Candidates On White House Reading

The Top Candidates Tell Katie Couric What Book They'd Bring To Washington With Them

(CBS)  For the series “Primary Questions: Character, Leadership & The Candidates,” CBS News anchor Katie Couric asked the leading presidential candidates questions designed to go beyond politics and show what really makes them tick.

For the latest installment, Couric asks the candidates: "If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?"

Also, check out the candidates' full responses to the previous questions in our "Primary Questions" video library.

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JOHN MCCAIN
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?

McCain: "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith, because we may be entering some pretty shaky economic times. And I think that's one of the seminal works concerning how the economy of the nation and the world functions.


BARACK OBAMA
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?

Obama: Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Team of Rivals." It was a biography of Lincoln. And she talks about Lincoln's capacity to bring opponents of his and people who have run against him in his cabinet. And he was confident enough to be willing to have these dissenting voices and confident enough to listen to the American people and push them outside of their comfort zone. And I think that part of what I want to do as president is push Americans a little bit outside of their comfort zone. It's a remarkable study in leadership.


MITT ROMNEY
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?

Romney: "John Adams" by David McCullough. This one on John Adams connected with me in an unusual way - because of his relationship with Abigail - their closeness, and the extensive letter-writing. You saw something about his heart and character: A truly great leader who made a difference for America. And his example is one I'd want to follow.


MIKE HUCKABEE
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to bring with you?

Huckabee: There's a great book by Francis Schafer that had a real influence on me: "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" And it talks about the dignity and worth of every individual. And it was a very shaping book for me, because it reminded me that at the core of our culture, at the core of our civilization is our sense of self respect for other individuals - as people of equal worth and value. And that no human being has greater value than another human being.


JOHN EDWARDS
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?

Edwards: I.F. Stone's book, "The Trial of Socrates."

Couric: Why?

Edwards: Because he talks in … a very thoughtful way about the challenges that are faced by men about character, about integrity and about belief systems. And the book, I've read it several times. It had an impact on me.


HILLARY CLINTON
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to have along?

Clinton: I would certainly bring my copy of the Constitution because there was apparently not a copy in the Bush White House to the best I can determine. So I would bring The Federalist Papers. I would bring the historic documents about how our country started and the conflicts of opinion and philosophy that helped to form us, because we have been going through a period of time where the president and vice president have asserted an extensive view of executive power that I think is not in keeping with American history.

RUDY GIULIANI
Couric: If you were elected president, what is the one book other than the bible you would think is essential to bring along?

Giuliani: The bible would be it. The next would be The Federalist Papers. I take this with me all over. I have one sits in my law office and the other sits in my security office, and I have one at home. And it contains also the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence as an appendix.

Couric: You might be interested in knowing that Sen. Clinton had the exact same answer as you did.

Giuliani: She did? It's been with me since I was a lawyer in private practice.

Couric: Yeah. Who Knows? You might turn the Federalist papers into a bestseller. It might be a bestseller on Amazon.com.

Giuliani: … a bestseller. It must be a bestseller already!

[sumbunnyelse]

The one book they SHOULD take to the White House is The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul!!

For very obvious reasons, every journalist in every segment of MSM should read it also.

[cswhitney-2009]

I must have missed Ron Paul''s comments, I''m curious what book(s) he would bring to the White House with him. Why didn''t CBS News post his comments?

[cswhitney-2009]

I must have missed Ron Paul''s response, or did CBS and Katie Couric not ask him? I certainly hope CBS News would not intentionally exclude Dr. Paul, he is one of only 6 candidates remaining.

[jfcopa]

The next preident should read Victor Ostrovsky''s "By Way of Deception" and the sequal "The Other Side of Deception". The reasons for reading should be obvious upon reading.

[jon_roland-2009]

I would recommend Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty, by Randy E. Barnett. It is a good place to start for anyone intending to enforce constitutional compliance. For more on the subject go to http://www.constitution.org

Why does CBS make it so hard to comment ? Not really want to hear ? The next president should read Paul Theroux''s Dark Star Safari, recounting his journey into Africa and pointing up the failure of top-down ''help'' for the needy. Democracy is in desperate need of a bottom up revision; we need managers, not ''leaders''. Great charismatic leaders invite corruption, egopower and greed.The people will prosper and flower if you put power in their hands, not if you tell them what they must do. We can''t afford another bad president.

Why does CBS make it so hard to comment ? Not really want to hear ? The next president should read Paul Theroux''s Dark Star Safari, recounting his journey into Africa and pointing up the failure of top-down ''help'' for the needy. Democracy is in desperate need of a bottom up revision; we need managers, not ''leaders''. Great charismatic leaders invite corruption, egopower and greed.The people will prosper and flower if you put power in their hands, not if you tell them what they must do. We can''t afford another bad president.

[boogama]

sorry for the double post. i''m an idiot. I''d like to know what Ron Paul reads too. He''s still in the race, unlike Rudy. He also beat McCain in Nevada...doesn''t he count? Why does he win debates in post debate polls? Is it rigged?

[boogama]

For the people brainwashed into thinking that Ron Paul''s ideas are "crazy" and that he''s a racist: If you''re going to criticize his ideas and policies, get them right. He doesn''t want to end all taxes, he wants to end a lot of them including the income tax. Not a cent of the income tax goes toward any social service or infrastructure maintenance that the federal government provides. To the nut job that thinks that your fireman or policeman is paid by federal taxes, READ A BOOK, your understanding of how government works is a little flawed. State and local governments. Ron Paul is talking about FEDERAL TAXES, and we pay a lot of them for a lot of things that make sense, but collecting the income tax itself is illegal. There''s no law that says you have to pay it or that the government has the authority to collect it, LOOK IT UP. Taxing labor wages is unconstitutional, and mainly goes to funding the pentagon system. The idea that the man is a racist is just retarded, (ignore youtube garbage. The man believes the government should protect individual rights, not gay rights, women''s rights, etc. We are all individuals, and racism tries to categorize people, which he has publicly said he is against. The man has been raising huge sums of money from ordinary people, not big business, so if you think he''s crazy then I guess the constitution is a crazy piece of paper and all of the people who''ve donated money are crazy.

[boogama]

For the people brainwashed into thinking that Ron Paul''s ideas are "crazy" and that he''s a racist: If you''re going to criticize his ideas and policies, get them right. He doesn''t want to end all taxes, he wants to end a lot of them including the income tax. Not a cent of the income tax goes toward any social service or infrastructure maintenance that the federal government provides. To the nut job that thinks that your fireman or policeman is paid by federal taxes, READ A BOOK, your understanding of how government works is a little flawed. State and local governments. Ron Paul is talking about FEDERAL TAXES, and we pay a lot of them for a lot of things that make sense, but collecting the income tax itself is illegal. There''s no law that says you have to pay it or that the government has the authority to collect it, LOOK IT UP. Taxing labor wages is unconstitutional, and mainly goes to funding the pentagon system. The idea that the man is a racist is just retarded, (ignore youtube garbage. The man believes the government should protect individual rights, not gay rights, women''s rights, etc. We are all individuals, and racism tries to categorize people, which he has publicly said he is against. The man has been raising huge sums of money from ordinary people, not big business, so if you think he''s crazy then I guess the constitution is a crazy piece of paper and all of the people who''ve donated money are crazy.

[beguhnn]

Once again it seems that Hillary Clinton cannot open her mouth without the first words being a negative remark about someone.
Regardless of my party choice, and even being a female, I find Mrs. Clinton''s conduct embarassing and petty. I would love to see a female president, when the best female candidate runs, I will likely vote for her.
CBS, I am further insulted that in order to post a comment on this site we, the general voting public, are asked to adhere to the "Rules of Engagment", when it obvious Mrs. Clinton hasn''t read your rules.
It''s a frightening thought to me to consider I may be represented by someone who lacks integrity even in the most benign situations, and expect the world at large to respect her (thereby me, and other Americans) Hmmm.... very scary.

[klingon69]

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
Posted by j-whitman at 11:22 PM : Jan 29, 2008
If his parents were citizens when he was born, then he is a citizen, natural born. He is eligible.

[klingon69]

it would have been nice if one of the candidates for Commander-in-Chief had mentioned Sun-Tzu''''s "The Art of War."
Posted by maiingan at 08:08 PM : Jan 29, 2008
A very good book. One of my favorites

[remnant8]

As i sat listening to the 5:30p.m. broadcast, i noticed , Katie Couric did not pose the same exact question to the democrates as she did the republicians; quote to the republicians, " If you were elected president what is the one book other than the Bible, would you think essential to bring along?" and to the democrates she quoted the question as follows, and "If you were elected president what would the one book you think esstential to bring along?" Now as John Q. Public, i realize the media is very slanted, as do many other John Q. Public like me, My question to the democrates would "the other than___________ would be ?, .....concerned voting, born U.S. citizen of both parents born U.S. citizens/sdm

[mimiboggie]

I was disgusted with Hillary Clinton when she was asked about the book she would like to take with her to the White House. Almost the first words out of her mouth were bad-mouthing the current president. No other candidate did that - they just answered the question. Her comments were just uncalled for, but then, she does that well.

[chopper2901]

Its good to see that no one thought much of this little interview that CBS put on. What a waste of time and energy they put on, just to have it slammed by all these people who are posting to it. Maybe they''ll get a clue and do some real reporting on real issues and on EVERYONE involved.

[cjf2121]

That''s probably true, but wikipedia can''t honestly be cited as a legitimate source. Either way, my original point is still true--McCain is eligible to be president of the United States, and whoever says otherwise is ill-informed.

[sgtrds]

Congress has the power to define citizenship outside birth in the U.S.
Congress can set different citizenship requirements for children born to American mothers versus American fathers.
Congress can require that U.S. citizenship must be established by a certain age for it to be recognized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born_citizen

[sgtrds]

The 14th Amendment gives Congress the power to decide citizenship as to who is or is not a natural born citizen. They had already done so. Black letter law. McCain is, just like all military dependants born to Americans at US bases, a natural born US citizen.

[sgtrds]

Some might define the term "natural-born citizen" as one who was born on United States soil. But the First Congress, on March 26, 1790, approved an act that declared, "The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States." That would seem to include McCain, whose parents were both citizens and whose father was a Navy officer stationed at the U.S. naval base in Panama at the time of John''''s birth in 1936.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv
/politics/campaigns/junkie/archive/junki
e070998.htm