The Book of Political Lists

An informative, idiosyncratic, and often hilarious collection of American political trivia, compiled by the editors of George magazine. Examples of what's inside: Elections Bill Clinton lost (there are five), Mario Cuomo's list of the best politicians who never ran for president, states that have most often voted for the winning presidential candidate (New Mexico is 21 out of 22) and the losing presidential candidate (Louisiana is 28 out of 45), Bob Dole's 10 nicest things about not being an elected official (reason 9: Favorite TV shows no longer interrupted by own campaign ads), and asteroids named after U.S. political figures. The best is a list of presidential insults. John Quincy Adams on Andrew Jackson: "A barbarian who cannot write a sentence of grammar and can hardly spell his own name." Teddy Roosevelt on Woodrow Wilson: "infernal skunk in the White House." Calvin Coolidge on Herbert Hoover: "That man has offered me unsolicited advice for six years, all of it bad." This book is enormous fun for political junkies. --John J. Miller