Warts and All: The Men Who Would Be Bush

Matt Ridley

History

Ridley's first book, written while he was Washington correspondent for The Economist, chronicles the 1988 United States presidential election from a British perspective. It argues that personalities rather than issues dominate American campaigns, citing Nixon and Reagan as architects of modern campaigning and attributing Michael Dukakis's loss to a lack of charisma. Ridley has since publicly disowned the book.