Customer Reviews

Anything for a Vote

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book. While you could read it in snippets - search out on one or two elections that were high on the sleaze-o-meter (the author gives nearly every election a rating for its dirty tricks quotient) I found it both enlighting and enjoyable to read it all the way through. Cummins has a clever, relaxed style and a real eye for quirky details. He also has no political agenda which means every party has to face up to their dirty past -Democrats, Republicans, and Democratic Republicans. After delving into several decades worth of elections I began to feel a bit better about our era, if only because dirty tricks and cheating seems to go in cycles. The public can be snowed for awhile but they always come to their senses, and there's something reassuring about learning that. And while 2000 was awful, between the hanging chads and the Supremes deciding the election, at least not too many dead people voted, as in previous elections, and we no longer have drunks being paid in whisky to vote a few dozen times.
Every page has another colorful tidbit. For example, my old TV hero Davy Crocket was actually a Whig attack dog, accusing Martin Van Buren of dressing in corsetts. And I loved finding out about the men who ran for President and lost, and what happened to them afterwards (poor Horace Greeley died within months of losing.)
Also, there were some colorful Vice Presidential candidates over the years. And I had my eyes opened about several of our chief executives. Talk about anything for a vote...Finally there were many relevant comparisons you could make to the present election season. For example, Taft made no apologies for his religion. "If the American public is so narrow as not to elect a Unitarian, well and good, I can stand it." I wish Mitt Romney were so direct. Al Smith's struggles also offer a perspective on this topic.
This book was a delight - my wife thought so as well, and I've just handed it off to my 16 year old who I'm sure is going to love it as well. Be sure to check out Andrew Jackson, Rutherford Hayes, and Herbert Hoover and LBJ. Unbelievable!!

The book is entertaining and has a lot of great facts, but it misses the mark on a few too many simple facts. For example, it says that Calvin Coolidge became the President by winning the 1924 election; ignoring that he became President when Harding died. It also identifies Robert Kennedy as a Senator from Massachusetts, when in reality he represented New York.

I enjoyed this book mostly because it offers some interesting perspective on the 2008 primaries. Turns out all of the most common attacks ("You're too old to be pres!" "You're not Christian enough to be pres" etc) have been used again and again over the past 200 years. As the author says, these kinds of attacks are as American as apple pie, and this book shows which candidates have used them. The illustrations help to liven up what could potentially be a dull subject. If you're a cable news junkie, you'll like this book.

Joe Cummins has hit on an incredibly timely subject. He covers it in an animated and insightful way. This is a must read and a perfect holiday gift. I am giving it to my father for sure.

If this books looks even remotely interesting to you, then get it. So many books seem like more than what they are, and then fail to deliver. This book is the exception, it delivers a healthy helping of useless trivial knowledge. Packed full of facts that no political junkie should be without.

This was an excellent read of a book. Not only was it very interesting to read about our nation's history and all its dirty deeds, but it was very eye opening to see that we are still the same dirty politicians that we were back in the 1800's. It was a very quick read, with pictures of that certain election and a "sleaze-o-meter" that told you how bad that election was. It also gave an interesting quote at the beginning so you could get a feel for how that election went.I would recommend this book, especially for high schoolers, because it will easily grasp their attention and some of the pictures might be of interest to them. Cummins adds wit and humor to his novel, which you sometimes don't expect in a history or nonfiction book. It is a great way for students to learn about their history and while for some of the more "mature" readers it will be a little obvious, for the majority it should prove a worthwhile book.