The Buying of the President 2000 [Paperback]

Charles Lewis (Author), The Center For Public Integrity (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

IS THE OVAL OFFICE FOR SALE TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER?

This year's presidential election is already one for the record books: the most obscenely expensive race in history. Some of the leading aspirants have already run tens of millions of dollars through their political war chests, and Election Day 2000 could bring the American people their first "$200 Million President." Why and how has the process of choosing a President moved from the voting booth to the auction block?

In The Buying of the President 2000, Charles Lewis and the Center for Public Integrity shine their spotlight on the special (and often secret) interests that have heavily invested in the politicians who are seeking the nation's highest office. This incisive and eye-opening book has been widely acclaimed as the authoritative guide to special interests that are bankrolling the presidential contenders--Democrat, Republican, and Independent, major contender and "dark horse" alike. Here, and nowhere else, you'll find the answers to questions like these:

Which candidate made a cool $15 million in a sweetheart deal arranged by his top political patrons?

Who is secretly pushing to abolish the corporate income tax?

How has one candidate turned his presidential campaign into a gravy train for himself and members of his family?

How did one candidate become a millionaire with a series of by-invitation-only investment deals?

Can you afford not to read The Buying of the President 2000? In THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENT 2000, Charles Lewis and the Center for Public Integrity shine their spotlight on the special (and often secret) interests that have heavily invested in the politicians who are seeking the nation's highest office. This incisive and eye-opening book has already been widely acclaimed as the authoritative guide to special interests that are bankrolling the presidential contenders-- whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent, dark horse or major party candidate. Here, and nowhere else, you'll find revealing facts such as which candidate made a cool $15 million in a sweetheart deal arranged by his top political patrons; how one candidate has turned his presidential campaign into a gravy train for himself and members of his family; how another candidate became a millionaire with a series of by-invitation-only investment deals; and much more. Can any American afford not to read THE BUYING OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT 2000?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The essential fact of politics, writes Charles Lewis, is that "it takes mammoth sums of money to obtain power." The Buying of the President 2000 reveals who is paying. Since 1976, the candidates who have raised the most money have become their party's nominees--and money has become increasingly important with each new election. In 1999, George W. Bush raised $37 million in four months--before a single primary--more than Bill Clinton and Bob Dole raised for their respective campaigns in all of 1995 and 1996. Who is giving all this money to the presidential candidates, and what do they expect in return?

The Buying of the President 2000 reveals that the top 10 donors to the Democrats include the National Education Association, the Walt Disney Company, and Loral Space and Communications (which benefited from the Clinton administration's loosening of restrictions on selling high-tech equipment to China). Among the top 10 Republican party donors: Philip Morris, AT&T, Atlantic Richfield, and Archer Daniels Midland. Bill Bradley's top donors include Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley; Al Gore also gets money from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as well as Ernst & Young and BellSouth. It's not surprising that George W. Bush's biggest career donors are companies with business in Texas, including the Enron Corporation and the Bass family, or that John McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has donors with important business before his committee (US West, AT&T, Viacom, Boeing, and Bank of America). But The Buying of the President 2000 does not seek to make voters more cynical, just better informed. If you care about American democracy, it is an alarming, but very important, reference. --Linda Killian

From Library Journal

A follow-up to the 1996 edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380795191
• ISBN-13: 978-0380795192
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,596,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS A MAJOR AND UNIQUE ACHIEVEMENT, January 28, 2000

By 

BURTON M. COHN - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Buying of the President 2000 (Paperback)

This book is a major achievement. Charles Lewis and the Center for Public Integrity transform voluminous raw data on political contributions into a meaningful form. Gathering this data involves a considerable amount of analysis and detailed judgements. This has been done only in more limited ways by other organizations. As far as I know, "The Buying of the President 2000" is unique in matching money with legislation and other favors. It discusses both soft money and hard money. And, it is available before the primaries and the presidential election.

The Center advances publishing technology by putting the supporting information on its website, which simplifies the content of the book. The website includes footnotes, the top 25 career patrons to each candidate (the book lists the top 10), candidate financial disclosure forms, interview transcripts, matters under review, and more.

Mr. Lewis focuses on relationships between candidates and their contributors. He rejects searching for a quid pro quo, a smoking gun that would prove that contributions buy particular favors. Proving that there is a direct tie is difficult if not impossible. Relationships over a long period of time are demonstrated more easily.

There is a dilemma in presenting the data. Mr. Lewis mentions, "...our self-prescribed function of an honest broker of information......." However, I have yet to see anyone else use the data in the book to do further research and to ask hard questions to the candidates. Perhaps Mr. Lewis is irritated and he uses quotes and judgmental language to create a sinister picture. It would be a stronger book if he stuck to "brokering the information" and left the judgements to further journalistic investigation.

I conclude that presenting the data in a useful form, and describing the relationship of contributions to political favors advances the state-of-the-art on campaign disclosure. Removing judgmental language would raise my rating to 5+ for "The Buying of the President 2000."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every American Should Read This Book, October 27, 2000

By 

The Orange Duke "orangeduke" (Cupertino, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Buying of the President 2000 (Paperback)

Stop reading and just push the Buy It Button. Excellently written and carefully researched. This book is a damning indictment of the political process itself, as well as the two parties and all of their representatives. It explains in detail who owns our `elected officials' and why are democracy is failing. No one is spared. After reading it you will be unable to vote for the tweedle dee/tweedle dumb hacks that the political establishment puts forth every election cycle. This book will never be out dated. Even after the election it will serve as an example for the future. It reveals the reasons laws are specifically written to aid special interests (see especially the Bradley section). I disagree strongly with Mr. Cohn's complaint about objectivity. How can one feign objectivity about the mass corruption that is destroying our society? Read it, live it! Get out of the two party rut; this book explains why you must. I also recommend the 1996 version.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Account, February 12, 2001

By 

Robertomelbourne (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Buying of the President 2000 (Paperback)

An important analytical account of the issue of hard and soft money going towards camapign fundraising in the US presidential race. It effectively, and simply highlights the growing amounts of money that is being pushed into campaigns, and an important outcome is the need for sensible campaign reform principlly placing a ceiling on campaign expenditure to overcome the ludicrous state of US campiagn financing and expenditure.