THE WORLD ALMANAC OF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS ...

THE WORLD ALMANAC OF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS by Eileen Shields-West, illustrated by Jeff MacNelly (World Alamanac/Pharos: $10.95). The many facts, anecdotes and minor details in this volume offer entertaining reading: William Howard Taft’s considerable girth became an issue in the election of 1908 (“330 Pounds--Not Electoral Votes”); neither Abraham Lincoln nor George McClellan campaigned in 1864; in 1956, Mamie Eisenhower dismissed rumors of her political influence, saying, “Just between us girls, Ike runs the country, I turn the pork chops.” However, Shields-West indulges in some editorializing that seems out of place in supposedly apolitical collection of facts: “John F. Kennedy wanted the presidency maybe more than he had a right to.” Although buttons, badges, gewgaws and slogans have had a place in American elections since at least 1824, the text suggests these superficial trappings were once balanced with more substantive issues, in marked contrast to the current practice of resolving national priorities through catch phrases and sound bites.