What It Takes: The Way to the White House Kindle Edition

What it Takes, The Way to the White House is 1000+ page tome about the 1988 Presidential campaign. This is the perfect book to read now that we are in primary season. Richard Ben Cramer, the author has an interesting writing style that mixes historical perspective for each candidate mixed with the current events of the campaign. He provides insight into the unsavory tactics used to propel a candidate toward the ultimate goal. At the same time it is a wonderful study of the many different personalities that run for president. The Dukakis technocracy, the never say never attitude of Bob Dole, the hubris of Gary Hart, the work ethic of Dick Gephardt, the competitive drive of Joe Biden and the confidence of George Bush, who felt that he was the rightful heir to the presidency...this was a true character study of the type of individual who runs for the most powerful position in the world, the President of the United States.

So I'd heard the whole pitch. This is THE standard for campaign narratives. It was "Game Change" decades ahead of its time. Almost universally praised, especially by DC junkies, I figured this book would be a sure thing.

It's not. It's unreadable. Stream-of-consciousness. Like the email you didn't proofread. Like the essay you wrote on two hours' sleep. Like this paragraph if it were twelves times longer and contained no periods.

Here's an example passage, plucked from the firs ten pages: "He had learned to accept its cost, as he had its prerequisites, as his destiny, even his due, owed not to him, as he'd sometimes point out, but to the high office he held."

Did you catch all that? Multiply it- that's how the whole book is written. None of that is to say it's not well-researched, or that it doesn't contain some fascinating insights. Cramer just makes it all so much work to get there. Bad oral histories aren't even this messy.

If you've got the time, and are willing to lose a couple hours to backtracking, I say go for it. Otherwise, "What It Takes" is one more letdown whose reality underperforms its Beltway reputation.

Wow - reading Richard Ben Cramer for a page is intense enough, but for a 1,000 plus pages is a trial of endurance. Cramer's look at the 1988 presidential election is understandably a classic look at six contenders, but the book will probably be more remembered for its influence upon modern journalism. Moving back and forth from one pol to another, Cramer gets inside of everyone's head. The star is Bob Dole, whose personal story Cramer makes as compelling as Dole refused to make compelling in person. The goat is Dick Gephart, who never seems to be much more than a cardboard cutout. Joe Biden comes off as crazy and yet charismatic. Gary Hart as weird. Michael Dukasis is the know-it-all. The winner, George Bush, the guy who likes everyone.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the book is that Cramer seems to like the individuals that he writes about, that he knows that it takes a lot to run for president.

The common narrative on Presidential races is based on the romanticized notion that candidates win their respective primaries and ultimately the Presidency based on their Principles! Morals! Big ideas! Understanding of the Common Man! Belief in the American Dream! Hope and Change! etc. Certainly these things define the vague and idealized rhetoric used to inspire Americans to vote every four years, but What It Takes so thoroughly dissects this illusion with its thesis that winning has much more to do with a candidate's (and his family's) willingness and dogged persistence to survive the rat-race and manage "The Bubble" created by security details, fundraising and 24/7 media coverage and ultimately come out on top (the length of this book and its repetitive, idiosyncratic writing style only serve to prove this).

Best of all, Cramer does not resort to complete cynicism toward the candidates he covers. For example, Bob Dole's hard-scrapping childhood in Kansas and his injuries from World War II did less to inform his political views as a Republican and more to give him the determination needed to launch two presidential campaigns, not to mention an inspirational campaign narrative. Still, it's clear to see how campaigns can come down to the timing of gaffes, exploitation of scandal (even when it means hurting families, throwing aides under the bus, etc.), actions and feelings of family members, and the limitations of these intensely ambitious and over-achieving personalities (in this regard it becomes very clear that, as much as they try to convince you otherwise, presidential candidates are nothing like the average American).

Unfortunately this book gives uneven coverage of the candidates, probably based on the sources available to Cramer, and it did not delve into the 1988 general election nearly as much as it should have. At some points I felt Cramer relied on narratives he formed of each candidate rather than simply stating what happened and allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions (the reader is not left with a good impression of Michael Dukakis).

Nevertheless, if you can withstand its length and prose, reading What It Takes is worth the effort of every political junkie. It's a true political "expose," the likes of which that may never be published again; the overly gossipy books by Mark Halperin, John Heileman, and Dan Balz cannot compare, sorry.

(I also recommend "The Power Game" by Hendrick Smith in conjunction with this book.)

I like campaign books and this is an excellent, albeit underrated one. Cramer takes an insiders view on each of the major candidates from both parties in the run up to the nomination. The (self-inflicted) burnout of front runner Hart, the slight stiffness of Bush, the insanity of Biden and Dukakis' dogged campaign are all there. Be warned: Cramer does not believe brevity is a virtue and there is definitely a stream of consciousness feel to the writing.