What It Takes: The Way to the White House

by Richard Ben Cramer

Book Overview

An American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race -- and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart --...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394562607
• ISBN13: 9780394562605
• Release Date: June 1992
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 1047 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A true classic on presidential elections

Ben Cramer follows the major candidates in their races to become president in 1988. He reproduces their speaking and thinking styles in such an incredible way that you will never be able to think of any of these people (Bob Dole, GHW Bush, Jesse Jackson) in quite the same way you did before. His intense focus on how the candidates act differently when in private than they do when they're out giving their stump speech makes for fascinating reading. If you're tired of dry books that are "nothing but the facts, ma'am," you'll love this well-written story.

"What it Takes" to write the perfect political book

No study of modern American politics is complete without reading this book. At the center of the political universe is the presidency. What kind of people seek this office, and all of the attendant scrutiny and hardship that even the most fortunate candidates endure? What personal attributes set one candidate above the rest? Essentially, one of these men will be the most powerful man in the world, and have a chance at shaping history. This book answers the questions "why" and "how." Cramer understands his subjects, and the profiles of each candidate would be excellent stand-alone biographies. Extremely readable and well written, without sacrificing substance. A truly unique and indespensible work. To find out what it takes, read this book.

A Masterpiece . . .

Think about the best dessert you've ever eaten. Remember how delicious it was? How it melted in your mouth and how you never wanted the experience of eating it to end? Remember that experience when you pick up Richard Ben Cramer's 'What It Takes". This is the literary desert that feels like it melts in your mouth as your read: a beautiful, lyrical tale about the lives of six candidates for President in 1988.It is hard to describe Cramer's writing style. He seems to have an uncanny knack for getting into his subject's mind and giving you a vision of the world from their perspective. He seems to find what makes his subject unique and showcase it to the world. His Sports Illustrated piece on Cal Ripken, Jr.'s consecutive games streak in September of 1995 remains the finest article I have ever read in SI since I began subscribing back in 1989. Cramer's style of writing is a joy to read. You simply never want him to stop writing, even if it is about something as mundane as observing Bush traveling to a speech.Needless to say Bob Dole emerges as the hero of Cramer's work. (During the '96 campaign Cramer later released a separate book with just the Dole chapters.) The wounded veteran comes across as a man of stunning drive, courage and loneliness. You can't help but think of the horrific pain and suffering he endured during those years rehabilitating himself and attending law school. The Dole of Cramer's book is easy to admire and quite likeable, despite his gruff demeanor and occasionally cold treatment of people around him. Gary Hart, in contrast, comes across poorly. (Surprise, surprise.) So much of his portion of the book is devoted to attacking the media and refuting his public persona as either an odd loner or a serial adulterer. Hart's hardscrabble life in rural Oklahoma and journey to Yale divinity school gets pushed aside. There seems to be a huge gap between Hart leaving divinity school for politics in 1960 and his role as George McGovern's campaign manager in 1972 that Cramer doesn't explain. George Bush takes it on the chin too. Our 41st President and the winner of the 1988 contest was probably the least qualified of the six to run. Bush comes across as a likeable guy (and a hero during World War II), but no leader. While Dole is tested on the campaign trail and works hard to master the machinery of the U.S. Senate, while Dukakis is weathering fierce political storms patching together Massachusetts runaway budget, while Biden loses his wife in a car accident and nearly dies of a brain aneurysm, Bush seems to sail through adversity by relying on his resume to get plum jobs (CIA director, chairman of the RNC, ambassador to the UN and to China). Bush's charmed life and patrician view of the world hurt his reelection campaign four years later when he didn't appreciate the suffering his citizens were enduring during the recession the way a Bob Dole would have. Dole seems to have learned, through his experiences, that life is hard and people need

The New Standard for Political Books

In a previous review, I noted that "The Boys on the Bus" set the standard for political books. What It Takes exceeded that standard, and set a new one.In this reporting of the 1988 Presidential election, Richard Ben Cramer presents THE authoritative review and analysis of the candidates, the nominee, and the eventual president. This book is not for the faint of heart. At over 1000 pages, this book makes "Truman" seem like a Cliff's Notes review of a presidency.What the length does provide is ubelievable insight into what made the candidates tick, and why they were successful, or unsuccessful, in conveying their story and message to the American people.For those who want to know, this is the one book to read.

If every voter read this book, Bob Dole would be president

Unfortunately for Dole, Richard Ben Cramer tells the story of Dole's rise from small-town poverty to near-fatal war injury better than the Dole campaign did last year. The author paints a portrait of the 1988 presidential candidates that is vivid and human, making them more than the caricatures that we see in our television screens and newspapers. I worked for a Democratic candidate during the 1988 campaign. Cramer's storyline and energetic, somewhat frantic writing style both mirrors and reveals the hectic, seize-the-day atmosphere of a presidential campaign. His greatest contribution, however, is the tremendous insight he gives us of the men who wanted to become the best known and most powerful person in the world and believed they could do it within a matter of years by traveling to small towns and big cities as they meet with ordinary citizens the wealthiest Americans. They are both crazy and courageous and Cramer tells us how they became so as he digs through their personal histories from grade school to the present. Dole may no longer be a player on the American political scene. But Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson, and Jack Kemp still are. Thus, this book is still relevant. Above all, it's a good read. For those who want to know what it's really like inside a presidential campaign or the head of a presidential candidate, this is the best book and most unique book written since The Making of the President 1960 by the legendary T.H. White.