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78th out of 108 books
—
11 voters
Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation
by
Scott Farris
As the 2012 presidential campaign begins: Profiles oftwelve men who have run for the presidency and lost, but who, even in defeat, have had a greater impact on American history than many of those who have served as president—from Henry Clay to Stephen Douglas, William Jennings Bryan to Al Gore—Plus, mini-profiles on 22 "honorable mentions."...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
December 6th 2011
by Lyons Press
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As a general rule, Americans focus on victorious presidential candidates and relegate the losers to the ash heap of history. However, according to Scott Farris, these unsuccessful presidential candidates have had a greater impact on the history of the United States than many of the men who actually held the office. They have helped to create, transform, and realign political parties, advocate new policies and programs that would later become law, and break barriers of class, religion, and gender...more
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Today, to attain the Presidency, is to rise to the height of power and influence in the United States and to fail to attain it, a sign that your political career and usefulness to the United States is at an end. However, this current state of affairs is a recent addition to America's governmental landscape. In fact, for most of the past 200+ years, the "almost presidents" referenced in this book of the same name, provided good service to the United States, either before or after their failure to...more
If you have any interest in the history of the American presidency or in general American history, this is a must read. Well written, with lots of details, including many I bet you DON'T know, this is a special and unusual work. One or two of the VPs I did not know much about other than their name, but of the 34 described (9 in fabulous detail), I found my opinions changed on all but one or two (e.g., I never had much respect for Perot, but now I have even less, though it was quite interesting h...more
First, let me apologize. I have been extremely busy and have not had the opportunity to get onto goodreads and leave reviews. In case someone is keeping track, I did not read all of these books in one day…
I found it on a goodreads giveaway and located a copy at the library.
This is basically a book of facts, with short tales about the men who ran for president and lost to someone else. These were not simply any presidential candidate who lost, these men lost to others who changed the course of A...more
I found it on a goodreads giveaway and located a copy at the library.
This is basically a book of facts, with short tales about the men who ran for president and lost to someone else. These were not simply any presidential candidate who lost, these men lost to others who changed the course of A...more
I sometimes think publishers assign a price for a book before it's written. This is one of those cases.
The topic was interesting and the research and analysis was thorough. I bought the book because I often wondered how it was possible that someone like Henry Clay wasn't president. The man was responsible for several compromises that stopped the Civil War for years. This book explained his rivalries, enemies and policies and how those cost him. I was clearly interested in this section. The auth...more
The topic was interesting and the research and analysis was thorough. I bought the book because I often wondered how it was possible that someone like Henry Clay wasn't president. The man was responsible for several compromises that stopped the Civil War for years. This book explained his rivalries, enemies and policies and how those cost him. I was clearly interested in this section. The auth...more
I thought this book would be small amounts of information on a lot of people. In actuality, the author focuses on a chapter each for about 10 losing presidential candidates whose actions changed our government in some way, then has smaller write-ups on the rest of the major party nominees. It's very much a history book, interesting and well-written but slower-going for me than I anticipated.
I thought I picked up on some Democratic leaning from the author in his descriptions of the candidates, an...more
I thought I picked up on some Democratic leaning from the author in his descriptions of the candidates, an...more
I actually had to stop reading this book. It was too dense for me to actually enjoy it. It would be fantastic for use in a college course or something of that nature. I expected the book I be more about the actual electoral processes these men went through in their campaigns. While it does offer some of that, each chapter is more of a short biography of each mans enter political career, not just their pursuit of the White House.
This was an outstanding book on defeated presidential candidates. It discussed in detail some of the major figures such as Henry Clay, William Jennings Bryan and Tom Dewey and described how their views became majority opinion after their defeat. This is a must read for readers interested in presidential politics!
Filled with lots of little known information about the men who came close to the highest office in the land -- very interesting read. I thought they book was a bit simplistic on the causes these campaigns ended in defeat, but was incredibly detailed when it came to exploring the character of the men who almost were.
A wonderful look at the "almost" presidents. Full of great quotes that I kept having to stop to flag. Farris does a good job at connecting more recent candidates (both winning and losing) with older ones--showing the links and similarities in how races have been won and lost.
This book was frustrating to read because it was both interesting and boring at the same time. It was interesting during the parts which actually discussed how a candidate changed our political structure, as the premise of the book states. For example, that Barry Goldwater's campaign made the Republican party conservative and the Democratic party liberal, whereas before him each party had conservative and liberal extremes.
But it gets wonky too easily. I just don't care who's a Federalist and who...more
But it gets wonky too easily. I just don't care who's a Federalist and who...more
This is a fascinating and very informative book. It's much more than a group biography of presidential also-rans. The book's subtitle explains what makes it so interesting: "The men who lost the race but changed the nation." Scott Farris focuses on nine presidential non-winners -- Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, William Jennings Bryan, Al Smith, Thomas E. Dewey, Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, and Ross Perot, plus a brief look at the three losers of the first decade of the 20th c...more
Very interesting read for someone (like myself) who is not well-versed in presidential history. This book provides a brief glimpse (single chapter) at a dozen or so presidential also-rans who had an impact on the national discourse or direction despite losing. In some ways it is pretty sad that I didn't know a lot of this stuff, that probably speaks to my lack of history/poli-sci coursework of course, so nobody's fault but mine as the song goes.
One note, I would have liked to have seen some alte...more
One note, I would have liked to have seen some alte...more
Interesting book containing some well-known figures and some lesser-known. Book also includes an appendix of those also-rans who didn't merit a full chapter, one of which hasn't ever been given his own published biography. Another plus is that this book is current enough to include the 2010 election.
This is a great book for any political junkie. It's interesting to see how, sometimes the losers, are more influential than the winners. Each chapter is both intriguing and insightful. It was encouraging to see that today's political climate, filled with vitriol and partisanship, isn't unique to this generation of politicians.
Really, really good book, but I'm not sure of his organization. Would have liked to have seen his appendix type losers in more of a chronological order.
Fun read about the candidates, their campaigns, effects on national issues and party politics.
Interesting reading about who could have been...now I would like a book on what they would've did
I enjoyed this read a lot! The author has a left-leaning slant, but I think overall he did a good job of going through each of the candidates who lost. I learned quite a bit in this book!
Very interesting book. Well put together.
I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. This was a topic I had not given much thought to before, but the author laid a great introductory overview about Presidential second place finishers and concessions. The book then went on to tell about specific Presidential candidates who lost. Overall, it was a very interesting and enjoyable read.
An interesting book, but lacked action.
An excellent and entertaining book. It came so close to being a five-star book. But it is a little dry in places and the author has a slight liberal tilt (which I did not mind but others might find off putting for a history text).
Fascinating. Intriguing history, well written and researched. A great read.
Obligatory metion that I won this through a First Read Giveaway. I enjoyed the content, although I wondered if the book could have benefited from a wry or humorous tone, like Bill Bryson. In other words, the book becomes a bit dry at points, although the thesis (the Presidential losers still have influence) is still captivating enough to get through the book.
Very well researched but it was a little difficult to read. Great subject matter just wish it was a little better written.
Superb. Much better than "They also Ran" but a book really aimed at a different audience.
What an interesting book filled with stories/profiles of candidates for the office of President that lost. It is not filled with trivia but rather with substantial information about them and how they contributed to our country. I passed this on to a Middle School teacher to read selected ones to her students as so often kids feel if they have lost it is all over for them! I was fortunate to win this in Goodreads Giveaway.
not finished yet... but so far love the book!
This book is ok. Only political junkies will actually enjoy this. So naturally, I did. But it's hard to recommend it to anyone outside "the business." I need a crowd pleaser after this one I think.
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