Political fictions

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John Hohenberg

This is the story of how Bill Clinton fashioned the incredible, the unbelievable, the 100 to 1 shot victory in the campaign of 1992 that made him the forty-second President of the United States. In the beginning, it wasn't supposed to happen that way. With the Soviet Union in collapse at the end of the Cold War, the hero of the Persian Gulf War, President George Bush, was initially regarded by friend and foe alike as unbeatable. Except for a brief charge by Pat Buchanan, no one really challenged him in the Republican primaries for renomination. While among the contenders for the Democratic nomination, there were only five - none nationally known. Clinton was in the pack. But one by one, the strongest Democrats - Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown, and Bob Kerrey - fell into obscurity. In the end, against all odds, Bill Clinton and running mate Al Gore emerged to reunite the divided party. The Clinton/Gore ticket went on to lead a growing entourage of twenty- and thirty-something campaigners. Noble ideals, high energy, and rock music made the Democratic party a powerhouse of youth and vitality. The Clinton message spoke to a generation of voters who statistically had been labeled apolitical and, along with more mature voters, moved them to embrace the possibility for change. "The Economy, Stupid" codified the single greatest concern of voters throughout the country, despite their parting views on other matters. The overconfident President Bush lambasted his youthful rival on every issue, from unfamiliarity with national government to assertions of weakness in leadership and flaws in character. And yet, even after Ross Perot split off a part of the Democratic vote as well as a section of Bush's support, the man from Hope, Arkansas, beat them both on Election Day - the third youngest after Theodore Roosevelt and John Kennedy to enter the White House. Employing the skills he has shown in his earlier books, a "crisp, narrative style...[and] discerning editorial mind" (The New York Times Book Review), John Hohenberg's Bill Clinton Story vividly captures not only one man's road to the White House but, more importantly, it illuminates the changing face of American politics on the eve of the twenty-first century.

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Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon

Overview: In the spring of 1789, within weeks of the establishment of the new federal government based on the U.S. Constitution, the Senate and House of Representatives fell into dispute regarding how to address the president. Congress, the press, and individuals debated more than thirty titles, many of which had royal associations and some of which were clearly monarchical. For Fear of an Elective King is Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon's rich account of the title controversy and its meanings. The short, intense legislative phase and the prolonged, equally intense public phase animated and shaped the new nation's broadening political community. Rather than simply reflecting an obsession with etiquette, the question challenged Americans to find an acceptable balance between power and the people's sovereignty while assuring the country's place in the Atlantic world. Bartoloni-Tuazon argues that the resolution of the controversy in favor of the modest title of "President" established the importance of recognition of the people's views by the president and evidence of modesty in the presidency, an approach to leadership that fledged the presidency's power by not flaunting it. How the country titled the president reflected the views of everyday people, as well as the recognition by social and political elites of the irony that authority rested with acquiescence to egalitarian principles. The controversy's outcome affirmed the republican character of the country's new president and government, even as the conflict was the opening volley in increasingly partisan struggles over executive power. As such, the dispute is as relevant today as in 1789.

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Larry Collins

Day by day and minute by minute, the historic struggle for Jerusalem and the birth of Israel. Here is the classic retelling of the spellbinding events of the birth of Israel. Moment by moment, Collins and Lapierre weave a brilliant tapestry of shattered hopes, fierce pride, and breathtaking daring as the Arabs, Jews, and British collide in their fight for control of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem! meticulously recreates this historic struggle. The Jews: From the commanders -- Ben Gurion and Golda Meir -- to the soldiers, rabbinical students, and refugees taken directly from their ships to fight. The Arabs: From the explosives expert planting bombs to the charismatic chieftain whose death in battle doomed the Arab cause but inspired a generation of Palestinians. The British: From the legacy of peacekeeping after General Allenby's conquest of Jerusalem to their departure in the face of the onslaught. O Jerusalem! is a towering testament to the fiery birth of Israel and an unforgettable tale of faith and violence, of betrayal and indomitable courage. - Publisher.

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Richard R. Beeman

"In The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America, Richard R. Beeman offers an overview of political life in pre-Revolutionary America. Ranging from Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania to the backcountry regions of the South, the Mid-Atlantic, and northern New England, Beeman reveals an extraordinary diversity of political belief and practice. In doing so, he closes the gap between eighteenth-century political rhetoric and reality." "Political life in eighteenth-century America, Beeman demonstrates, was diffuse and fragmented, with America's British subjects and their leaders often speaking different political dialects altogether. Although the majority of people living in America before the Revolution would not have used the term "democracy," important changes were under way that were making it increasingly difficult for political leaders to ignore "popular pressures." As the author shows in a final chapter on the Revolution, those popular pressures, once unleashed, were difficult to contain and drove the colonies slowly and unevenly toward a democratic form of government. Synthesizing a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Beeman offers an account of the way politics actually worked in this formative time for American political culture."--BOOK JACKET.