The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War [Hardcover]

Sheldon Hackney (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: New South Inc; First Edition edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588380688
• ISBN-13: 978-1588380685
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,123,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, March 18, 2007

By 

Patrick Sanaghan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War (Hardcover)

I throughly enjoyed this book and learned a great deal from reading it. Although it details Hackney's battle in the "Culture Wars " of Clinton's presidency, it provides great insight into: faculty governance, campus politics,the role of the presidency in a modern day university, dealing with the press and media, navigating complex , highly charged issues and the management of perception.

Hackney is an excellent writer and has a fair share of wisdom

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Self-serving but instructive, October 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War (Hardcover)

This is a many-faceted book, written in extremely compelling and sympathetic prose. You cannot help but feel for Hackney as he describes the hell he went through to be appointed, or the absurd politics surrounding his confirmation. It is sad to see that members of the U.S. Senate, on both sides, would take to the floor and condemn a man they didn't bother to learn about for actions they knew only the smallest amount about. Regardless of Prof. Hackney's sins, the circus was ridiculous.
Still, though, the issue of Hackney's sins cannot be ignored, and he certainly does not. As much as this is a memoir of the "Politics of Presidential Appointment," it is also Hackney's long-awaited public defense of himself against his many (justified) detractors. And it is this portion of the book that is dissappointing self-serving and one-sided. It is unfortunate that, 10 years later, Hackney still defends his coddling of the enemies of free speech and newspaper thieves, and his defense of speech codes, though in fairness he writes that he no longer believes in codes.
On the whole, this is a good book that I'd recommend, but if you are not familiar with the events at Penn that led to Hackney's unfortunate Senate experience, I strongly encourage you to read "The Shadow University" by Alan Kors and Harvey Silverglate, which presents the other side of the story as is an even better book.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A politically charged testimony of so-called "Culture Wars", December 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War (Hardcover)

The Politics Of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir Of The Culture War by historian Sheldon Hackney (University of Pennsylvania) is a politically charged testimony of the so-called "Culture Wars." The former president of the University of Pennsylvania, Sheldon Hackney tells of how his nomination to become President Bill Clinton's chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities touched off heated fire from right-wing conservatives. Polarized opinions and the deleterious fallout from vehement accusations from both the left and right sides of life issues are considered in the sobering and insightful account. Enhanced with a Foreword by Vernon Jordan, The Politics Of Presidential Appointment is a welcome and illuminating contribution to contemporary Political Science reference collections and reading lists.