Fit for the Presidency?
Winners, Losers, What-Ifs, and Also-Rans
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- CHF 32.00
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- CHF 32.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
Every four years Americans embark on the ultimate carnival, the Super Bowl of democracy: a presidential election campaign filled with endless speeches, debates, handshakes, and passion.
But what about the candidates themselves?
In Fit for the Presidency? Seymour Morris Jr. applies an executive recruiter’s approach to fifteen presidential prospects from 1789 to 1980, analyzing their résumés and references to determine their fitness for the job. Were they qualified? How real were their actual accomplishments? Could they be trusted, or were their campaign promises unrealistic?
The result is a fresh and original look at a host of contenders from George Washington to William McAdoo, from DeWitt Clinton to Ronald Reagan. Gone is the fluff of presidential campaigns, replaced by broad perspective and new insights on candidates seeking the nation’s highest office.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Asking what the best qualifications are for becoming a U.S. president, Morris (American History Revised) attempts to quantify these qualities by analyzing the r sum s of 15 actual and would-be officeholders. Going from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, he takes an executive recruiter's approach to scrutinizing his subjects' experience and character. Morris notes that prior experience plays a major part in determining future success, but the ability to function in a crisis accounts for even more. The incredible success of political lightweight Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and the failure of the seasoned Herbert Hoover at the onset of the Great Depression epitomize this notion. In laying out the histories of largely forgotten political figures such as DeWitt Clinton and Wendell Willkie, as well as those of the more famous Gen. George Marshall, Barry Goldwater, and Bobby Kennedy, and examining their pitfalls and triumphs, Morris ultimately lets the reader decide what constitutes a great presidential candidate. Given his exceptionally extensive and open-minded analysis, it is a shame that he did not include resumes for the current candidates running for office in this year's election.
