
Jan. 29, 2008
Candidates On White House Reading
The Top Candidates Tell Katie Couric What Book They'd Bring To Washington With Them
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Primary Question: Key Book
In the special series, Primary Questions: Character, Leadership, and the Candidates, Katie Couric asks the leading presidential contenders which book they would bring to the White House.
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Primary Questions
Katie Couric asks the top presidential candidates 10 questions about what makes them tick.
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- Most Influential Person? Text | Video
- Biggest Mistake? Text | Video
- Afraid Of Losing? Text | Video
- Climate Change? Text | Video
- Feared Country? Text | Video
- Lost Temper? Text | Video
- Views On Infidelity? Text | Video
- Worst Advice? Text | Video
- Disillusionment? Text | Video
- Key Book? Text | Video
- Fix The Economy? Text | Video
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.
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!
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See all 54 CommentsOn closer thought some of the candidates have changed their minds and amended their selections as follows:
"Bagdad" John McCain - "Arabic For Dummies"
"9/11" Rudy Giuliani - "Terrorism for Dummies"
"Mormom" Mitt Romney - "The Osmond Family Songbook"
"Huckelberry" Mike Huckabee - "The Collected Sayings
of Pat Robertson"
Barack Obama - "Up From Slavery"
John Edwards - "How to win a Primary"
Hiliary Clinton - "How to Keep Your Husband QUIET!"
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
What Ghouliani might bring to the Whitey House:
The biggest scarecrow money could buy.
What McCain might bring:
Depends...
My Pet Goat and The very Hungry Caterpillar. There are lots of other books too, but Bush hasn''t finished coloring in them yet.
As far as books go-
Ghouliani: "The 9/11 Commission Report" (just for laughs, of course)
McCain: "Don Quixote"
***** Runney: None. What''s the point?
He would ask Dubya to borrow his copy of "My Pet Goat", when he finishes it, then sell it for a profit, donate 20% the windfall to his church, then "marry" an 11-year-old to celebrate.
I wish she''d asked George Bush what book he would have brought. "My Pet Goat" is known to be one of his favorites. It''s a heartwarming children''s book about a little boy and his beloved pet goat.
Posted by chopper2901 at 07:44 PM : Jan 29, 2008
Because Ron Paul is bat-sh*it crazy and has less chance of getting nomination then Ralph Nader does.
Posted by RowdyTexan2
Very funny, Rowdy, since Lincoln was the first Republican President. But he certainly wasn''t the first President to stomp on the Constitution. Remember Adams and the Sedition Acts? Or how about Jackson? Presidents have been trying to maneuver around the Constitution from its inception.
However, the triple threat of the previous Republican majority in Congress, a Republican President, and a stacked Supreme Court has very nearly succeeded in destroying many of the protections of the Constitution. It''s going to take time and effort to restore freedoms that have been abdicated by cowardly politicians in the name of national security.
Blogger, rather than waste your energy with swearing, why don''t you take some time to educate me as to why Ron Paul is so bad. I mean he wants to downsize government, get rid of the IRS and protect your privacy and mine. If you like a large portion of your paycheck going to the government who then invests it in a war that has no meaning, and like government spying on you and making you get National ID cards, then by all means please don''t vote for Ron Paul. You tell me something about this that you don''t like.
A party rule that excludes the votes of any state needs to be changed. That is insane! For the life of me I cannot figure out how such a rule benefits a free country.
Maybe I should have said he was the first president to suspend habeas corpus, and committed war on states that seceded peacefully from the Union which they had every right to do.
--- What ever book they have should be dropped in the night book return slot at the library. -
----- They aren''t going to get into the White House except by invitation for decades.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/151206Immigration.htm
HOW TO KEEP 100% OF YOUR EARNINGS.
http://famguardian.org/Media/movie.htm
- Posted by flreason at 08:01 PM : Jan 29, 2008
Educate me, please... Which Constitutional rights/protections have I lost? I don''t seem to be missing any. I''m a libertarian, BTW, who will be voting for the only Constitutionalist in the race.
Posted by chopper2901 at 08:04 PM : Jan 29, 2008
Have you seen him in the debates? Have you ever really listened to the looneytoon proposals he has? If you have then you know he''s bat-sh*it crazy! Bring ALL of our troops home around the world? Eliminate all taxes and then just cross our fingers on anything getting built, like roads or a military. Privatise everything! Wanna call the fire department and find out they''ll charge you per call because they''re no longer supported by taxes? Wanna call a cop and have him or her say "What''s it worth to you for me to come out? $20? $50?" Wanna hear on the TV (the one you''ll be paying a monthly fee to watch) that one of our closest allies is under attack and all we''ll have to say is "Tough sh*it! That''s what you get for being stupid enough to be our friend! Dumb as*s! HA HA HA!!"
Ron Paul is bat-sh*it crazy. And a racist.
Bush brought "My Pet Goat" into the White House.
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 donscot3 at 08:31 PM : Jan 29, 2008
Nope. In fact her comment was spot-on and there is nothing "unAmerican" about it. She obviously was not speaking literally. Bush has ignored the Constitution repeatedly in his actions, such that it appears he hasn''t read it or hasn''t comprehended it. It is a very significant point.
--- There''s been many arguments for children born with one US parent, but none at all in McCain''s instance,,
,,, He''s NOT a Natural Born Citizen - he was born in Panama with dual citizenship up to a certain age ---
---- Never in the history of the office have we had one born outside the USA ----- Article 2 of our Constition has to be ammended first.
Posted by j-whitman at 10:48 PM : Jan 29, 2008
He was born in the Canal Zone, which at the time was an American territory, at a US military base, which is considered American soil. He is certainly a natural born American citizen just like any other military dependent born at US bases anywhere in the world and is certainly eligible to be president, though I still think (and hope) he won''t be.
Read up bro,,, There have been arguments for citizenship for children born on bases to one US parent, not to both as US Citizens
,,, Our Constitution has never been ammended to include those as born in US Trust Terrorties, or on US bases abroad..... To our courts it''s a black & white issue, either you are born within our borders or you are not.
---- It''''s a black & white issue to our past court rulings, either you are foreign born or natrual born.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv
/politics/campaigns/junkie/archive/junki
e070998.htm
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
Posted by maiingan at 08:08 PM : Jan 29, 2008
A very good book. One of my favorites
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.
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.
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