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Books by and about 2020 presidential candidates |
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Crippled America,
by Donald J. Trump (2015) |
Fire and Fury,
by Michael Wolff (2018) |
Trump Revealed,
by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher (2016) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2016) |
Promise Me, Dad ,
by Joe Biden (2017) |
The Book of Joe ,
by Jeff Wilser (2019; biography of Joe Biden) |
The Truths We Hold,
by Kamala Harris (2019) |
Smart on Crime,
by Kamala Harris (2010) |
Guide to Political Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2017) |
Where We Go From Here,
by Bernie Sanders (2018) |
Our Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2016) |
This Fight Is Our Fight,
by Elizabeth Warren (2017) |
United,
by Cory Booker (2016) |
Conscience of a Conservative,
by Jeff Flake (2017) |
Two Paths,
by Gov. John Kasich (2017) |
Every Other Monday,
by Rep. John Kasich (2010) |
Courage is Contagious,
by John Kasich (1998) |
Shortest Way Home,
by Pete Buttigieg (2019) |
Becoming,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Higher Loyalty,
by James Comey (2018) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2017) |
Trump vs. Hillary On The Issues ,
by Jesse Gordon (2016) |
Outsider in the White House,
by Bernie Sanders (2015) |
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Book Reviews |
(from Amazon.com) |
(click a book cover for a review or other books by or about the presidency from Amazon.com)
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From the Ground Up
A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America,
by Howard Schultz
(Click for Amazon book review)
Click here for 20 full quotes from Howard Schultz in the book From the Ground Up, by Howard Schultz.
OR click on an issue category below for a subset. |
BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:
This book was written in preparation for Schultz's presidential run. The book was released in January 2019, simultaneous with Schultz's announcement of his candidacy. We wonder, therefore, why in the book Schultz plays coy about why he wrote the book:
"Ultimately, I wrote From the Ground Up because I am optimistic about the future and I wanted to share what I've learned from the past. While it is not a memoir, it is an honest reflection…. And while this is also not a business book, it is a behind-the-scenes exploration on one business's journey to try to answer a vital question of our time: What can we do to effect meaningful change and create the fair, just and secure future we all desire?
"I hope From the Ground Up will spark something in you, perhaps even inspire a movement, to embrace all that is right with our country, face what needs to be fixed, and discover how we might use our vast resources and individual assets in new ways to lift ourselves and one another to greater heights. …Healthy, happy communities rely on the interdependence of their members. We are in this together." (p. xii)
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That's his theme -- nothing about running for the presidency -- except the hint of a "movement" (many presidential campaigns have been described as "movements"). Perhaps Schultz hedged his bets about announcing? Like, he wasn't sure when the book was being prepared whether he would announce, so he left it out? That would indicate either poor preparation or poor commitment, so we doubt it. We think he was just playing coy because he thought that presidential candidates should play coy about whether they're running for president. It felt like a novice's mistake.
There are plenty of other novice's mistakes in the book too. Schultz describes his political awakening in 2011, when he started writing public letters (pp. 62-4). I myself followed the same process of political awakening, writing letters to my representatives in the 1990s, and building upon that over the years -- so I believe that Schultz's process was sincere. Of course, a billionaire's letters are treated more consequentially than mine as a young college student, but, like me, Schultz soon realized the limited value of letters. Presumably that is why he decided it was time to be in the arena and run for president -- but he does not actually make that connection. Two hundred pages later, Schultz still never provided a rationale for entering the arena.
Schultz's presidential aspirations are often compared to Donald Trump's -- a fellow billionaire who ran for the presidency without ever running for any other office. They also both wrote several business books before publishing a political book (Schultz wrote Pour your Heart Into It; Trump wrote The Art of the Deal and The Art of the Comeback). But there's a big difference -- Trump ran in 2000 (and wrote The America We Deserve then), and again in 2012 and wrote Time to Get Tough then) before his successful run in 2016. And in between, Trump spent decades cultivating his public image and making his name a household name. Who has heard of Howard Schultz? Yes, we've all heard of "Starbucks," but he has some work to do to get the two associated in America's mind.
Maybe Schultz plans on 2020 being his FIRST run, like Trump's in 2000.
So you won't get a political platform from this book -- you'll have to read our excerpts from Schultz's campaign website for that. Schultz instead in this book talks all about himself, and about Starbucks, and about coffee. We wish him luck.
-- Jesse Gordon, Editor-in-chief of OnTheIssues, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, April 2019
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Budget & Economy
People feel the painful effects of political gamesmanship.
Raising debt ceiling is false goal: focus on balanced budget.
$5M to start community lending in Great Recession.
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Civil Rights
Race Together: dialog about race relations in stores.
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Corporations
Cafes in Italy are welcoming; Starbucks brings that here.
1991: "Bean Stock" gives all employees ownership share.
Transformational Agenda: Starbucks is heart of neighborhood.
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Crime
Open discussion about black communities' mistrust of police.
Ignoring shootings of black men makes us part of the problem.
After Ferguson riots, distribute compendium about race.
Restore public trust by increasing police diversity.
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Education
Supplement Pell Grants to make online college tuition-free.
Private sector can do more for millennial students.
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Health Care
Keep employee health benefits during Great Recession.
Apply affordable healthcare to part-time employees.
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Jobs
Key to job growth is loans to small business.
When workers hurt in 1960s, they were dismissed & no income.
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Principles & Values
Not home; not work; Starbucks is a "third place".
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War & Peace
1972: Didn't protest in streets, but anti-Vietnam War.
Vietnam War did little to combat spread of Communism.
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The above quotations are from From the Ground Up
A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America,
by Howard Schultz.
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