Armchair history for political junkies

In 1961, the publication of “The Making of the President” by Theodore

White, then a political reporter for Time magazine, became an instant

classic and huge commercial success, reaching the top of the New York

Times’ bestsellers list in only six weeks.

White’s book broke new ground because of its lively mix of

analysis and personal observations of the backstage maneuverings in

the Kennedy and Nixon presidential campaigns. Its popularity

demonstrated the large readership available for books on politics,

and many similar books have followed in its wake.

At the Newport Beach Public Library, interested readers can find a

variety of books on presidential elections, both past and present,

including White’s.

Another popular book is “One-Car Caravan,” by Walter Shapiro.

Shapiro, who’s a political columnist for USA Today, wrote an early

outlook at the 2004 Democratic nominees for president long before the

first scheduled primary. Traveling with the candidates across New

Hampshire, the author is given many opportunities to quietly assess

the characteristics of these presidential hopefuls.

Veteran Associated Press correspondent Walter Mears looks back at

a career of reporting on those who have aspired to be president in

“Deadlines Past: Forty Years of Presidential Campaigning.” Mears’s

narrative includes numerous anecdotes about his work as a wire

service reporter during the last 11 campaigns and is further

enlivened with personal asides on the many candidates he has known.

His observations of the pervasive influence of the media and the ways

in which the electoral process has changed are trenchant.

Jules Witcover, who has covered many campaigns, takes a long view

of the history of partisan politics, albeit from the perspective of

one of the major parties. “Party of the People: A History of the

Democrats” traces the history of the Democratic Party from its

origins more than two centuries ago. Along the way, the party has

evolved greatly from its Jeffersonian roots in agrarian principles

and the rights of individuals to its more recent emphasis on

progressive social and economic concerns. Witcover underscores the

current debate among Democrats over whether to return to the more

liberal policies of the past or continue on the centrist path blazed

by Bill Clinton.

Equal time should be given to Lewis Gould’s “Grand Old Party: A

History of the Republicans.” Gould, a political historian from the

University of Texas at Austin, surveys the long and shifting road

traveled by the GOP from its rise to national prominence with the

election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to the party’s more conservative

political stance today. The author presents compelling evidence of

the party’s embrace of widely varying platforms over the years. Gould

focuses particular attention on four presidents that, in his view,

most embody core Republican values.

Lastly, those dismayed by the turmoil surrounding the 2000

election may find comfort in the fact that the republic has weathered

similar storms in the past. In “Fraud of the Century,” Roy Morris

takes a fresh look at the disputed election of 1876 in which

Rutherford B. Hayes received fewer popular votes than his opponent,

Samuel Tilden, but still won the election by a single vote in the

Electoral College.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Steven Short. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newport beachlibrary.org For more information on the

Central Library of any of the branch locations, please contact the

Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.