{"product_id":"what-it-takes-the-way-to-the-white-house-9780679746492","title":"What It Takes: The Way to the White House","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Quite possibly the finest book on presidential politics ever written, combining meticulous reporting and compelling, at times soaringly lyrical, prose.\" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race -- and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer comes up with the answers, in a book that is vast, exhaustively researched, exhilarating, and sometimes appalling in its revelations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Ben Cramer\u003c\/b\u003e's magazine articles have appeared in \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, and have been anthologized in \u003ci\u003eBest American Essays\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a recipient of the Puliter Prize for his work for the \u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e. He died in 2013.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50625752891666,"sku":"9780679746492","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_72410d5d-264e-45a6-99c6-2928b05a18d5.jpg?v=1732639046","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/what-it-takes-the-way-to-the-white-house-9780679746492","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}