Customer Reviews

Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History

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Ever wonder how 435 egomaniacs get even a few bills done in
Congress?

The Cheneys supply the answer in this book of excellent
vignettes on several masters of the US House of Representatives. Meet
Clay, Polk, Stevens, Blaine, Reed, Cannon, Longworth, Rayburn and
Gingrich as they work their will on their members to controll the
legislative process.

By examining the role of congressional
leadership through history and historic personalities, this book both
illustrates how the House has changed and how the nature of power
hasn't. These men relied on personal relationships, codes of honor
that won respect and a willingness to exercise power (ie, risk tough
battles, reward friends and punish enemies) to run the House.

Both
the history buff and those interested in leadership studies will find
this book interesting. Though well written, the book is short. I
think that it could have delved into more detail of some of the
political battles these men faced and still been fascinating. Maybe
Dick Cheney will have the time to expand upon this theme as Vice
President -- there is a lot of opportunity for writing while jetting
to and from foreign funerals (as John Nance Garner -- FDR's 1st VP --
said "the job's not worth a bucket of warm spit!).

I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It covered each topic just enough with a good balance of political, social, and personal aspects and how the three inter-related and affected the subjects. For someone just beginning to understand the history of the House, it is a great book to read.

Want to know where the real seat of control lies in the US government? Then this book about some of the most powerful men in the history of the House of Representatives is an excellent (although short) resource. I now have a much better appreciation of the need to ensure control of that body is in the hands of truthful, focused and principled people.

The book needs a re-write, though. It stops (was published) before the full impact of Newt Gingrich's term could be evaluated.

Read this book and you'll have a new respect for the workings of the House of Representatives and, by extension, the federal government - something like controlling chaos!

great subject, but poorly handled. look elsewhere, to primary source material, if you're interested in these fascinating men and the marks they left on american history.

Wow! A fascinating and exhaustively sourced read about prominent Speakers of the House. Made me want to know more about the office in general. Especially interesting, but far too infrequent, were the snippets of dialog from various house sessions -- the exchanges between the members showed that maybe our 1992-2000 congress *hasn't* been the most divided! I'll look forward to the "Cheney Memoirs" after he serves 8 years as VP and then moves on to the presidency.