Work Hard, Study... and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from…

The real inside story of why Gerald Ford did not ask Ronald Reagan to be his running mate in 1976 - and why Reagan did not pick Ford in 1980; the battle over Florida 2000; the aborted White House job switch that inadvertently opened the door to the Iran-Contra scandal; the Bush campaign's wish that Dan Quayle would offer to resign from the ticket in 1992; the White House turmoil in the dark days following the Reagan assassination attempt; and a great deal more . . . White House Chief of Staff (twice), Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and campaign chairman for three different candidates in five successive presidential campaigns - few people have lived and breathed politics as deeply as James Baker. Now, with candour and Texas-style storytelling, and not a few surprises, he takes us into his thirty-five years behind the scenes. None of it was planned. His grandfather, the "Captain," drilled this advice into him- "Work hard, study . . . and keep out of politics!