How to Win Arguments

by William A. Rusher, Tory Hanson (Narrator)

Listeners will learn from a professional arguer par excellence the skills and techniques necessary to hold their own against even the best of debaters. 5 cassettes.

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction

Audio Cassette

First published July 1, 1981

About the author

William A. Rusher was an American lawyer and conservative columnist.

In 1957, William F. Buckley, Jr. hired Rusher as publisher of National Review. Rusher was an early mentor of Young Americans for Freedom and was active in the campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

Rusher retired from National Review in 1988. During the hearings for the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination, Rusher released a collection of documents related to the Concerned Alumni of Princeton group. He retired from writing politics in 2009.

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize it's dated, but Rusher pretty much just talked about how good he was at debating.

[Deborah Laajanen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laymen-oriented approach of logic, debate, and argumentation. Illustrations of the author are humorous and helpful to comprehend the argumentation rules and principles.

[Elliot Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t a bad book and it was pretty informative but I guess my expectations differed from what the book was about. I thought it would delve deep into the psychological aspects of debating and arguing such as hand gestures, tonalities of voice, etc… which it did touch upon but that wasn’t the main focus. The writer also seems to have had a fascinating life which I’d prefer to read about. Using analogies and personal experiences debating to make points about the purpose of arguing, techniques, and how to handle mistakes didn’t feel very connected for some reason, even if they worked.

All in all, I feel like I got a bunch of “tips and tricks” thrown at me which made this a book that can be useful to some, but was just pretty forgettable for me.

Some points I hope to remember and use going forward is to admit mistakes when they happen (a good general rule in life anyway), that speaking first or last has it’s advantages (which I don’t think is particularly important actually since you don’t have much control over that), and ways of speaking to government or private institutions (this was pretty interesting, talking about getting their attention and then creating more discomfort with your situation as to answer and resolve it as opposed to ignoring it).

I feel like this book is still useful in describing ways to argue effectively, but I guess the delivery and packaging wasn’t very interesting or memorable to me.

[Stephen Matlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this decades ago when I was a conservative, and I've re-read it a few times since then, even when I flipped over to a more liberal view.

It's entertaining and filled with good quotes from people who were in the moment of the writing of this book current and well-known, and the quotes and anecdotes well-represent them.

The advice given about debating is good even though it is quite openly slanted towards conservative political ideas and the examples of "liberals" debating often bring in the worst offenses against good debate principles, but that is human nature and it makes for a more entertaining book.

Recent political debates show that the principles of debate that the author and his icons attempt to present are no longer held as relevant, which is too bad, because a good debate can help explore a question more deeply.

And the blurbs are entertaining as well, with one professing that Rusher's "expose" of good debate principles are a violation of trust & that his name will be counted as among the Borgias giving a good laugh. (It was meant as a joke, and it is still a good joke.)

Whether you find yourself on the political spectrum where you believe or reject the politics of Rusher, Buckley, et al., you'll still find this entertaining and useful in learning how to present your own arguments more persuasively.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This National Review big wig came into popular prominence as a conservative debater on The Advocates TV Series on PBS. As such, he speaks largely to formal debate situations, along with some commentary on informal "arguments" such as disputes with a spouse and complaining to a corporation about customer service. His practical, direct advice lacks the technical minutiae of Latin-named logic constructions. The book includes an appendix of summary advice of other prominent debaters he surveyed.

[Ansh Yadav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one