alive and well in American politics. In Fighting Words, Wattenberg blames liberal lions like former presidential nominee George McGovern for moving the party too far to the left. Wattenberg also attempts to re-position the term neo-con, acknowledging that it’s often seen as an insult to those who don’t fully understand its meaning. In this first-person account of his political journey, Wattenberg mixes personal experiences and a conversational tone to make his case for neo-conservatism and give the reader a real understanding of how Washington works.
The Years of Talking Dangerously
Geoffrey Nunberg
Perseus Books Group, 242 pages, $18.95
In his new book, Berkeley linguist and NPR commentator Geoffrey Nunberg chronicles the political language that characterized the final years of the Bush era. Using his linguistic analyses as context, Nunberg paints a vivid picture of how American culture has developed at the beginning of the new millennium. Speech is about to undergo some major changes as new Web 2.0 technology becomes increasingly dominant. Nunberg argues the techno-language we see in text messaging isn’t ruining the English language, but rather enabling people to better understand the world around them. Combining humor with instructive examination, Nunberg gives those who plan on speaking to the public an easy-to-grasp blueprint on what grabs listeners’ attention and what doesn’t.
Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections and American Politics
James W. Ceaser, Andrew E. Busch and John J. Pitney Jr.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 221 pages, $24.95
Regardless of how you voted last year, you would likely agree that ‘epic journey’ is a fitting description of the 2008 presidential campaign. The authors offer a thorough academic and political analysis of both the Democratic and Republican primaries, as well as the significance of 2008’s state and congressional contests. The first chapters offer a detailed look at the scope of the recent Democratic victory, pinpointing six keys to Obama’s victory and examining the shadow cast by former President Bush in the 2008 race. The authors also offer a careful analysis of the institutional issues that surfaced after last year’s campaign. From campaign finance to the Democratic Party’s nominating process, 2008 provided plenty of fodder for reformers.
Party Images in the American Electorate
Mark D. Brewer
Routledge, 117 pages, $29.95
Ever wonder why certain images come to mind when you hear “Democrat” or “Republican?” In Party Images, Mark Brewer explores the origins of those mental pictures and delves into the differences in perception of the major political parties. An assistant political science professor at the University of Maine, Brewer examines the messages political parties attempt to convey and highlights differences in how those messages are received by those on opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. From gender to religion to race, Brewer tackles some of the major divides in American politics and contributes to an ever-increasing understanding of how parties are actually evaluated.
Political Conventions: The Art of Getting Elected and Governing
Dr. Allan Bonner
Motion Creative Printing Inc., 267 pages, $29.95
Want to run for public office someday? Read Political Conventions. Described as a “pithy lesson for the politician in waiting” by former New Hampshire Gubernatorial Candidate, D. Arnie Arnesen, Political Conventions tells you what works in the political world and what doesn’t. Bonner, who founded a political training and consulting company, uses personal accounts to frame his blueprint for candidates. He also draws on his own experience helping aspiring politicians get to the top. Whether it comes to addressing tough questions from constituents, debating your opponents on key issues or deciding which parties to attend, Bonner’s got you covered in his latest guide to the basics of campaign success.
Political Bookshelf
Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party TyrannyTheresa Amato
The New Press, 400 pages, $27.95
Theresa Amato launches a passionate defense of third-party campaigns in Illusion, bemoaning what she calls a “broken” and fundamentally unfair electoral system. Ralph Nader’s campaign manager in 2000 and 2004, Amato devotes an entire chapter to her former boss, writing that Nader’s role as a spoiler in 2000 is “a national myth.” Amato offers a coherent case for reform and details the impossible task most independent and third-party candidates face. By September of 2004, Amato writes, the Nader campaign was in such dire straits, it was trolling the Internet in search of some goodwill from lawyers. From compliance to ballot access, she writes that we live in a “rigged democracy” and advocates for among other things the elimination of the Electoral College.
—Shane D’Aprile
The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and the Election of 1828Lynn Hudson Parsons
Oxford, 272 pages, $24.95
In Birth, Lynn Parsons provides a detailed account of the campiagn between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams—one of the dirtiest in American history. From allegations over the legitimacy of Jackson’s marriage to the alleged misuse of public funds by Adams, the 1828 race was rife with mudslinging. More than that, writes Parsons, the contest marked the beginnings of modern campaign techniques. Everything from measuring public opinion to GOTV efforts was used in an early form.
—Elizabeth Abraham
Reforming the Presidential Nomination ProcessEdited by Steven S. Smith and Melanie J. Springer
Brookings Institution Press, 205 pages, $19.95
The editors of this volume leave no stone unturned in recounting 2008’s primary contests. While much of the focus is on the prolonged Democratic nomination battle, several chapters examine the impact of endorsements, voter participation and media coverage on both the Democratic and Republican contests. William Mayer, known as one of the experts on the Democratic process, pens a chapter on superdelegates, in which he asserts that those much maligned participants exerted little to no impact on the Obama-Clinton showdown. And Brookings scholar Thomas Mann explores what sort of nominating process we might end up with if we could build a new one from scratch. Aside from its master-of-the-obvious title, the book offers a significant contribution to the growing reform debate.
—Shane D’Aprile
Political Communication, The Bridge, Conventional Wisdom
Political Communication
Steven Foster
Edinburgh University Press
204 Pages
We live in a world of spin. Spin upon spin, really. There are politicians and their talking points. There are the countless flacks who reinforce those points and are paid to make sure they get into the press. Then, there are the innumerable talking heads who interpret, analyze and, ultimately, spin what’s already been said.Making sense of all this has become a daunting if not impossible task. And that is exactly what Steven Foster attempts to do in “Political Communication,” which is due to be released this Spring. Part textbook and part how-to handbook, it seeks to paint what contemporary political communications are—what they seek to accomplish, their effective strategies—against a backdrop of how they have developed over time. Foster writes that the book “addresses the way in which politicians attempt to communicate their messages to an increasingly skeptical and disengaged electorate and the implications this has for a wide range of associated issues.”
The book seeks to explain the very complicated relationship between political communications that occur during campaigns and those that occur while governing. Foster divides the book into three parts. The first discusses how parties seek to win elections. The second covers how and why pols seek to control the media once in office (there’s an interesting discussion of media bias here). The third looks at how “government has manipulated the law on ownership and media content to its advantage.”
Chapters are preceded by one-page outlines of what’s to come and topics include a history of political communication, government communications, retail politics, campaign advertising and how to manage the news cycle.
One drawback for the U.S. audience is that it focuses primarily on politics in the United Kingdom. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t valuable lessons from British history that are eerily similar to our own. Foster frames much of the book around the Labour Party of Great Britain’s major electoral success in 1997, which made Tony Blair prime minister. The 1997 campaign was, to Foster, perfection when it came to how it handled the media. Early in his tenure as prime minister, Blair and his staff continued to excel in this realm. When the Iraq War began, however, Blair struggled and in some ways manipulated the press to garner support for England’s involvement. Such manipulation does not sit well with journalists so, Forster concludes, Blair’s relationship with the media and, by extension, the electorate was severely strained.