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All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over
 
 
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All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over [Hardcover]

Mo Rocca (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 28, 2004
All the Presidents’ Men meets Charlotte’s Web in an explosive political exposé that blows the lid off a long-held secret in Washington: The Presidents’ pets are more than just furry photo ops.

How much does the public really know about the role of the President?

Does the White House Press Corps really understand it?

Does the President himself have a clue?

All the Presidents’ Pets is the long-awaited, spine-tingling, muckraking blockbuster from political and pop culture commentator Mo Rocca—a tour de force of investigative reporting that for the first time tells the true story of who really runs America.

From George Washington’s donkey, Royal Gift, and Rutherford B. Hayes’s Siamese cat, Miss Pussy, to Lincoln’s goats, Nanny and Nanko, and John Kennedy’s Welsh terrier, Charlie, each has left an indelible mark on the White House. (In fact, Eisenhower’s Weimaraner, Heidi, did leave a terrible stain on the Diplomatic Reception Room carpet. She was promptly exiled to Ike’s Gettysburg farm.) In All the Presidents’ Pets, Rocca lays bare the true stories of our nation’s First Pets and sheds light on the origins and evolution of presidential power.

Rocca plumbs rare sources, with the assistance of veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas (the Stefanie Powers to his Robert Wagner), for the poop—er, scoop—on what really goes on in the West Wing. Once Helen reveals her deepest, darkest secret, the story turns dangerous. Filled with revelations and news breaks—and an unforgettable cast, including Wolf Blitzer, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and a terrifying albino named Gephardt (no relation)—this is yet another story that the complacent Washington press corps missed.

Forget Paul O’Neill. Richard Clarke? Who’s that? All the Presidents’ Pets is the groundbreaking political book that Bob Woodward could have written had he just spent a little less time with the President and a little more time with Barney.

“Some will consider this satire. Mo Rocca describes how U.S. political policy has been guided by presidential pets for more than two hundred years. Oh, and I suppose you have a better explanation?” —P. J. O’Rourke

All the Presidents’ Pets is a deeply probing, thoroughly engaging account about how the media has uniformly overlooked the White House pet phenomenon to the detriment of our national memory. Thanks to Mo Rocca, no serious political commentator can properly analyze the Bush Administration without taking into consideration ‘The Barney Factor.’ And, for good measure, he has broken the story of Helen Thomas’s lair, a cosmic revelation that will force historians to reinterpret presidencies dating as far back as James Garfield’s tenure.” —Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History and Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans

“A freaky, phantasmagoric trip through the secret history of presidential pets.”—Robert Siegel, former editor in chief of The Onion


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Geeky, factoid-loving TV comedian Rocca of The Daily Show presents a wacky satire on Washington and the media, with particular barbed attention paid to Fox News. With ironically deadpan innocence, Rocca uncovers the top-secret history of a pact between presidents and their pets, who are "bound by the indispensable 'Sacred Animal' component of proper decision-making." Rocca's jibes at media and government personalities range from incisive to silly and may confuse readers not fully literate in cable network news. More universally comprehensible and funny are stories of the influence of presidential pets on their owners. The mating of Kennedy's terrier, Charlie, with Pushinka, a canine gift from Khrushchev, averted the Cuban missile crisis. Johnson's dog Him predicted the quagmire of Vietnam, although Johnson ignored the advice. Funniest of all is a 1798 town square Crossfire on the Alien and Sedition Act between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, moderated by bulldog Toddy and sheepdog Buzzy, in which the politicians hurl personal insults at each other while the dogs do their best to maintain rational thinking and civility. The book's peculiarly postmodern blending of fact and fantasy make it hard to tell jokes from mere ironic truths. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Some will consider this satire. Mo Rocca describes how U.S. political policy has been guided by presidential pets for more than two hundred years. Oh, and I suppose you have a better explanation?” —P. J. O’Rourke


“A wild and hilarious tale of who’s really running the show in Washington.” —Detroit News


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Crown (September 28, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400052254
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400052257
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Surreal and... Educational and Timely, too?, September 28, 2004
This review is from: All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over (Hardcover)
This is one of the oddest, funniest - and most fact-packed -- books I've read in a long time, and certainly one of the most surreal books I've ever read, which is basically a survey of presidential history and politics set against contemporary issues in the guise of the story of Mo Rocca being appointed a White House correspondent for CNN to compete with the Presidential Pet beat (read - White House propaganda) being monopolized by Fox News. Are you with me? If you saw this year's RNC, and the video about Barney helping sway voters across the country, well, that kind of shilling is basically what is at the heart of this book. And it's filled with cameos by political pundits and politicians and celebrities and all sorts of pop culture references that range from ironic to down right inspired, as well as real honest to god history. It's sort of Monty Python meets....something, I can't quite figure out, but it's sort of screaming cult status. Oh, and then there's the "thriller" that runs through the book where Rocca uncovers the "real influence" presidential pets have had in shaping the country that is suspiciously like the Da Vinci Code, albino (named Gephart), "holy" grail and all. Right on.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but funny in spots., November 7, 2004
This review is from: All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over (Hardcover)
I was not familar with Mo Rocca until I heard a radio interview with him and decided to but this book. He was considerably funnier and more entertaining in the radio interview.

As other reviewers have explained, this is the story of the secret contributions made by presidential pets throughout US history. Mixed in are references to numerous cable news personalities and reporters, some shots at past presidents and our current one, and a conspiracy involving the holy grail of presidential pets.

Some familiarity with TV news personalities (OK, a LOT of familiarity) is necessary to fully appreciate the inside humor. Although Fox News is hit particularly hard, Rocca spares no one.

The problem with this book is it's inconsistency. It reminds me of old average Saturday Night Live or Monty Python episodes, where moments of brilliance are interspersed with skits that just didn't work. The climax is very funny, but leading up to it were many spots that dragged or just seemed dumb rather than humorous.

My copy will probably be ending up on EBay as well.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A shocking expose of who really controls the President, October 8, 2004
By 
This review is from: All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter Who Refused to Roll Over (Hardcover)
Mo Rocca's groundbreaking investigative reporting is a tour de force in this memoir/thriller/oh-so-juicy political potboiler. The former Daily Show guru plows through years of lies and half-truths to uncover the deadly secret that will rock Washington to its core: Presidential pets play more of a role in the affairs of state than previously believed....

Okay, Mo Rocca may have fudged some of the facts, and he may not be telling the full story of his scandelous May-December romance with White House Chief Correspondent Helen Thomas. And sure, Laurie Dhue may not be a killer cyborg and...oops, I've said too much.

This book, Rocca's first, is a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of Presidential pets, a world that used to be regarded merely as a "photo op" to make various Presidents look human. In fact, once you finish this tome you will realize that maybe, just maybe, presidential pets have more to do with the wise decisions our commanders-in-chief make.

Rocca's journey takes him to a hidden lair underneath the White House Press Room, where veteran reporter Helen Thomas (actually a 200+ year old turkey eagle) keeps a secret archive relating the unknown history of just how important presidential pets have been. In the corridors of power, he encounters resistance from the Bush Cabinent to acknowledge information gleaned from those archives. Betrayed by someone who knew about the archives, Rocca and Thomas see their precious documents destroyed. Finally, in a showdown only Jerry Bruckheimer can bring to the screen, Rocca confronts the evil conspiracy that threatens to neuter the presidential pets' power forever. Several of his collegues and political contacts meet a bloody end in a scene so ambitious and so exhilerating that you'll just have to wait for the Hollywood adaptaion.

The book works if you suspend your disbelief...really, really suspend it. I have to say overall, this is an impressive, if slightly muddled and occasionally frustrating, debut from Rocca. Those of you familiar with "Mike Nelson's Death Rat!" by Michael J. Nelson (MST3K) will find that this is a similar style of humorous fiction. In this case, Rocca includes real people, with their real names, and proceeds to run full tilt with a story that has to be read to be appreciated.

Overall, I think the book is winning enough to merit further readings, and I hope Mr. Rocca can continue his groundbreaking studies into just how presidential pets have shaped our nation's history. The world needs to know the real role of Millie, Socks the cat, and all the other pets who have called the White House home. It might shock you, it might embarass you, but it will never fail to entertain you.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
All aboard! The Acela Express between Washington and New York launched its maiden voyage in the fall of 2000 as a high-speed alternative to the poky, college-student-infested Amtrak train. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
presidential pets, reproduction number, turkey buzzard, chew toy
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
White House, Fox News, Miss Pussy, Laura Bush, New York, First Lady, Laurie Dhue, President Bush, Gephardt the Albino, Helen Thomas, York Times, Barbara Bush, Kate Snow, Norah O'Donnell, Washington Post, First Dog, President Fox, Dick Morris, Early Show, East Room, Editorial Desk, Late Edition-Final, Paul Krugman, Federalist Papers, Larry King
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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This book cites 14 books:
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