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Pressing The Politicians
reviews by Sophia de Sade After being inundated with political propaganda, let us take a look at a sample poll of political literature on the top presidential candidates. Whether you are red, green or blue these biographies provide critical insight and just enough evidence to spark your own political debates in this election year. Obama, From Promise to Power
The author provides an interesting account and analysis in of how the external events of Obama’s peculiar upbringing, from his Kenyan absentee father to his insulated Hawaiian education that developed his tenacity, idealism and desire for approval. Mendell covers Obama’s personal struggles with identity, private life and naivety in the face of the harsh world of Illinois politics and national media frenzy. The book reads as a somewhat objective take on Obama’s accomplishments interspersed with a humbling criticism of the man’s personal and public fallings. However, the repetitiveness and general “dumbing down” of the text for mass consumption is a more frustrating hurdle in taking the book as a serious political analysis. All together, this is an easy to follow introduction to the life of Barrack Obama, highlighting his political achievements and personal charisma. A Woman in Charge,
Bernstein casts the role of a psychologist as he analysis her Methodist upbringing, demanding childhood and tumultuous marriage in a manor that provides insight unto her tenacious personality. The text documents her relationship with Bill as one of intellectual counterparts, willing to passionately test each other and perhaps through this vulcanizing process create a refined brand of Clintonain politics. The book also credits Hillary with her own political dynamic; outlining her often underrepresented accomplishments as a lawyer and a senator as well as giving explanation to her sometimes conflicted public persona. Generally, the author analysis the way in which her solidifying personal experiences and aggressive drive have pushed her into the political limelight… sometimes for the worse, but more often for the better.
The author gives a sometimes overly descriptive history of McCain’s rebellious personality, experiences in the navy and life altering detainment in Vietnam as a prisoner of war in Hanoi Hotel, “Where they never leave a mint.” However, Alexander too often glorifies McCain’s political struggles, reading much like a commercialized defensive of McCain’s actions. The author rarely casts a sharp or critical glance on McCain’s politics and the book reads as a nostalgic biography for those already swayed to the McCain camp. However, the book stands on its own as a well documented political and military history of the Vietnam era to the current race for the presidency within the context of McCain’s world view. It is a great historical read that sheds light unto the McCain’s achievements without the trouble of serious political analysis. |
David Mendell creates a biographical landscape of Obama’s intellectual and public growth as a young dreamer into a political powerhouse. Mendell, a Chicago Tribune journalist, has extensively covered Obama from his community leadership in Chicago to his race to the senate with a sense of familiarity and honest criticisms of Senator Barack, “Barry” Obama.
Carl Bernstein has come in with an astoundingly candid and descriptive biography of the life of Hilary Clinton, portraying the dynamic and often contradictory personality of this polarizing candidate. The author turns from portraying Hillary as an admirable leader or a calculating villain but as a relatable figure with an exceptional life story.
Noted biographer of Hollywood icons, Paul Alexander, writes a detailed account of the history and life changing events of John McCain. From his father and grandfather’s Four Star Admiral legacies, John Sidney McCain III, was not only expected, but possibly destined to reach some stature in public life.