Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises - Softcover

Cummins, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594741565 ISBN 13: 9781594741562

Publisher: Quirk Books, 2007

Synopsis

Today's political pundits express shock and disappointment when candidates resort to negative campaigning. But history reveals that smear campaigns are as American as apple pie. Anything for a Vote is an illustrated look at 200-plus years of dirty tricks and bad behavior in presidential elections from George Washington to G. W. Bush. Highlights include:

1836: Congressman Davy Crockett accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women's clothing: "He is laced up in corsets!"
1912: Theodore Roosevelt is shot in the chest while preparing to give a campaign speech, then proceeds to deliver it anyway: "I don t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!"
1960: President Harry Truman advises voters that "if you vote for Richard Nixon, you might go to hell!"

Arriving a full year before the 2008 presidential election, Anything for a Vote is a valuable reminder that history does repeat itself, that lessons can be learned from the past (though they usually aren't), and that our most famous presidents are not above reproach when it comes to the dirtiest game of all political campaigning.

About this title

About the Author:

Joseph Cummins is the author of several nonfiction books and one novel.

Review:

“Dirty tricks of the covert and the sleazy.”—New York Times Magazine

“While this grimy lens can be a hilarious way to look at the history of presidential politics, it's often a sobering one as well—colored by policies of discrimination and assaults on voting rights that are still relevant today.”—Mother Jones
 
“a compendium of ‘dirty tricks, cheap shots and October surprises.’”—Playboy
 
“Anything For a Vote will strike a chord.”—McClatchy-Tribune News Service
 
“a hoot to read.”—The Oregonian

About this edition

• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1594741565
• ISBN 13: 9781594741562
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304