Top 11 must-read books and must-watch films on campaigns
The list below includes books and films about political campaigns that I’ve found to be highly informative and or entertaining. Many of them are humorous or even sad. This is a limited list, given that it’s specifically about political campaigns. Of course, my best is likely to be wildly different than your best.
Bareknuckles and Backrooms by Ed Rollins
I first read this book in high school but I come back to it every once in a while for the superb storytelling and anecdotes. If you want the inside scoop on Ross Perot, the now forgotten Michael Huffington U.S. Senate campaign, and Rollins’s overall work as the campaign manager for Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory over Walter Mondale in 1984, this account is superb. You’ll even hear hilarious tidbits like Frank Sinatra’s involvement in Reagan’s 1984 campaign and the slimy work to secure the Teamsters endorsement. It’s yet another reminder that there are very decent people as well as some really bad apples in American politics.
Bad Boy: The Life and Times of Lee Atwater by John Brady
Lee Atwater is the modern architect of the effectiveness of negative advertising in political campaigns. He is given credit for the Willie Horton ad and the Michael Dukakis on the tank spot that turned disastrous for the 1988 Democratic nominee. Some have forgotten that Dukakis was once up on Bush in the polls by about 17 points in late July of 1988. The lead evaporated once Dukakis was defined as a Northeastern liberal by the Republicans.
Unlike some, I think the ads were fair. Earlier in his career, however, Atwater was known for some harsh quips like his take on Tom Turnipseed, a Democratic nominee for Congress, who Atwater said was “hooked up to jumper cables.” Turnipseed had undergone electroshock therapy as a teenager. The quote essentially ended Turnipseed’s career. To his credit, Turnipseed forgave Atwater and attended the funeral of his former foe. Atwater died of brain cancer at 40 in 1991.
The book is entertaining with lots of relevant history that sheds light on modern campaign strategies.
Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story
There is a lot of overlap here with “Bad Boy,” so if you’re not much of a reader, this is a good documentary to watch instead . I find some of the assessments of Atwater in the film unfair, but even the harsh criticisms are worth examining.
Reagan’s Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All by Craig Shirley
A lot of historians point to 1964 as the birth of the modern American political conservative movement, but 1976 is likely just as critical. Reagan nearly upsets incumbent President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination, making a dramatic comeback in North Carolina after losing his first five primaries. While Reagan eventually came up short against Ford, he offered up powerful off-the-cuff remarks in Kansas City at the Republican Convention that propelled him to clear front runner status in 1980.
“Reagan’s Revolution” is a fantastic inside account of the race. Shirley followed this account up with another great book on the 1980 campaign: “Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America.”
RFK: His Life by Evan Thomas
While Thomas’ biography covers more than Robert F. Kennedy’s political campaigns, it’s certainly a substantial chunk of the book. RFK was involved in his older brother’s U.S. Senate and presidential campaign. He ran and won his race for U.S. Senate in New York and followed that up with his dramatic run for president in 1968 that ended after he was assassinated at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
This is easily one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. One of the downsides, however, is that it creeps into what I would call psychoanalysis, purporting to know more of the inner thoughts of RFK than what may have been reality. Still, Thomas is an excellent writer who covers the hate-hate relationship between RFK and LBJ better than anybody else.
Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign
The best dissection of the failed Hillary Clinton campaign for president. Simply put, the tunnel vision in the closing months by her campaign and the mythical blue wall reveals one of the most epic collapses in American political history. Many of the assessments are biased, given that so much of the sourcing comes from anonymous figures in her campaign. Still, it’s a warning for the kind of overly managed campaign that struggles to define its candidate during our volatile political era.
Recount
This might be the weakest link on the list, but it’s still an entertaining watch if you get 2000 recount nostalgia. The Hollywood depiction of former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris is over the top and comes across as vindictive, but the surreal story that many of us lived through makes the film. Who can forget dimpled and hanging chads?
Bill Sammon’s book “At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election” is worthwhile if you’ve never delved deeply into the particulars of the Florida recount.
The War Room
“The War Room” sees the rise of James Carville and George Stephanopoulos as chief political strategists for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. It’s a good look at how the Clinton campaign was effective at staying on message. “It’s the economy, stupid.” George H.W. Bush went from 90 percent approval rating after the end of the Gulf War in 1991 to losing reelection. This documentary explains why.
Taking on the Kennedys
“Taking on the Kennedys” is an inside look at Kevin Vigilante’s 1994 bid to upset a young Patrick Kennedy in a U.S. Congressional race in Rhode Island. It’s a David versus Goliath story where you start to hope Vigilante can win even though the outcome is certainly not in doubt 30 years later. it helps that Vigilante, a doctor, comes across as a genuinely good guy. This lively documentary originally aired on PBS but I don’t think you can stream it anywhere at the moment.
The Last Hayride by John Maginnis
Disturbing and hilarious, this may be the best campaign book ever written. It chronicles some of the wildest stories that make Louisiana political history so unique. When I moved to South Mississippi in 1994, I immediately became interested in the life of times of our neighboring governor to the west — Edwin Edwards. To say that Edwards was a character is a massive understatement. Edwards eventually went to federal prison for 10 years on racketeering, conspiracy, and extortion charges. Despite being 83 when he was released, Edwards got a young and attractive new wife and quickly went back to running for office — this time Congress. He didn’t win but continued building on his legendary quips and flamboyance.
A big chunk of this book covers the 1984 gubernatorial campaign between Democrat Edwin Edwards and Republican David Treen. Edwards, well known for his silver tongue, once said that the only thing that could keep him from Louisiana’s governor’s mansion was getting caught in bed with a “dead girl or a live boy.” When Edwards ran against David Duke for governor in 1991, he had stickers printed up that read, “Vote for the Crook. It’s Important.”
Weiner
“Weiner” might be one of the more pathetic political stories I’ve seen depicted on film. You don’t really feel sorry for Anthony Weiner by the time he resigns from Congress after his sexting scandals, but you wonder why he’s intent on continuing the downward spiral so publicly. Eventually, Weiner will spend time in federal prison for images and content related to sexting a minor in North Carolina. The confiscation of his devices by the FBI even played a role into the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton, since Weiner’s ex-wife Huma Abedin was her close aide. This documentary covers Weiner’s disastrous bid for mayor of New York City in 2016.
