What It Takes: The Way To The White House
What It Takes: The Way To The White House
An American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race -- and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer comes up with the answers, in a book that is vast, exhaustively researched, exhilarating, and sometimes appalling in its revelations.
Publishers Weekly
Cramer's compulsively readable chronicle of the 1988 presidential campaign, a BOMC featured selection and a one-week PW bestseller in cloth, focuses on six contenders--Bush and Dole among the Republicans, and Democrats Hart, Biden, Gephardt and Dukakis--bringing them to life with detailed descriptions and well-crafted interior monologues. (June)
Author : Richard Ben Cramer
Publisher : Vintage
Published Year : 1993
Edition : 1st Vintage Books ed
Format : Paperback, 1072 pages
Dimensions : 5.14 (w) x 7.95 (h) x 1.86 (d)
ISBN : 0679746498
ISBN13 : 9780679746492
Overview :
An American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race — and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer comes up with the answers, in a book that is vast, exhaustively researched, exhilarating, and sometimes appalling in its revelations.
As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Cramer penetrates the riddle at the heart of American politics: How do presumably normal people acquire that mixture of courage, ambition, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate?