Character: America's Search for Leadership [Hardcover]

Gail Sheehy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The author of the best-selling Passages has turned her attention again to what makes high achievers tick. In this study, she undertakes extensive interviews with the principals, and those close to them, who began the marathon of American politics in hopes that the road would end in the White House. The book assumes that an informed electorate should know more about those who would be president than is conveyed by a slick PR image. Sheehy concentrates on Hart, Gore, Dukakis, Jackson, Dole, Bush, and President Reagan as case studies. Hart is documented as his own worst enemy; Jackson has his enemies chronicled; Dole is dogged and insensitive; Bush is a plodder who tries to please too many. The crafty Gore is contrasted with the other wunderkind, Dukakis, who became flexible in defeat but retained his principles. Artistic and compelling. Highly recommended. Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (September 23, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517075369
• ISBN-13: 978-0517075364
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,077,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gail Sheehy is the world-renowned author of fifteen books, including Passages, which remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than three years and has been reprinted in twenty-eight languages.

As a literary journalist, Sheehy was one of the original contributors to New York magazine. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair since 1984, she won the Washington Journalism Review Award for Best Magazine Writer in America for her in-depth character portraits of national and world leaders, including both President Bushes, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, and Mikhail Gorbachev. Sheehy is a seven-time recipient of the New York Newswomen's Club Front Page Award for distinguished journalism. She currently resides in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For followers of politics and history only...., January 11, 2000

By 

"babalouie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Character (Mass Market Paperback)

Sheehy provides an historical and psychological profile of candidates for election, prior to the election (Al Gore, George Bush, Bob Dole, Ronald Reagan, etc.). It was probably more fascinating to read while the election was still in progress - but I'm amazed that an author would spend a year writing a book that would have such a limited shelf life. I read it years after the election took place, so it was a bit like being in the Twilight Zone - I knew how the story would end, but Sheehy didn't. Now that George Bush Jr. is running for election, those who believe "like father, like son" may find the chapter on Bush to be revealing. And, of course, Al Gore is still around. Otherwise, don't bother with this book unless you're intensely interested in knowing the psyches of presidents and presidential candidates - and be prepared to have less confidence in their abilities or even their normalcy.