{"product_id":"9780679746492","title":"What It Takes","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Quite possibly the finest book on presidential politics ever written, combining meticulous reporting and compelling, at times soaringly lyrical, prose.\" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race -- and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer comes up with the answers, in a book that is vast, exhaustively researched, exhilarating, and sometimes appalling in its revelations.","brand":"Richard Ben Cramer","offers":[{"title":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  1993-06-01","offer_id":46322800558335,"sku":"9780679746492","price":36.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_7309a1a6-9fa3-43fb-8142-49ae3acbcad6.jpg?v=1732307075","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9780679746492","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}