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Almost President: The Men Who Lost The Race But Changed The Nation (2011)

by Scott Farris(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0762763787 (ISBN13: 9780762763788)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Lyons Press

review 1: According to the author, some of the men (and they were all men) ended up being large influences despite losing the biggest election of their career (multiple times in some cases). Farris, for the most part, does not seem to judge whether or not the influence of these men were of a positive nature, only that they influenced something. While some, like Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas had legitimate impacts on history, by either creating or sustaining democracy through the two party system, the remainder are more questionable. Al Smith's disastrous candidacy led to American Catholics pushing their way into the mainstream, but he had no personal hand in that. Later candidates seemed to be more like prototypes for more successful candidates down the road, suggesting Dewey i... morenfluenced Ike and Nixon while Adlai Stephenson may have been the first Democrat to use lofty rhetoric and an intellectual demeanor in a way that sounds a lot like Kennedy or Obama. But the style of the book was a bit so-so. The first chapter, on the importance of the concession speech, didn't do much for me, and the inclusion of Ross Perot seemed to be more of a baffling sign of the times than a really influential force for politics. Not a bad book, but not an overly compelling one either.
review 2: If you have any interest in the history of the American presidency or in general American history, this is a must read. Well written, with lots of details, including many I bet you DON'T know, this is a special and unusual work. One or two of the VPs I did not know much about other than their name, but of the 34 described (9 in fabulous detail), I found my opinions changed on all but one or two (e.g., I never had much respect for Perot, but now I have even less, though it was quite interesting how much he affected campaigns since his time). Highly recommended (the book, not Ross). less

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