Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency - Hardcover

Franken, Al

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038531809X ISBN 13: 9780385318099

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 1999

Synopsis

First came Theodore White's The Making of the President, 1960.  Then All the President's Men.  Now the searing chronicle that will forever change the way we view the man and the office .  .  .  

The dramatic rise and dizzying fall of Al Franken, who would become the first Jewish president of the United States.

Franken began his unique American journey in the small town of Christhaven, Minnesota, the self-described "son of the son of immigrants and the son of a daughter of a son and daughter of immigrants."

Follow the Franken campaign from its infancy as the candidate pledges "to walk the state of New Hampshire, diagonally and then from side to side." As he candidly admits "causing pain in his marriage," then boldly refuses to dignify any questions from the media regarding past, present, or future sexual behavior.  

Go behind the scenes and meet Team Franken, the candidate's brain trust.  Including brother and deputy campaign manager Otto, a recovering sex addict and alcoholic.  Campaign manager Norm Ornstein, the think-tank policy wonk who masterminds the single-issue (ATM fees) campaign.  Media consultant Dick Morris, who exploits the shocking millennium bug-induced "ATM meltdown" by building an ad campaign around a diabetic woman who loses her right foot after computers erase all her ATM deposits.  And former Grizzly Adams star Dan Haggerty.  

Cheer as Franken stuns the pundits by defeating Al Gore for the Democratic nomination, then is swept into office with a landslide victory over Newt Gingrich.  As he chooses an all-Jewish Cabinet because "America doesn't want a Cabinet that looks like America, it wants a Cabinet the President is comfortable with."

Then, through excerpts from Bob Woodward's detailed account of the first hundred days, The Void, go inside the Franken White House.  Gripped by crisis from day one, the president develops a severe case of chronic fatigue syndrome.  After the highly medicated chief executive exhibits a roller coaster of bipolar behavior, including the "slugging Nelson Mandela" incident and an attempt to clone himself, Franken is forced to cooperate with the Joint Congressional Committee on the President's Mood Swings.  And when the committee releases Franken's personal diaries to the public, his presidency faces its ultimate crisis.

About this title

About the Author

Al Franken is the author of I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me! and Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot.  He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

From the Inside Flap

heodore White's The Making of the President, 1960. Then All the President's Men. Now the searing chronicle that will forever change the way we view the man and the office . . .

The dramatic rise and dizzying fall of Al Franken, who would become the first Jewish president of the United States.

Franken began his unique American journey in the small town of Christhaven, Minnesota, the self-described "son of the son of immigrants and the son of a daughter of a son and daughter of immigrants."

Follow the Franken campaign from its infancy as the candidate pledges "to walk the state of New Hampshire, diagonally and then from side to side." As he candidly admits "causing pain in his marriage," then boldly refuses to dignify any questions from the media regarding past, present, or future sexual behavior.

Go behind the scenes and meet Tea

Reviews

For all those who want their political humor more political?and funnier?than the usual late-night TV fare, there's Al Franken. Here's the scenario: the millennial presidential campaign is nearly upon us, and Franken (Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot) has not merely thrown his hat in the ring?he's provided the three-ring-plus circus as well. With dead-on parodies of several forms of political media (campaign diary, strategist's memo, televised debate, Sunday morning talk show, newspaper story, magazine feature, Bob Woodward expose, etc.), this book tells the story of the improbable Franken candidacy, the humorist's more improbable success and his scandalous downfall. The pandering single issue is lower ATM fees, which allows Franken to win the Democratic primary by painting front-runner Al Gore as a tool of the banking interests. The loose-cannon campaign chief is the candidate's brother, Otto, who pops up in selected states as chief supporter "Dotto Dranken" or "Botto Branken." The effective fund-raising strategy is a 900 number for Franken info and lesbian phone sex. There's also a narrative of presidential scandal as written by Woodward, which includes chronic fatigue syndrome, bipolar episodes, misprescribed medication, an attack on the revered Nelson Mandela (Franken ruptures the great man's spleen) and an abortive attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein?personally. This leads to the first-ever Joint Congressional Committee to Investigate the President's Mood Swings. While the book drags in a few places, it remains consistently?often howlingly?funny, as well as slyly subversive in the way it punctures the conventions of our highly ritualized campaign system. Did we mention the first all-Jewish Cabinet (including Ralph Lauren as secretary of the interior) arguing about Chinese food? First serial to George; BOMC and QPB alternates; BDD audio; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Now that Rush Limbaugh has lost 80 pounds, Franken must have known there was no hope for a sequel to his best-selling Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot (1996). So, instead, Franken turns to an even more outrageous brand of farce: a play-by-play account of his successful run for the presidency. Just to prove it all really happened, Franken litters the text with excerpts from his diaries, notes, speeches, and memoranda--all of which were subsequently entered as evidence in his impeachment. That event is covered here in an excerpt from The Void, by Bob Woodward, which looks at the first 100 days of the Franken presidency. One of the best things about the book is its incredibly knowing tone; Franken captures Washington absurdity dead-on, and he seamlessly incorporates real-life beltway insiders into the story (former presidential advisor Dick Morris, for example). The acknowledgments make clear that some of these people were willing participants--surpisingly so, since they come out looking incredibly stupid. Not that Franken comes out much better. In an effort to be funny (and this book is often very, very funny), the author paints himself as a cheating, lying womanizer who is also stupid. His one issue--ATM fees--is enough to propel him into office, but once there, Franken commits such faux pas as naming an all-Jewish cabinet and using the movie Mandingo as the linchpin of his inauguration speech. As with his last book, there's plenty here to offend someone, but this time liberal Democrats come into the line of fire along with Republicans. One problem: the possibility that real-life events in Washington will prove more farcical than anything Franken can invent. Ilene Cooper

Franken, author of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (LJ 1/96), is perhaps best known for his work on Saturday Night Live. This irreverent satire is a blow-by-blow account of candidate Al running for president in the year 2000. In "Daring to Lead," Franken waxes autobiographical, setting the stage for his decision to run. His "Campaign Diary" goes behind the scenes with Team Franken and the masterminding of his platform: ATM fees. With his brother, a recovering sex addict and alcoholic, and a team of questionable advisers, Franken chronicles each day on the campaign trail. The diary eventually finds its way into the hands of those who intend to do him harm. The final section, "The Void: The First One Hundred Days of the Franken Presidency," is a Bob Woodward-esque expose of the new president and his dizzying fall from power, overcome by chronic fatigue syndrome. The account of Franken's hilarious inaugural address is not to be missed. Essential reading for public library patrons and students of political(ly incorrect) science. ?Joe J. Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

An Excerpt from President Al Franken's Resignation Speech, June 10, 2001:

"Hopefully this will bring an end to the turmoil, as well as the numerous legal actions pending against me and my staff, occasioned by the politically motivated disclosure of the contents of my private diaries.  

Let me say here and now that I regret very deeply the harm that I've done both to people I care about and people I don't really care about all that much.  I am sorry.  I apologize.  It was wrong.  What I did was wrong.  I'm sorry.  I am so, so sorry.  Boy, am I sorry.

While I take full responsibility for the misfortunes that have befallen my presidency, others are not entirely without blame.  It had been my intention to pardon members of my staff and my administration.  But I forgot.  Sorry.  

I did, however, manage, with the reluctant assistance of Chief Justice Rehnquist, to pardon myself.  This will enable me to retain the prerogatives of an ex-president, including my pension, an office, and staff at taxpayer expense, lifelong Secret Service protection, and, eventually, burial in Arlington National Cemetery beneath an eternal flame.  

It is my fondest wish that in the fullness of time, the American people will look back on the Franken presidency as something of a mixed bag and not as a complete disaster."

Edition details

• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 038531809X
• ISBN 13: 9780385318099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304