If you had it to do over again, would you have her on the ticket? Game Change 2012 starring Julianne Moore & Woody Harrelson & Ed Harris & Peter MacNicol & Jamey Sheridan & Sarah Paulson & Ron Livingston & Melissa Farman & Kevin Bigley et all, director Jay Roach, 60 Minutes interview to Steve Schmidt, senior campaign strategist
August 2007: John McCain puts country first. ibid.
July 24 2008: If he [Obama] holds a sick baby, we’re really fucked. ibid. McCain to team
A man of no accomplishment has become the biggest celebrity in the world. ibid. Schmidt
We definitely need a game-changing pick. ibid.
We have to change the gender gap. ibid.
She has an 80% approval rating in Alaska ... This is a woman with a gun, John. ibid.
It’s God’s plan. ibid. Palin to Schmidt on plane
To introduce to you the next vice-president of the United States – Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska. ibid. McCain
When she talks about guns, you can tell it’s for real. ibid. voter
Schmidt: You could be the party’s next Ronald Reagan.
Palin: Jesse. He’s my hero. ibid.
Governor, do you know what the Fed is? ibid. Schmidt
You need to make a big move, John. ibid. advisor
She’s having a mini-meltdown. ibid. female adviser
You never listen to your advisors. ibid. female advisor to Palin
Youtube is making it exponentially worse. ibid. Schmidt to McCain
She constantly slips into these catatonic stupors. ibid. adviser
Has it occurred to you guys that she might be mentally unstable? ibid.
She could be on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. ibid. Schmidt to McCain
This isn’t a campaign I wanted to run. ibid. McCain
Fuck me. What were we supposed to do? ibid. McCain to Schmidt
Remember, you’re a hockey mom who wanted to make a difference. ibid. McCain to Palin
Would you have her on the ticket? ibid. TV interviewer to Schmidt
The United States of America was a bold invention. Creating an immense challenge. It took an eight-year war of independence followed by intense political debate to produce a republic of, by and for the people. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e1: Assume the Position 1789-1925, History 2013
The office of US president has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of the American people. ibid.
The first presidential election took place on 4th February 1789. ibid.
[James] Monroe kicked off his presidency with a tour of the states by horse and carriage. ibid.
America in 1824 saw the era of the Founding Fathers coming to an end. Over the next twenty-five years six presidents would reflect the United States’ sometimes uneasy transition from old tradition to an expansion of land, influence and opportunity. Democracy was the word on everyone’s lips. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e2: Power to the People
Jackson ... the most popular general since George Washington ... Of America’s nearly 11,000,000 people only 10% were eligible to vote. ibid.
Adams was a classical scholar ... He wanted a strong federal government to build a system of new stone roads and canals. ibid.
The election of 1828 once again saw Adams vs Jackson ... a new low for mud-slinging. ibid.
Jackson v the National Bank of the United States ... ‘The bank is trying to kill me but I will kill it.’ ibid.
[Martin van] Buren tried his best to run a tight ship at the Executive Office. ibid.
[William Henry] Harrison became the first president to die in office. ibid.
With new territory came old confrontations. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e3: A House Divided 1849-1865
Zachary Taylor: The twelfth president of the United States. ibid.
Alongside federal marshals, bounty-hunter slave-catchers also began hunting black men, women and children whether they were former slaves or not. ibid.
The people voted in a little-known amiable Democrat called Franklin Pierce .. Like Fillmore before him, his Party refused to renominate him. ibid.
James Buchanan: The fifteenth president. ibid.
Lincoln swept the entire north ... The sixteenth president ... South Carolina withdrew in December of 1860. ibid.
A new unprecedented task – the reconstruction of a fractured country. ibid.
America after its civil war was a traumatised country in desperate need of leadership. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e4: Executive Retreat 1865-1901
Over the next three decades a series of weak presidents lacking vision for the future showed little interest in real leadership. ibid.
[Andrew] Johnson issued orders for the seceded states to hold elections. ibid.
On 24th February 1868 Congress for the first time impeached a sitting president on eleven counts of high crimes and misdemeanors ... [Andrew] Johnson’s victory was hollow. ibid.
On 25th April 1898 Congress declared war on Spain and [William] McKinley signed it. ibid.
In September 1901 [William] McKinley was assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt, then aged forty-two, became the youngest president to hold the presidency to date. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e5: Call of Duty 1899-1921, History 2013
Taft: He was a reluctant leader and felt out of place in the White House. ibid.
[Woodrow] Wilson: 2.8 million men would be drafted, and the top income tax rate was raised to 77% to cover defense spending. ibid.
America in the 1920s was a country poised for a fresh start … The Times called for a stronger leader. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents: Changing of the Guard 1920-1945 e6
Warren Harding was an easy-going everyman. ibid.
Some Cabinet members just couldn’t resist using their unfettered power for personal gain. ibid.
At 2.30 in the morning 51-year-old vice-president Calvin Coolidge was woken at his family’s Vermont home to be told of Harding’s death. ibid.
Coolidge barely uttered a word. ibid.
The torch of conservative leadership was passed to Herbert Hoover. ibid.
1933 on the 4th March Franklin Delano Roosevelt arrived at the capital to take the oath of office. ibid.
At the end of the Second World War in 1945 America emerged as a global superpower. But the ensuing Cold War then presented the US with a very new crisis. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e7: Hail to the Chief 1945-1964
Truman’s approval ratings fell to 22% in February 1952. ibid.
Eisenhower ... preferred covert action in proxy wars. ibid.
Kennedy and Nixon were the first candidates to have a televised debate. Over seventy-seven million people, two-thirds of the adult American population, tuned in. ibid.
Over the last fifty years US presidents have attempted to exert their power for vastly different results ... The power of the office has increased. Ultimate Guide to the Presidents e8: Mantle of Power 1965-2013 e8
By the end of his [Johnson’s] presidency more than half a million [troops] were stationed across the Pacific. ibid.
Additional abuses of power on Nixon’s part: he’d authorised wire-taps, approved payments to cover up the scandal, and misused the CIA to divert an FBI investigation. Nixon, however, appeared unfazed. ibid.
The everyman image that got Carter elected as the 39th US president worked against him whilst he was in the White House. ibid.
Reagan: he would preside over a shift of power away from Congress and back to the Executive mansion. ibid.