The Accidental President: How 413 Lawyers, 9 Supreme Court Justices, and 5,963,110 Floridians (Give or Take a Few) Landed George W. Bush in the White House

by David A. Kaplan

Book Overview

For thirty-seven days after the disputed presidential election of 2000, we watched great theater, as George W Bush and Al Gore slugged it out in the swamp. You may think you've read it all before, but... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0066212839
• ISBN13: 9780066212838
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Comments from a former Republican turned Green

I really bought this book to prove a media bias against W. If that was my goal, I didn't get to do it. This is a very well written, funny, biting, balanced insight into all that went on. All sides are represented in their true light (which all should feel ashamed about) Very good read, indeed.

The definitive story, told with zest and humor

Years from now, historians will wonder how in the world George W. took the Presidency from Al Gore. This book explains the inexplicable. But it is hardy a dry history. It is gossipy, as a book like this should be but rarely is, and it is filled with humor and wit, which is more than readers interested in politics have any right to expect. It's often said of well-written books about events like this that "it reads like a novel." Well, this one doesn't. It reads like a story the ultimate insider would tell his best friends. In writing "The Accidental President," David Kaplan has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the way politics and the judiciary works. He's also provided his readers with a damn good time.

Funny, factual, fascinating

Though Kaplan is a New York Mets fan (we all have our problems), he's managed to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park, the it being the fiasco of our last presidential election. I don't know how he did it but Kaplan got more people to open up than Christian Barnard, and then shuts up as they relate the many-time absurd but always seriocomic Bush-Gore contest. Many people here in Seattle feel betrayed by the election process. Kaplan reaffirms why. A sad, albiet tiny, tragety of the WTC bombings is that they blew the well-earned coverage of Kaplan's excellent reporting off of page one, where it belongs. I'll be surprized if THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT does not become required reading for many poli-sci students, or those attending the Ringling Brother's Clown College in Sarasota.

Read this book, especially now

Because of what is going on in the world now, maybe the 2000 election does not matter anymore. But I have a different opinion. Because George W. Bush is our president, it is that much more important to understand how he got the job. This book tell you how, and does so better than all the other political books prior to it this year....I couldn't resist on this one, after I noticedthat a few of the other reviews attack this book as being pro-Gore and anti-Bush. That just isn't so. The book has a lot of critical things to say about everybody involved in the 2000 election, but is remarkably fair-minded. Bush's advisers do very well when compared to Gore's. Where there are criticisms, they are supported by evidence and example, most of it told in a sweeping narrative style that made it a pleasure to read.Perhaps the title of the book upsets some readers. Too bad for them. It is an accurate title, regardless of whether Bush or Gore won the election. Or perhaps Bush supporters think that anything written about their man that is not all warm and fuzzy isn't being patriotic. That would be too bad. But I still bet any objective reading of this book would leave a Gore supporter just as unhappy as a Bush supporter. Either way, in my opinion, it's a great read.

Wonderful. I saw it first in a recent Newsweek cover story.

Of all the books this year about the presidential election of 2000, this is the best one I have read. It combines brilliant reporting (the Newsweek excerpt had all these great scoops about the Supreme Court), sharp writing and a sense of humor about things so many other authors start pontificating about. I saw the author with Katie Couric on the Today Show and then on the Charlie Rose Show.The author has an understanding of politics and law, and an appreciation of history and how things fit together. I think that is what makes this book different from the other election books.I heard some conservative radio commentators say they thought this book was another anti-Bush diatribe, but I don't think they read the book. It has little negative to say about Bush. What is negative is about BOTH the Bush and Gore campaigns, and the Supreme Court. I don't think anyone looks good after the election and this book explains in detail why.The World Trade Center tragedy means we should be supporting President Bush. But we should still understand how he became president after a very important and controversial election. This book tells us better than any other how and why.The title of the book, "The Accidental President," may sound like criticism of President Bush, but I don't think it is. If Gore had won, he would also now would be "The Accidental President."