Too Funny to Be President

Until forced to retire by the onset of Parkinson's Disease, Morris Udall represented his Arizona district in the U.S. House for several decades and in that time, the tall, one-eyed, unrepentantly liberal Mormon cut one of the most distinctive and respected figures in the U.S. politics. As well as being a skillful politician and a hard-working legislator, Mo Udall was also one of the most genuinely witty men to ever hold public office. In 1976, Udall was one of the major candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination and when he lost, he did it in a way that only a true wit like himself could properly appreciate. He managed to finish second in almost every primary he entered. His status as apparently everyone's "second choice" led more than one commentator to wonder if Udall, who by the campaign's end would regularly great crowds with "Hello, I'm Ronald Reagan," was actually just "too funny to be President." Appropriately, when Udall wrote his memiors, he chose this question for his title. What sets Udall's autobiography apart from other political memoirs? The answer is quite simply Mo Udall, himself. Udall had a gift for never giving into the pompous self-importance that seems to end up infecting the majority of men who spend most of their lives in government. Even when recounting his '76 presidential run, Udall keeps the mood nicely light. This is one of those rare political bios that I think would actually entertain someone with absolutely no interest in politics. The only time that Udall allows himself to grow overly serious is in his discussion of the censure of Harlem's flamboyant Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and Udall's account of that still-controversial event reads like a thriller. Instead of allowing himself to get murked down in insider boasts, Udall wrote a book where he basically just told some interesting stories from his past and he wrote those stories not for political insiders but for the everyday Americans that he obviously loved so much. I'm a Republican so even if Udall ever had won the presidential nomination, I probably wouldn't have voted for him. But after reading this bio, you can't help but wish there were more men like Morris Udall in both political parties -- men who never let their pursuit of political power purge them of their own essential human decency.Also to be treasured is the book's final half which simply consists of some of Morris Udall's favorite jokes. He also spends a great deal of time explaining the best way to deliver a joke in a speech. In a time when so many people seem to find "Whasssup!?" to be the height of wit, Udall's advice and genuiness is greatly appreciated. Morris Udall may have been too funny to be President but obviously, he wasn't too funny to write one of the most heart-warming bios I've ever had the pleasure to read.