The Choice: November 5, 1996

Bob Woodward did a great job of giving us a view of what the candidates and their families have to go through during the political process of getting elected. All the decisions that must be made. From whether or not to even run. When to announce, who to hire on staff, raising fuds and advertising. Woodward had direct contact and interviews with all the candidates excpet Clinton. Where he had to rely on the President's staff and friends. The book covers all the candidates that try for the nomination, including those that would have been considered but chose not to run. A very interesting insight into the process of running for our most powerful elected office. The book eventually comes down to the campign between Dole and Clinton. Woodward is known for being very accurate and tapes all his interviews. This is the first book of his that I have read. And I will now try to pick up and read the Agenda next.

I recently finished, "Plan of Attack" by Woodward... I couldn't put it down!! He turned Mr. Bush, Powell, Rice and all others into real people with real feelings. I felt as if I were right there and I can still feel the pulse of all of Mr Bush and his cabinet as they worried over and worked with all players for the Iraq war. Great Book!!!!!!

Ok, I admit it; I am a big fan of Woodward. I will read everything he puts out and probably enjoy it. With that being said here is another book of his that I will profess to really enjoying. For my money he is the best political writer in the business today. He has so many contacts that many times in reading the book you could swear he has the White House bugged. This book follows the Clinton team through the two years leading up to the 1996 presidential elections. He does a great job of following both campaigns and paralleling the issues so that you get both sides. You get all the standard Woodward items with the book, great details, wonderful he said - she said conversations that really make you feel like a fly on the wall, an easy to follow and well laid out book.I have read the book All Too Human that George Stephanopoulos wrote and in the book he describes the interviewing technique of Woodward, he stated that Woodward has a great style of getting you comfortable with him and then before you know it you are spilling all the secrets. What was also interesting is that Stephanopoulos wrote that Woodward audio tapes all of his interviews so that leads me to believe that the information in his books has not gone through a reporter taking notes loss of detail. One last bit of info is the Stephanopoulos said that once "The Agenda" came out the Clinton's got so mad at George for all of the info he told Woodward that they basically shut him out for a year. That must mean Woodward got it right.A good follow up to this book is the Woodward book "The Agenda" which is the Clinton White House the first two years and the Elizabeth Drew book "Showdown: The Struggle between the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton White House", it picks up where The Agenda leaves off. This is an interesting book that I really enjoyed. If you like Woodward you will like this book, if you are interested in the first two years of the Clinton presidency then this is also a good source of information.

Very good book. Being a preidential primary and pre genral elction junkie, this was the best book I ever bought... Very well written and researched. Woodward defintely got the inside scoop on election 1996.

Bob Woodward not only describes the inner workings of the Clinton reelection campaign, but gives details of the relations Pres. Clinton had with his staff and wife at the time.