All Politics Is Local: And Other Rules of the Game - Softcover

O'Neill, Tip; Hymel, Gary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558504702 ISBN 13: 9781558504707

Publisher: Adams Media Corp, 1995

Synopsis

The former Speaker of the House provides insight into how the world of politics really works and how to run a successful political campaign

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Clich‚d counsel from retired Speaker of the House O'Neill, whose short-take effusions here attest that brevity isn't necessarily the soul of wit--or wisdom. Drawing on experiences gained in an elective career spanning more than half a century (and on the editorial assistance of his former press secretary), O'Neill offers what he characterizes as a primer on politics. Actually, his text encompasses a scattershot collection of bipartisan precepts coupled with putatively illustrative yarns. Grouped under seven main headings (``Campaigning,'' ``Serving Constituents,'' ``Using Clout,'' etc.), the author's, as it were, tips for aspiring officeholders will strike most readers as elementary if not downright obvious. Cases in point include bland reminders that would-be lawmakers should be willing to compromise; know any audience they're addressing; remember their roots; and take care of the voters who elect them. Nor does O'Neill shy from supporting items on his own agenda--e.g., by deprecating term limits and lauding the two- party system. There are also some general-interest advisories here, including guidance on how to lobby congressmen. Far less charming than O'Neill's first (Man of the House, 1987). The wispy anecdotal dicta here will do little to enhance the author's status as either a savvy pol or as an elder statesman worth heeding. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

A kind of "junior Reader's Digest" version of O'Neill's popular political memoir, Man of the House ( LJ 10/15/87), this personalized political primer boils down many of the entertaining true and apocryphal stories from the first book to bare-bones incidents and one-line lessons; no story runs more than three pages, and many are shorter. In these anecdotes about his own experiences and those of the politically famous (such as Truman, JFK, LBJ, and Reagan), O'Neill treats politics both as a game during which he must outwit opponents and as a serious vocation whose purpose is to serve his constituents. Always straightforward and occasionally funny (but not as often as he wants to be), the former Speaker of the House serves up a platter of trite homilies and political folk wisdom that have served him very well: "Be in the right place at the right time," "never criticize the family of an opponent," "in politics, your word is everything," "don't forget the people who elected you"--and "keep your speeches short." He did here, and very few readers will fail to get his messages.
- Jack Forman, Mesa Coll. Lib., San Diego
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Adams Media Corp
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1558504702
• ISBN 13: 9781558504707
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 190