Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History

Description

From Face the Nation moderator and contributing editor for The Atlantic John
Dickerson come the stories behind the stories of the most memorable moments in
American presidential campaign history. The stakes are high. The characters
full of striving and ego. Presidential campaigns are a contest for control of
power in the most powerful country on earth. The battle of ideas has a clear
end, with winners and losers, and along the way there are sharp turning
points-primaries, debates, conventions, and scandals that squeeze candidates
into emergency action, frantic grasping, and heroic gambles. As Mike Murphy
the political strategist put it, “Campaigns are like war without bullets.”
Whistlestop tells the human story of nervous gambits hatched in first-floor
hotel rooms, failures of will before the microphone, and the cross-country
crack-ups of long-planned stratagems. At the bar at the end of a campaign day,
these are the stories reporters rehash for themselves and embellish for
newcomers. In addition to the familiar tales, Whistlestop also remembers the
forgotten stories about the bruising and reckless campaigns of the nineteenth
century when the combatants believed the consequences included the fate of the
republic itself. Some of the most modern-feeling elements of the American
presidential campaign were born before the roads were paved and electric
lights lit the convention halls-or there were convention halls at all.
Whistlestop is a ride through the American campaign history with one of its
most enthusiastic conductors guiding you through the landmarks along the way.
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Features:

Product Details:

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Twelve; First Edition (August 2, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 88
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.13 x 9 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #733,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #631 in Elections #832 in United States Executive Government #2,541 in History & Theory of Politics
• #631 in Elections