A Mobile Bay Times survey:
'Most interesting' political reads
(Part 3 of 3)
As the summer reading season nears its August zenith, the Mobile Bay Times turned to its erudite friends and correspondents for their recommendations on the "political book" that they had found "most interesting" in their reading history.
MBT sought not to hem in its respondents, allowing them to select a work of fiction or non-fiction, autobiography, biography, essays, just whatever first came to mind upon considering the question.
"The best political book I ever read was "Southern Politics in State and Nation," by V.O. Key, with Alexander Heard (who is himself the coolest man I ever met in my 61-year lifetime). It contains some wonderful old stuff, such as the 1948 race of Grand Ol' Opry star Roy Acuff ("Wabash Cannonball," "The Great Speckled Bird," "Mule Skinner Blues," etc.) for Governor of Tennessee, in a race in which Boss E. H. Crump of Memphis said the following about Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Gordon Browning:
- "I have said before, and I repeat it now, that in the art galleries of Paris there are twenty-seven pictures of Judas Iscariot – none look alike but all resemble Gordon Browning; that neither his head, heart nor hand can be trusted; that he would milk his neighbor’s cow through a crack in the fence; that, of the two hundred and six bones in his body there isn’t one that is genuine; that his heart has beaten over two billion times without a single sincere beat."
Boss Crump’s political diatribe, as far as I am concerned, is a high-water mark."
-- David A. Bagwell,
lawyer
"Present at the Creation by Dean Acheson in a tie with Best and the Brightest (by David Halberstam).
-- Scott Hunter,
financial consultant
"That is a really hard question. It is difficult to select just one since I have read so many. Please allow me at least two choices: The Soul of Black Folk by W. E. B. DuBois and Women, Culture and Politics by Angela V. Davis.
-- Janetta Whitt-Mitchell,
Retired U. S. Senate Executive Assistant
"I’m a big fan of “Mornings on Horseback” by David McCullough, about Teddy Roosevelt’s early life. It accounts for the president he would become, and does so in beautiful prose that pulls a reader along like a great novel."
-- Sam Hodges,
Religion Reporter
The Dallas Morning News
"'Most' is too hard.
Ulysses S Grant's personal memoirs;
Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin;
All the Kings Men, Robert Penn Warren;
The Quiet American (among others by), Graham Greene;
Winston Churchill's World War II memoirs, Gathering Storm et al;
A Savage War of Peace, Alistair Horne;
Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky.
-- Arthur Madden,
attorney
"All the Kings Men."
-- Greg Buffalow,
attorney
"Two books, No Excuses, a political memoir by Bob Shrum, and Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, a biography of Abraham Lincoln which focuses on Lincoln's political skills.
Shrum is one of the best political speech writers of his time, and that mastery is reflected in the book. It is simply and exceedingly well written. He is also regarded as the best Democratic political strategist, but a politically skilled reader will doubt that from time to time. This factor alone makes the book worth reading for the politician. A reader can challenge him on his political decisions, and that is why the book has become a must read for political junkies.
Doris' Lincoln biography is superbly written. It shows clearly Lincoln's political mastery, evident to observers at the time and equally evident more than 150 years later. If one wonders what the art of politics is about, this is the book.
There is some prejudice here. Both writers are friends. Nonetheless, each recommendation stands on its own."
-- Pierre Pelham,
timber interests
Two books come to mind:
State of Denial -- (Bob) Woodward's most recent on Bush;
All the President's Men -- Woodward and (Carl) Bernstein;
However, the most important book on corrupting the political process is:
Fear on Trial
This is the autobiography of John Henry Faulk. He was on CBS Radio and somehow ended up with his name mentioned during the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) hearings and Army/(Joe) McCarthy hearings and ended up blacklisted. He ultimately sued, successfully, for defamation against those who claimed he was a communist. This is a truly frightening book and should be required reading for everyone."
-- Al Pennington,
attorney-at-law
"I don’t know if David McCullough’s “John Adams” was the most interesting, but it was my favorite."
-- Jim Frost,
attorney
"One of the early biographies on Harry S.Truman which included his time in the White House and his meetings with General (Douglas)
McArthur. Truman was vastly underrated."
-- Jo Ann Flirt,
Public Relations Counsel
"Not necessarily political, but I recommend "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman."
-- Larry Wettermark,
city attorney
"The Little Man's Big Friend -- James E. Folsom in Alabama Politics 1946-1958 by George E. Sims
Interested parties should also check out the text of Folsom's 1949 Christmas Day radio address to the state regarding racial equality and opportunity in Alabama. (It) can be found in its entirety in William
Safire's "Great Speeches In History" (also highly recommended). The honesty expressed would be courageous from a politician today, let alone nearly 60 years ago."
-- Wade Perry,
labor representative
"I was tempted to pass up this opportunity; however, your questions often prompt me to think/push my button. Thank you! We all need to THINK regarding Politics!
The most helpful book I have read in a long time regarding a lot of areas of our lives was Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline. I recommend reading it and listening to it on CD.
Senge wrote it while at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. They had teams come from major companies (i.e., Herman Miller, Ford, Dutch Shell, Harley Davidson, etc.). Early on, they gave the teams a complex logistics game to solve and discovered 9 out of 10 could not complete it. Obviously, these were smart people.
On tape, Senge observes 90-95 percent of people are cause and effect thinkers resulting in blaming, litigation, inability to communicate, or to solve problems.
Senge introduces the five disciplines of Learning with the fifth, the most important, Systems Thinking. This book more than any other I have read in years gives me insight in our inability to address problems and resolve them. It helps me understand the appeal and use of negative campaigning that results in the public's loss of trust in political leaders, low turnout for voting, etc.
It is sad when we become so partisan in the political process that state and national leaders can't come to new understandings and compromises for the good of the State and the Nation!
Here are my thoughts for today on a book and politics!
-- Billy McLean,
retired minister
"Not necessarily the best or even the most interesting, but following my own advice to pick the book that first comes to mind following the question, my choice is What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer. The next one to come to mind is Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail
'72 by Hunter S. Thompson. A hearty honorable mention to Norman Mailer's The Armies of the Night. For good measure, others to consider include Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars (Robert Graves' translation), the oft-mentioned All the King's Men, All the President's Men and The Last Hurrah by Edwin OConnor."
-- Chip Drago,
Mobile Bay Times
