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Bob Woodward

The Price of Politics Hardcover – September 11, 2012

by Bob Woodward (Author)

472 ratings

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Based on 18 months of reporting, Woodward's 17th book The Price of Politics is an intimate, documented examination of how President Obama and the highest profile Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Congress attempted to restore the American economy and improve the federal government’s fiscal condition over three and one half years. Drawn from memos, contemporaneous meeting notes, emails and in-depth interviews with the central players, The Price of Politics addresses the key issue of the presidential and congressional campaigns: the condition of the American economy and how and why we got there. Providing verbatim, day-by-day, even hour-by-hour accounts, the book shows what really happened, what drove the debates, negotiations and struggles that define, and will continue to define, the American future.

Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

September 11, 2012
Dimensions

6.13 x 1.3 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

1451651104
ISBN-13

978-1451651102
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Woodward’s seventeenth book takes interested readers—and they will need to be very interested—behind closed doors to observe how the nation’s debt crisis developed over the past three-and-a-half years. Copious interviews with major players in this stand-off between the president and congressional Republicans (more than 100 individuals, so the author states) led the author to prepare a you-are-there, fly-on-wall approach to detailing the “struggle...to manage federal spending and tax policy.” The specific focus, and subsequently a big chunk of the book,centers on the 44-day high-stakes negotiations between the two sides in June and July, 2011, a brutal haggling over raising the debt ceiling. The cast in this drama is huge, but of course President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner loom largest upon the stage. These two key players attempted to reach a “grand bargain” that would ease the crisis for some time to come. Woodward’s purpose is to reveal how close they came and why an agreement failed. If readers are looking for an unbiased chronicle of these events, they better look elsewhere. Woodward appears to have walked into the writing of this book ready to lay most of the blame on the president. Some journalists in the know have reported that there is really nothing new here, but political junkies surely will read to the last page. For most readers, though, much of this will be TMI. --Brad Hooper

Review

“A highly detailed dissection of the debt-limit negotiations. … A remarkable achievement. …Woodward, being Woodward, digs deeper and draws more out of the protagonists than anyone else has.” —Jeff Shesol, The Washington Post

"Groundbreaking" —David Gregory, NBC's Meet the Press

"Takes us inside the room once again." —Charlie Rose

"Fabulous book and great reporting." —Norah O'Donnell, CBS This Morning

“Bob Woodward, in characteristic fashion, does his competitors one better by filling in blanks and providing even finer detail.” —Miranda Green, The Daily Beast

"A book everyone is talking about." —Diane Sawyer, ABC

"A very revealing, insightful book." —Sean Hannity, Fox News, "Hannity"

"Required Reading" —Elizabeth Titus, Politico

“Almost every bookshelf in the U.S. capital holds a thin volume called 13 Days, Robert F. Kennedy’s account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Memo to Washington: Make room on those shelves for Bob Woodward’s latest behind-the-scenes book, The Price of Politics, which might as well have been called 44 Days. The centerpiece is a riveting account of the tedious negotiations to reach a ‘grand bargain’ on the federal budget.” —David M. Shirbman, Bloomberg Businessweek

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (September 11, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1451651104
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451651102
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1.3 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #388,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #171 in U.S.Congresses, Senates & Legislative
- #311 in Political Parties (Books)
- #830 in United States Executive Government

Customer Reviews:
472 ratings

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5 star		45%
4 star		29%
3 star		16%
2 star		6%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Bradley Nelson

Not Woodward's best

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2013

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This was a surprisingly tough read for Woodward. I can usually plow through his books with no problem. But perhaps he is out of his league with a book on economics instead of politics or war? I'm not sure. But I found this book far harder to get through. It seems to bog down in too much detail. In a way, this is just an updated version of Confidence Men, which had some of the same problems.

I'm sure some fans of Woodward will still enjoy the book, but I found it not on par with most of his works. This book also seems to come in the middle of the economic situation, which means that it will soon be dated. Not that this has ever been a problem for Woodward, but it seems more true of this book than others.

Nonetheless, if the topic interests you, by all means this is probably the best option out there. I just wish I could enjoy reading it as much as Woodward's other books.

3 people found this helpful

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Austin Stern

politics!

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2016

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Politics are both fascinating and illustrative of a conundrum. They all-too-often screw up the works! You might like to think that the countrie's needs are of first importance but politics always seems to get in the way of right solutions. What an unfortunate fact of reality. The author does a good job of presenting the facts. I happen to like his style of doing so...have read other books that he has written. I came away from this reading thinking tht our cur current President is not the sharp practitioners of the political games that Washington plays that I would like to think he is. Boy...talk about being between a rock and a hard place! ...a good but frustrating book

One person found this helpful

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Drew Shaw

Woodward's The Price of Politics

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2013

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Someone once said that journalism is the first draft of history. While Bob Woodward is no historian, his books routinely provide readers with primers into the workings of the American government.

"The Price of Politics" deals with the negotiations between President Obama and Congress that failed to achieve "The Grand Bargain" sought by both men, and led to the sequestration that began on March 1. There are many revelations along the way -- Eric Cantor is no demon, Joe Biden is no fool, the Senate seems largely interested in avoiding having to vote on anything and yes, administration officials first raised the sequestration idea, somewhat based on the somewhat successful Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction act of the early 1980s.

What is most striking about the Washington of "The Price of Politics" is its appalling lack of leadership. Unlike the cinematic "Lincoln," there are no closers here, no bare-knuckled drive to accomplish something. And that gives a good clue why we are where we are today.

3 people found this helpful

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Stephen G. Franks

A surprising read!

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2012

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Let me lead by saying that I like Bob Woodward and that I voted for Barack Obama in 2008. I expected any book by Woodward to be factual and entertaining at the same time. I was not disappointed about being entertained, and I hope that his facts were straight. What did surprise me about the book is that Obama and his White House staff came off as such bumblers when it came to working with Congress-- with both the opposition and with his own Democratic party! I think it shows that someone with limited experience in Washington just does not know all the ins and outs with dealing with those "on the hill". I have read books about Lyndon Johnson and how adept he was at handling Congress. It seems that Obama and his staff are (or were in his first term) at the opposite extreme of the spectrum! I was especially surprised how well Joe Biden came off in the book. Without him, things for Obama would probably have been even worse. It is a good description of how things in Washington work (or don't in this case).

4 people found this helpful

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THE FAMED PRESIDENTIAL POLITICAL REPORTER LOOKS AT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2012

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Woodward begins this 2012 book by saying, "This book examines the struggle between President Obama and the United States Congress to manage federal spending and tax policy for the three and one half years between 2009 and the summer of 2012. More than half the book focuses on the intense 44-day crisis in June and July 2011 when the United States came to the brink of a potentially catastrophic default on its debt." (Pg. xiii)

At a January 2009 meeting with Republican congressional leaders, President Obama told Eric Cantor, "I can go it alone... but I want to come together. Look at the polls. The polls are pretty good for me right now... Elections have consequences... And Eric, I won... So on that, I trump you." (Pg. 14) About the 2009 stimulus bill, Woodward notes that "whenever any Republican tried to make changes, [Chief of Staff Rahm] Emanuel's response was... 'We have the votes. F__k 'em.' This was the bulldozing that Obama had promised to avoid." (Pg. 16)

He notes, "What really surprised Cantor, though, was how badly the White House had played what should have been a winning hand... he had unified and energized the losers. Not only had he missed the opportunity to get the Republicans into the boat with him, he had actually pushed them away. The failure was one of human relations. There had been no sincere contact, no inclusiveness, no real listening." (Pg. 22) But after the 2010 midterm elections, he observes, "But when you need friends, it's too late to make them... The tables had turned. They had the votes." (Pg. 61)

Later, he interprets Paul Ryan's reaction to an Obama speech: "This was what he called 'game-on demagoguery.' Ryan's worst suspicions about the president were realized: Obama wasn't just phoning it in for [Nancy] Pelosi and [Harry] Reid, he really believed this stuff... Ryan felt betrayed. He'd expected an olive branch. What he got was the finger." (Pg. 104, 106) Woodward records, "Obama's inner circle knew that ... a large number of Boehner's rank and file---the extreme Tea Partiers---were dangerously irresponsible... 'I have some sympathy for him.' the president repeated. 'You see how crazy these people are.... His motivation is pure... He just can't control the forces in his caucus now.'" (Pg. 135)

Woodward concludes, "The debt limit crisis was a time of peril for the United States... you cannot help but conclude that neither President Obama nor Speaker Boehner handled it particularly well... Rather than fixing the problem, they postponed it... President Obama was handed a miserable, faltering economy and faced a recalcitrant Republican opposition. But presidents work their will... Obama has not... Americans are now left with a still struggling economy in the midst of a presidential election. It is a world of the status quo, only worse." (Pg. 378-380)

Primarily critical of the Obama administration, although sometimes also of the Republican leadership, this is a detailed (sometimes TOO much so) account that will be of interest to political junkies overwhere.

15 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

conjunction

Just a Game of Chicken

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2012

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As an Englishman what intrigues me most about this is what it reveals about the way Obama works. Having read Suskind's "Confidence Men" last year about Obama's attempts to handle the banking crisis, he seemed to be a man with no opinions who let himself be pushed around by his advisors. And yet Suskind's analysis didn't really hang together, and Suskind himself didn't comment on what he described. I felt something was missing in the picture.

Many of the reviews on Amazon.com make similar criticism of Obama, as do many of the players in Woodward's book: Obama doesn't know how to negotiate, they say.

I disagree. It seems to me Obama was forced to negotiate with a bunch of Republicans holding by any standards prior to 2000 an extreme right wing position, who themselves felt hostage to the Tea party, a bunch of people who they said didn't care whether America defaulted all its debts, it didn't matter anyway. Presumably they felt the market was the only thing that mattered.

To me Obama did extraordinarily well in his refusal to compromise. He was after all dealing with the Republicans who to a man (not many women in this book) were not prepared to countenance the idea that the megarich should have to pay more than 28% tax to help the country nay world out of a jam. Even Obama's own people, some of them, like Reid and Pelosi seemed prepared to undercut him at times.

Woodward himself is quite critical of Obama in his brief judgment at the end, suggesting that if he had handled the Republicans more skilfully he might have got more out of them. To me that seems very unlikely. Someone towards the end of the book said the Republicans felt they needed to come out of the negotiations looking as if they had humiliated the president because that was the only outcome that would satisfy the Tea Party.

I don't agree with Woodward's opinions, but as always he does a great job of stating the play. The negotiations were incredibly protracted and tedious and you have to admire the stamina and resilience of all the players if not necessarily their motivation. However the things they were arguing about on day 25 were the same as day one, and as is often stated in this book it was all really just a game of chicken. At one point one of the politicos rings up the guys on Wall St., who were all having kittens, to say, "Chill, we're all just playing a game here."

2 people found this helpful

Mr. R Heaslip

Not as good as he other books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2012

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Probably more to do with the subject matter but not as good as his other books. A slow read which I didn't really enjoy.

Joshua C

Terrible

Reviewed in Canada on September 18, 2020

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The cover came bent, and some pages came bent.

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