- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (Aug 31 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312668252
- ISBN-13: 978-0312668259
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 16.7 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #177,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"A book worth reading for its larger drama. With a title that ultimately works like a shiv in the ribs, Mr. Young’s book examines what a politician really is: the value of his words... the extent of his feelings of entitlement, the outrageousness of his ego...and the gap between his public convictions and private behavior" - Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Mesmerizing...This is not a political memoir. It’s a morality tale with the chill of Hitchcock.” ---Tina Brown, The Daily Beast
“Replete with colorful anecdotes and vignettes, this forceful memoir offers a familiar, if a bit slippery, tale of lost youthful innocence.” --The New York Times Book Review
“How often does the quest for the White House become an unhealthy obsession, not just for a candidate and his spouse, but for the people around them?” --The Boston Globe
Book Description
“The greatest political saga, the one that has it all, that gets to the real heart of American politics, is the John Edwards story... This isn’t just politics, it’s literature. It’s the great American novel, the kind that isn’t written anymore.” --Michael Wolff on John Edwards's trajectory, on VanityFair.com
The underside of modern American politics -- raw ambition, manipulation, and deception -- are revealed in detail by Andrew Young’s riveting account of a presidential hopeful’s meteoric rise and scandalous fall. Like a non-fiction version of All the King’s Men, The Politician offers a truly disturbing, even shocking perspective on the risks taken and tactics employed by a man determined to rule the most powerful nation on earth.
Idealistic and ambitious, Andrew Young volunteered for the John Edwards campaign for Senate in 1998 and quickly became the candidate’s right hand man. As the senator became a national star, Young’s responsibilities grew. For a decade he was this politician’s confidant and he was assured he was ‘like family.” In time, however, Young was drawn into a series of questionable assignments that culminated with Edwards asking him to help conceal the Senator’s ongoing adultery. Days before the 2008 presidential primaries began, Young gained international notoriety when he told the world that he was the father of a child being carried by a woman named Rielle Hunter, who was actually the senator’s mistress. While Young began a life on the run, hiding from the press with his family and alleged mistress, John Edwards continued to pursue the presidency and then the Vice Presidency in the future Obama administration.
Young had been the senator’s closest aide and most trusted friend. He believed that John Edwards could be a great president, and was assured throughout the cover-up that his boss and friend would ultimately step forward to both tell the truth and protect his aide’s career. Neither promise was kept. Not only a moving personal account of Andrew Young’s political education, THE POLITICIAN offers a look at the trajectory which made John Edwards the ideal Democratic candidate for president, and the hubris which brought him down, leaving his career, his marriage and his dreams in ashes.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
loved it. simple read, funny,
By
This review is from: The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down (Paperback)
Very good book, i knew the story already, ready Elizabeth's book, i am glad i read Andrews book. Really interesting read on the behind the scenes of politicians.Andrew when is your next book?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
DISTURBING AND SHOCKING,
By
This review is from: The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down (Audio CD)
The Edwards affair (quite literally "affair") has been dissed, discussed, and dissected on almost every media outlet imaginable. However, you haven't really heard the up close and personal story until you hear it from Andrew Young, Edwards's longtime aide, or as some scribes have described him "toady."After hearing Edwards speak and easily defeating an early opponent Young went to work in the then senator's office where in his words he volunteered to do everything. It seems, he would have pressed trousers if the opportunity had arisen.. He describes himself as butler, shopper, driver, and always available for the entire Edwards family. No task was too menial for Young when he believed Edwards would some day sit in the White House, where Young would also have a place of prominence. Unfortunately, there are no good guys in this story - not even Young who, after all, did make choices. He certainly did not have to confess to being the father of Rielle Hunter's illegitimate child. (Now, of course, that's all behind us as Edwards has recently admitted parentage.) However, the path from then to now is filled with appalling details, all of which Young seems eager to share. Elizabeth Edwards, self-canonized in her memoir "Resilience" is described as a dictatorial biddy who ordered people around, dropped nasty phone messages for staff members she considered to be errant, and was not prone to saying "thank you." Rielle Hunter, a videographer" is pictured as an opportunist, a sexually free gal, who enjoyed the luxuries given during her pregnancy (including a lavish home in Santa Barbara). If Edwards was even half as Young reports, he is a liar, a cheat, self-centered, and, thank goodness for us, no longer in the political arena. Young spares his audience few details, including conversations with Hunter during which he claims to have acted as a sounding board, listening to explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. THE POLITICIAN is a disturbing story, and at times will be shocking to many. With over 30 years experience in radio and television broadcasting as well as in audiobook narration, Kevin Foley gives telling voice to the rise and fall of John Edwards. - Gail Cooke
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating look at the real truth behind the spin,
By Alohasheryl (Calgary, AB, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down (Hardcover)
Although I am Canadian, I've always watched the US presidential race with great interest. I remember thinking, like many did, that John Edwards was the kind of Democratic leader that would have brought great change to the US.I found this book highly interesting; a quick read, fast-paced and unflinchingly honest. The writer, Andrew Young, was John Edwards' most trusted advisor and friend for about a decade, and it was really eye opening for me to see how the inside track of politics really worked in the Edwards camp. Young was not only a key player in raising millions of dollars for Edwards' campaign, but he was also responsible for every detail at the Edwards home including shopping for their kids, fixing things in their house, and doing their grocery shopping. This story is a real potboiler. The efforts and sheer amount of money that was spent by MANY to hide Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter was shocking. I felt for Andrew Young and his family, who went the extra mile and then a few thousand more, to make Edwards happy, and then they got left hanging when Edwards failed to follow through with his promises. One surprise in reading this book was the "real" Elizabeth Edwards - definitely not the woman of respect and integrity she presents herself as. In fact, she was really cruel to Young and his wife Cheri, who, as far as Elizabeth knew, was an innocent woman. My opinion of her was changed drastically after reading this account. It looks as if all the players in this story - John, Elizabeth AND Rielle - were all out for number one and ran roughshod over everyone if it meant getting what they wanted. I enjoyed this story very much and recommend the book!
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