Presidential Campaigns [Paperback]

Paul F. Boller Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 1985

Presidential Campaigns, an enlightening and endlessly entertaining history of American presidential elections, brings each campaign, from Washington to Reagan, vividly to life. Boller chronicles the frenzy and frolic spawned by campaigns--the songs, slogans, rallies, leaflets, parades, and hyperbolic oratory--and also gives an account of the serious side of elections--the great public debates on race relations, economic policy and the candidates' stands on the vital issues of the day.
Above all, Boller makes clear that, despite their shortcomings, presidential campaigns are an inseparable part of democratic politics in the United States. These quadrennial showdowns have alternately perplexed, pleased and fascinated the American people, teaching us much about the character of our nation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

*Praise for the first edition:

"For anyone seeking a lively resource book on America's quadrennial spectacle, Presidential Campaign is happily present."--The Washington Post

"An excellent handbook for the campaign junkie."--The Wall Street Journal

"[Boller] has a good eye for the offbeat and the ludicrous, and he spins the anecdotes together with the skill of the old-fashioned Yankee yarn master."--The New York Times Book Review

"Boller has a wonderful knack for extracting the color and drama from political events....Simply an entertaining survey containing a barrelful of interesting historical tidbits, well worth the reading."--Business Week

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

About the Author: Paul F. Boller Jr., is Emeritus Professor of History at Texas Christian University. His previous books include the best-selling Presidential Anecdotes and Quotesmanship.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Softcover Ed edition (October 17, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195037227
• ISBN-13: 978-0195037227
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,187,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Objective and Informative, January 22, 2002

By 

William Hare (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Presidential Campaigns (Paperback)

Paul F. Boller Jr. turned in a milestone effort with "Presidential Campaigns," combining an excellently developed historian's eye along with an objective presentation.
This informative work reads like an entertaining novel while providing all kinds of fascinating information about America's presidential campaigns from Washington to the present, from which we can learn so much about our nation's history, using famous elections as an evolutionary guide to understanding the peaks and valleys of the Ameican experience.

In that some of the subject matter is about heavy topics such as war and peace, domestic political conflict, and America during economic panics and depressions, Boller's humor is needed to lighten the heaviness and he delivers superbly. This is understandable since much of his career as an author involves books of anecdotes regarding American and British history as well as Hollywood's film world.

This is a book that crisply and entertainingly tells us so much about America, as revealed through its presidential compaigns.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear and well written, August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Presidential Campaigns (Paperback)

This is a well organized book full of useful facts that show how our political history has evolved over the years. Full of antdotes and trivia, the book reveals quite a bit about America. Very well condenced stories of each election. Reports things as historical facts rather than a political leaning (except for the 1988 race maybe). Overall a very good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable, Informative and Fun, May 31, 2008

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Presidential Campaigns (Hardcover)

This is a readable and informative history of Presidential politics. Devoting one chapter to each election since 1789 (George Washington), author Paul Boller provides a crisp overview, followed by a host of trivial facts and tidbits. Readers get a good view of U.S. poltiical history, personalities like Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, William Jennings Bryan, etc., and key issues such as slavery, railroads, robber barons, war, peace, communism, etc. Some readers may be surprised to learn that half-truths and mud-slinging are nothing new - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were both accused of being enemy spies, Grover Cleveland's illegitimate son was campaign fodder, and charges that the Pope would soon rule the USA came with candidacies of Catholics Al Smith (1928) and John F. Kennedy (1960).

I gave just four stars due to a couple factual errors (e.g., Martin Luther King was killed April 4, not April 27 1968), and readers may prefer the updated version - this one finishes with 1984. Still, this is fun, informative reading.