What It Takes - Richard Ben Cramer

It is probably only in retrospect that George Bush seemed the obvious choice for the job. Going into his recounting of the 1988 presidential election, Cramer certainly knew that he would have to fight the sense of inevitability surrounding the race's outcome. Bush's eventual victory buoys the narrative of him, just as their eventual losses darken the other candidates finest hours. Before history can be written, it must be enacted.

What It Takes is certainly a triumph of political reportage. Really an intertwining biography of six would-be presidential candidates, culminating in 1987-88, the greatest triumph of Cramer's work is certainly the lucidity and fullness with which he relates each story. In essence, it feels as though Cramer has adopted a bit of each candidate's personae.The no-nonsense economy of Michael Dukakis is conveyed in a tightening of prose. The rise of Gephardt is viewed through the sunny eyes of destiny and optimism. The haunted days of Bob Dole's hospital recovery, the frustration of living life as a shell of oneself are never fully escaped; and yet the Bobster is indomitable. Bush is chipper and eager, but he also has earned his time in the sun. Gary Hart... we feel his unsettled-ness: "Isn't he weird?"

And, in the end, Cramer does (after more than 1,000-plus pages) provide us with the answer to what it takes. A total and unflinching willingness. It has been written the no lesser a politician than LBJ would remark, "if you do everything, you will win." Cramer seems to agree. Though no candidate is immune to the twists and turns of fate, nor is any man able to escape his past, Cramer leaves us thinking that, by and large, George Bush would stand tallest because he was willing to do everything and anything it took to win. While this my resound with a cynical ring, Cramer turns it into a test of character, and, perhaps, the proper test of character for perhaps the world's most difficult job. The election is both a marathon and a sprint, requiring stamina beyond measure and the willingness to seize any crucial moment that may arise. Only a person who has survived the rigors can prove themselves, in the eyes of the public, worthy of the challenge. That is what sets them apart. Each of these men are, at their core, people just like us. But it is the restlessness, the drive, the competition, the dissatisfied nature of their beings, that drives them. Cramer's great success is that he has let their commonalities and crucial differences speak for themselves.