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The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down |  | Author: Andrew Young
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy Used: $2.08
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Seller: minicitymedia
Rating:  239 reviews
Sales Rank: 7732
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 031264065X
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.6043092
EAN: 9780312640651
ASIN: 031264065X
Publication Date: January 30, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 239
FASCINATING AND VERY DISTURBING February 8, 2010
L. Miles
111 out of 116 found this review helpful
Reading this book is like falling down a rabbit hole into a world where everyone is mad.
John Edwards is portrayed as a sociopath with a Cheshire grin. Elizabeth Edwards, (with her creepy voicemails), comes across as menacing and unstable. From where I'm sitting, the author appears to be a spineless, yes-man, flunky who repeatedly cites his "need for healthcare" as an excuse for his questionable behavior.
Not only is this book a devastating indictment of the Edwards family and their cronies -- it really gives one pause as to what is going on in Washington, in general. How can government ever improve when the inmates are literally running the asylum?
I wouldn't let any of these people within 100 yards of my family much less give them a vote for anything.
This is 301 pages of lying, cheating, power-grabbing and backstabbing. It is a veritable encyclopedia of how not to live your life.
 MIND BLOWING !!!! January 30, 2010
Gordon Prentiss (Santa Barbara, CA)
294 out of 334 found this review helpful
If someone had asked me three years ago what the future for John Edwards would look like, I most certainly would have said he would one day be President of the United States. He had everything going for him--wonderful wife, lovely children, the story of a dad finding the strength to overcome the death of his teenage boy, wealth most of us can only dream of, a background as a tremendously successful lawyer, an already established career as a US senator, charismatic speaking ability, good looks, a clean past, a failed, yet flattering showing as John Kerry's running mate, and a reputation as a populist who was willing to fight for poor people like no one else. Enter 2008 and Edwards' admission of having an affair with Rielle Hunter. And then fast-forward to 2010 and the admission of fathering a child that all of us already knew was his. Oh how the mighty have fallen! The book is written by a true insider, and whether you agree with that idea or not, Andrew Young isn't shy about opening up.
I remember first hearing about the affair back in 2008. I couldn't believe it--not because I enjoy judging people who cheat--that's none of my business--but rather for the unforgivable timing of it...and I think most Americans felt the same way. His wife had incurable cancer for God's sake! And he had been a serious candidate for the democratic nomination. His asking for my vote made the affair "my business" because in most cases (save Clinton) cheating on your wife is an automatic political disqualifier--and Edwards knew this yet did it anyway. I remember saying, "You mean to tell me that this guy was running a serious campaign with the complete knowledge that he had had this intense affair?" What if he had gotten the nomination, won the presidency, and just before the inauguration this had all come out? Democrats would have been ROYALY screwed and Republicans would have been dancing in the streets.
The book makes this point well beyond what I just said. Young not only points all of this out with great depth, but he tells us much more, and it is so shocking that it's hard to believe. But considering that ever since the book's release date was made public, Edwards has admitted fathering the child and the Edwards' have split up, I think the book has solid credibility as a result. They wanted to air all of their dirty laundry before the American people could read about it. Perhaps they were thinking that this would take some of the shock value away. Well, it did no such thing. Most of what is in the book is news to me and will be news to you. It will be interesting to see what parts of it the Edwards' try to deny and discredit, because right now, I want to believe that a lot of this is false.
At first I couldn't believe that a close Edwards ally was disgusting enough to spew all of this private information in a book. But it needed to be written because the Edwards' ran for the presidency while deceiving the American people. And they will pay a painful price for the rest of their lives. They don't need me to pile on. I have compassion for them. People don't have to be perfect for me to like them. Unfortunately, for the Edwards', many people want to worship unflawed individuals. But the book made me realize how the world of high stakes politics can tear even the most decent people down, eat away at them, and lead them to do the unimaginable. It made me wonder if Elizabeth wanted the White House more than John did. I read just about everything to do with the current political discourse and climate. I'm a political junkie. And if you like reading about the intimate details of a family clawing its way to the powerful, political top, and want to understand the mind-blowing things that can happen on that journey, "The Politician" is for you. I've read two books this year that stopped me in my tracks and shook the heck out of me--71 Days: The Media Assault On Obama by Michael Jason Overstreet and this one. Both are extraordinarily and shockingly eye opening and historically powerful. 71 Days: The Media Assault On Obama will likely get some people in the media FIRED!!!
Fantastic, a page turner January 30, 2010
Reader
128 out of 150 found this review helpful
I bought this book and read it in one sitting and you will too. It is almost impossible to beleive that this is not fiction. It reads like one of the best of Dominick Dunne's tales of power and privelege run amok. But its all true, nobody comes out of this one smelling like a rose, nobody, but Edwards and the women who surround him are actually frightening!
Whatever the authours sins of ommision or commision are, he is a nice man who is clearly trying to put his life back in the face of a surfeit of failed idealsim. Not one wasted page, its a gripping read, most fun book I have read in a long while.
Insight into Campaign Life. February 2, 2010
CelticWomanFanPiano
53 out of 61 found this review helpful
If one reads this book looking for salacious gossip on the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter affair than I actually recommend reading the articles from "The National Enquirer." As they have done a more in-depth job of the details. However, if one is seeking insight into the life of a political campaign staffer then I do recommend this book, highly. As a former staffer on local and state-wide campaigns I recognize many of the elements present in this book. The devotion to the candidate, to the point where higher principles such as right and wrong get blurred. The all consuming, twenty-four hour seven days a week, schedule dependent upon the candidate's whims. The intense competition and backbiting between the staffers. The ability of the candidates to just drop cold a friend they were previously close to. The ability of the candidate to switch personalities on and off in the blink of an eye. All these elements are present in this narrative and quite typical. What is revealing in this book is the author's flagrant willingness to participate in facilitating John Edwards' communication with Rielle Hunter. Sure he is concerned about providing for his family, but he seems unaware that in so doing he is enabling another family to be destroyed. The author is a "yes" man to the point where it is overdone. He ties his future so tightly with that of John Edwards that at times he sees no way out of the mess. When in reality, he could have just had his wife take up nursing again until the author found a less humiliating position. However, as one reads the author's narrative one gets pulled into his way of thinking. It isn't until one pulls away from the text that one realizes the author in a sense got what he deserved. He acted as a celestina and then was dropped when he was of no further use. That is what happens when one makes a pact with the devil. So while at first one sides with the author and even sympathizes with him. Upon further reflection the author reveals himself to be just another one of these political wannabes who eventually gets caught in his own web of deceit that he has spun. The book in short is a worthwhile read.
 revenge of the worm February 7, 2010
Kimberley Wilson (VA USA)
60 out of 70 found this review helpful
After reading four or five pages of the first chapter I was struck by how bloodworm like the author is. Worms are soft, and largely helpless but bloodworms are capable of offering up a painful bite and Andrew Young does with this book. Alas, most of the book's ammo has already been shot. If you read Game Change or the National Enquirer you already know that John Edwards is spoiled brat, ( a brat can grow up in a mansion or he can grow up in a trailer park) that Elizabeth was more like his mother than his woman and that the marriage wasn't that normal long before the chick with the camera showed up. There's no new dirt on Edwards. The only interesting thing in a freak show sort of way is the horrifying relationship between Young and Edwards.
Young turned himself into something worse than a slave. He neglected his own family to do the most menial things for the Edwardes. Nothing seemed too much and even ruining his own family's holidays didn't make him stand up and quit. When Edwards foisted his girlfriend off on Young he did it knowing that no other staffer would put up with that. Why Young didn't break free years ago when he could've had a chance to get another job and is a mystery. Young offers some mealey mouthed excuses but they don't wash. He states that his life has been a mess and now he just wants to begin again and he is careful to repeatedly slam Republicans like a good little Dem operative but it's too no avail. America is the land of second chances but nobody in North Carolina politics is ever going to trust or hire him again. The book is a lesson to would be politicians everywhere. Let your friends be your friends and your sevants be your servants and your office staff stay in the office and never, ever blur the lines or cross them because the bitterness will build up and come back to get you one day.
This is a story with no heroes but several victims. Cate, Jack, Emma and Frances, not to mention Young's own kids didn't deserve this mess. None of the adults acted well and now the kids have to live with it. Ugly and sad.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 239
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