"Work Hard, Study... and Keep Out of Politics!"

The real inside story of why Gerald Ford did not ask Ronald Reagan to be his running mate in 1976 - and why Reagan did not pick Ford in 1980; the battle over Florida 2000; the aborted White House job switch that inadvertently opened the door to the Iran-Contra scandal; the Bush campaign's wish that Dan Quayle would offer to resign from the ticket in 1992; the White House turmoil in the dark days following the Reagan assassination attempt; and a great deal more . . .

White House...
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The real inside story of why Gerald Ford did not ask Ronald Reagan to be his running mate in 1976 - and why Reagan did not pick Ford in 1980; the battle over Florida 2000; the aborted White House job switch that inadvertently opened the door to the Iran-Contra scandal; the Bush campaign's wish that Dan Quayle would offer to resign from the ticket in 1992; the White House turmoil in the dark days following the Reagan assassination attempt; and a great deal more . . .

White House Chief of Staff (twice), Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and campaign chairman for three different candidates in five successive presidential campaigns - few people have lived and breathed politics as deeply as James Baker. Now, with candour and Texas-style storytelling, and not a few surprises, he takes us into his thirty-five years behind the scenes.

None of it was planned. His grandfather, the "Captain," drilled this advice into him- "Work hard, study . . . and keep out of politics!