Candidates On White House Reading

(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

[bhima2]

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.

[bhima2]

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.