What do you think?
Rate this book
Vote First or Die: The New Hampshire Primary: America’s Discerning, Magnificent, and Absurd Road to the White House
New Hampshire-a small state with a small, distinct population-is nevertheless the beacon of American democracy. Since 1920, its residents have been the first in the nation to cast their votes in the presidential primaries. History has shown that if you want to be commander in chief, you have to win, or at least place a strong second, in New Hampshire. Donald Trump bolstered the trend with his victory in 2016.
For that reason, the state is also the graveyard of political incumbent presidents Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush were all wounded by strong primary challengers in New Hampshire--and well-known, well-funded candidates see the White House disappear when they can't figure out how to win it.
For a year and a half leading up to Primary Day, Scott Conroy followed the often absurd 2016 campaign up and down New Hampshire. Along the way, he got up close and personal with the candidates themselves, while absorbing local insights and entertaining anecdotes from the peppery state officials and wily operatives who have determined national political fates for generations. From far-flung towns like Dixville Notch and Berlin to "big cities" like Manchester and Portsmouth, in Vote First or Die , Conroy reveals the inner workings of American politics through the unforgettable characters who populate the exceedingly influential state of New Hampshire.
For that reason, the state is also the graveyard of political incumbent presidents Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush were all wounded by strong primary challengers in New Hampshire--and well-known, well-funded candidates see the White House disappear when they can't figure out how to win it.
For a year and a half leading up to Primary Day, Scott Conroy followed the often absurd 2016 campaign up and down New Hampshire. Along the way, he got up close and personal with the candidates themselves, while absorbing local insights and entertaining anecdotes from the peppery state officials and wily operatives who have determined national political fates for generations. From far-flung towns like Dixville Notch and Berlin to "big cities" like Manchester and Portsmouth, in Vote First or Die , Conroy reveals the inner workings of American politics through the unforgettable characters who populate the exceedingly influential state of New Hampshire.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published April 18, 2017
2 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 10, 2017
The West Wing covered a great deal of political ground in its seven season run, and the New Hampshire primary is one of them. One moment that stuck out to me was in the later seasons when Josh Lyman is grumbling about the New Hampshire's more arcane processes when one of the characters who is a native of the state describes New Hampshire (perhaps condescendingly so) as the "wine connoisseurs" of the Presidential primary process.
New Hampshire's place in the history of Presidential primary politics is a quirky but important one. Long short story, campaigns were made and blew up spectacularly in New Hampshire. Just this most recent go-around on the carousel that is the New Hampshire primary saw Donald Trump solidify his lead (which he would never lose) in the Republican primary and Bernie Sanders absolutely blow the Clinton campaign out of the water (arguably the first point where the alarms should have went off for the Clinton campaign).
Vote First or Die is really two stories in one. One story is the history of the New Hampshire primary every four years through the lenses of some of the more significant events that either built or destroyed campaigns. The other story is of the 2016 New Hampshire primary and just how much of a circus it truly is. Somewhere in the middle is Conroy's overarching question of "Does New Hampshire deserve to be first?" and "Should New Hampshire be the first primary?"
Conroy never does truly answer the question, although he seems to agree that New Hampshire has earned its place at the beginning of the pack and agrees it should be due to a mixture of combating "dark" money plus candidates having to actually talk to voters. Although I think at the end of the day New Hampshire's diversity (or lack thereof) coupled with the idea of one state controlling the fate of the primary process will have it go by the wayside.
Personally, I think Vote First or Die would have been better off with a heavier focus on the 2016 campaign as opposed to the prior history that can largely be gleaned from Wikipedia or brief snippets.
Overall though, Vote First or Die offers an interesting look at one of the more unique aspects of politics that still exists today and there's enough here for any political junkie to keep them reading.
P.S: While I may disagree with Senator Lindsay Graham on 95% of issues, he does sound like a ball to have a drink with at some point.
New Hampshire's place in the history of Presidential primary politics is a quirky but important one. Long short story, campaigns were made and blew up spectacularly in New Hampshire. Just this most recent go-around on the carousel that is the New Hampshire primary saw Donald Trump solidify his lead (which he would never lose) in the Republican primary and Bernie Sanders absolutely blow the Clinton campaign out of the water (arguably the first point where the alarms should have went off for the Clinton campaign).
Vote First or Die is really two stories in one. One story is the history of the New Hampshire primary every four years through the lenses of some of the more significant events that either built or destroyed campaigns. The other story is of the 2016 New Hampshire primary and just how much of a circus it truly is. Somewhere in the middle is Conroy's overarching question of "Does New Hampshire deserve to be first?" and "Should New Hampshire be the first primary?"
Conroy never does truly answer the question, although he seems to agree that New Hampshire has earned its place at the beginning of the pack and agrees it should be due to a mixture of combating "dark" money plus candidates having to actually talk to voters. Although I think at the end of the day New Hampshire's diversity (or lack thereof) coupled with the idea of one state controlling the fate of the primary process will have it go by the wayside.
Personally, I think Vote First or Die would have been better off with a heavier focus on the 2016 campaign as opposed to the prior history that can largely be gleaned from Wikipedia or brief snippets.
Overall though, Vote First or Die offers an interesting look at one of the more unique aspects of politics that still exists today and there's enough here for any political junkie to keep them reading.
P.S: While I may disagree with Senator Lindsay Graham on 95% of issues, he does sound like a ball to have a drink with at some point.
January 13, 2020
Overall I enjoyed this, but parts of it really bothered me.
1.) There are lots of potshots taken at New Hampshire. Who did he think was going to read this? I'm sure there are political junkies all over who are interested in the NH primary, but I would bet that most of the of the readership for this book lives in the state. So maybe don't make fun of us.
2.) The author clearly loves New Hampshire in some ways (he met his wife on the campaign trail here and later got married in the state), but that just makes his insults all the more jarring and makes the book feel inauthentic. Sometimes he acts like he's a local who knows where the good food can be found and then a couple of pages later he's complaining that few restaurants in Manchester serve food past 9:00 pm on weeknights (...because most people here work and keep normal hours, and eating out at 9:00 on weeknights is not part of their schedule and is therefor not viable for businesses--as I'm sure is true outside of all major cities). While I understand where some of these come from, and I'm not opposed to criticism, it is frustrating to be made fun of by someone who isn't from around here and just shows up every four years. It is also lazy and boring, because guess what? Reporters have been complaining about the same things since the first in the nation primary became a thing. Also, you are one more (of many) tourists who came to the state to get married at one of our beautiful locations.
3.) The complaints he has about New Hampshire--small towns (how surprising when they have good restaurants!), cold weather (seriously, dude, dress appropriately or find another job--most of yours every three-four years takes place in winter in NH; also, is Iowa really any warmer?), some of the people he meets (whom he has no qualms about exploiting for fun anecdotes in his book)--apply to large swaths of the country. Especially the small towns part. It felt like punching down, hard--one comment went something along the lines of jeans and sweatshirts is our version of dressing up. For one thing, that's just inaccurate, and for another, who cares? How does that affect our ability to speak to candidates? And what does that add to the narrative? I know he was living in New York at the time, because he mentions it a lot, but that doesn't make him better or cooler than anyone else.
4.) Hempstead. There is no town in New Hampshire called Hempstead. There is a Hampstead, which I'm sure the author has been to more than once. There aren't that many towns in New Hampshire, and there aren't that many mentioned in this book--get it right.
5.) The timeline was extremely confusing, especially towards the end. At first the chapters alternate between the history of the New Hampshire primary and Conroy's coverage of the 2016 primary, but as the timelines converge, it gets hairy. A few more mentions of what month and year we were in closer to the opening of the chapter would have been more helpful.
The parts that didn't annoy me were really entertaining, well written, and funny, and that is what is so frustrating. The history sections were great, as were the profiles of many candidates. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Lindsey Graham.
1.) There are lots of potshots taken at New Hampshire. Who did he think was going to read this? I'm sure there are political junkies all over who are interested in the NH primary, but I would bet that most of the of the readership for this book lives in the state. So maybe don't make fun of us.
2.) The author clearly loves New Hampshire in some ways (he met his wife on the campaign trail here and later got married in the state), but that just makes his insults all the more jarring and makes the book feel inauthentic. Sometimes he acts like he's a local who knows where the good food can be found and then a couple of pages later he's complaining that few restaurants in Manchester serve food past 9:00 pm on weeknights (...because most people here work and keep normal hours, and eating out at 9:00 on weeknights is not part of their schedule and is therefor not viable for businesses--as I'm sure is true outside of all major cities). While I understand where some of these come from, and I'm not opposed to criticism, it is frustrating to be made fun of by someone who isn't from around here and just shows up every four years. It is also lazy and boring, because guess what? Reporters have been complaining about the same things since the first in the nation primary became a thing. Also, you are one more (of many) tourists who came to the state to get married at one of our beautiful locations.
3.) The complaints he has about New Hampshire--small towns (how surprising when they have good restaurants!), cold weather (seriously, dude, dress appropriately or find another job--most of yours every three-four years takes place in winter in NH; also, is Iowa really any warmer?), some of the people he meets (whom he has no qualms about exploiting for fun anecdotes in his book)--apply to large swaths of the country. Especially the small towns part. It felt like punching down, hard--one comment went something along the lines of jeans and sweatshirts is our version of dressing up. For one thing, that's just inaccurate, and for another, who cares? How does that affect our ability to speak to candidates? And what does that add to the narrative? I know he was living in New York at the time, because he mentions it a lot, but that doesn't make him better or cooler than anyone else.
4.) Hempstead. There is no town in New Hampshire called Hempstead. There is a Hampstead, which I'm sure the author has been to more than once. There aren't that many towns in New Hampshire, and there aren't that many mentioned in this book--get it right.
5.) The timeline was extremely confusing, especially towards the end. At first the chapters alternate between the history of the New Hampshire primary and Conroy's coverage of the 2016 primary, but as the timelines converge, it gets hairy. A few more mentions of what month and year we were in closer to the opening of the chapter would have been more helpful.
The parts that didn't annoy me were really entertaining, well written, and funny, and that is what is so frustrating. The history sections were great, as were the profiles of many candidates. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Lindsey Graham.
May 10, 2017
Fantastic book about the New Hampshire Primary. Scott Conroy details various campaigns in the Granite State (most from 2016) and how unique the primary is. My only negative is that I do not feel that he ever actually answered his own question of whether we should give as much credit to the primary as we do. Absent that, the tales of each campaign become anecdotal with no end goal. As a political nerd, I liked it. As someone reading a book that sets out to answer a specific question, there was something missing.
Overall, a must read for any political nerd and a great read for anyone who is just curious about the first in the nation primary.
Overall, a must read for any political nerd and a great read for anyone who is just curious about the first in the nation primary.
January 1, 2018
Admittedly I never really knew why New Hampshire was the first primary and I didn't really understand that it was important to get off to a good start by winning there. Not that I don't understand politics but it was just something I didn't think about because every state had a primary. This book really opened my eyes to the process and the importance of New Hampshire. I really enjoyed the look into the 2016 run but I didn't really feel like the book had a purpose, it never really explained why the New Hampshire primary is so important it was just a mesh of history about it and the 2016 run. Still very good book and a fun read.
September 12, 2022
This book was around 3.5 stars for me.
It's an interesting look back at a life pre-2016. This book is a historical and contemporary dive into the New Hampshire primary.
I was surprised by how much this book humanized some of the candidates and elected officials as well as pulled back the curtain to behind-the-scenes of the primary process. The author shares some of his opinions and experiences with the candidates and weaves in the history of the New Hampshire primary and its role in the presidential race.
It's an interesting read about an interesting place.
It's an interesting look back at a life pre-2016. This book is a historical and contemporary dive into the New Hampshire primary.
I was surprised by how much this book humanized some of the candidates and elected officials as well as pulled back the curtain to behind-the-scenes of the primary process. The author shares some of his opinions and experiences with the candidates and weaves in the history of the New Hampshire primary and its role in the presidential race.
It's an interesting read about an interesting place.
December 2, 2025
As a New Hampshire native, I was interested in learning more about the history of our “First in the Nation” primary. I did enjoy the author’s anecdotes of some of his experiences with New Hampshire voters and the local culture. I didn’t realize that a major portion of the book was going to be so biased. The continual personal insults and jabs at particular candidates was off putting to me as I thought this was going to be a fact-based overview of the primary process vs. an opinion piece.
October 9, 2017
This was a good read about the New Hampshire primary.
November 20, 2017
Not sure what the main takeaway is but it is a funny book.
January 23, 2019
This was a great book and my first introduction to the New Hampshire primaries. As a new NH resident, I thought that this would be my self-imposed "required reading" to learn more about my new state.
September 30, 2017
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Really interesting.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews