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Books by and about 2020 presidential candidates |
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Crippled America,
by Donald J. Trump (2015) |
United,
by Cory Booker (2016) |
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) |
Promise Me, Dad ,
by Joe Biden (2017) |
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) |
The Book of Joe ,
by Jeff Wilser (2019; biography of Joe Biden) |
Becoming,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Our Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2016) |
This Fight Is Our Fight,
by Elizabeth Warren (2017) |
Higher Loyalty,
by James Comey (2018) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2017) |
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Books by and about the 2016 presidential election |
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What Happened ,
by Hillary Clinton (2017) |
Higher Loyalty ,
by James Comey (2018) |
Trump vs. Hillary On The Issues ,
by Jesse Gordon (2016) |
Hard Choices,
by Hillary Clinton (2014) |
Becoming ,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
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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Think Like a Champion
by Donald Trump
(Click for Amazon book review)
Click on a participant to pop-up their full list of quotations
from Think Like a Champion, by Donald Trump (number of quotes indicated):
- Ayn Rand (1)
- Donald Trump (17)
- George W. Bush (1)
OR click on an issue category below for a subset. |
OnTheIssues.org BOOK REVIEW:
This is a business book, not a policy book. Trump has written several other business books too -- this is just the most recent one before he announced for the presidency, so people might read this one with more interest. The point that political readers should get is this: it is a normal, boring, plain ol' business book -- not flamboyant and not loud -- political readers should see THAT side of Trump too!
This book rehashes well-worn business advice, including its title. Trump starts each chapter with an old chestnut of a business platitude, such as Ben Franklin's "Diligence is the mother of good luck" to start Trump's chapter on work and luck. In that chapter (pp. 173ff) Trump explains his fondness for old chestnuts: "I've always been big on quotes, whether they're mine or someone else's, because very often they distill ideas down to their essence." Here is a collection of some of the old chestnuts as expressed in Trump's chapter titles:
- The Importance of Being a Team Player (p. 11)
- Learn to Think on Your Feet (p. 19)
- Think Like a Champion (p. 39 and the book's title)
- Learn from Setbacks and Mistakes (p. 73)
- Get the Best People You Can (p. 105)
- Think Positively (p. 139)
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These are not controversial, not new ideas, and not unique to the selections above -- they permeate the entire book, implying that they permeate Trump's thinking about how to succeed at business. In other words, Trump trusts the establishment viewpoint on how to succeed, and embodies that established viewpoint by applying them to his own business decisions. Politically, that implies he is NOT an anti-establishment iconoclastic "new ideas" kind of politician, although the mainstream media portrays him that way!
Trump does sometimes have new business ideas, and he writes about them in this book. For example, his signature project (and his personal home), Trump Tower in New York City, is a "mixed use" project: it includes both hotel rooms and residences. Trump claims he invented that idea, and spread it around the world at his other big projects. However, his new ideas are the exception -- generally he follows the establishment way, asserts the old chestnuts, and spends page after page advocating that readers should follow the establishment way and respect the old chestnuts. Politically, that implies that when Trump has a new idea, he researches it well and then spends a lot of time perfecting it.
So why does the mainstream media portray Trump the way they do, as flamboyant and thoughtless and anti-establishment? First let's establish how poorly the mainstream media portray Trump, then we'll offer our rationale as to why they do so. First, the mainstream media seem obsessed with reporting on Trump's foibles -- the majority of all of our press feeds in the last month have been about Trump, and almost all articles were negative. And second, the mainstream media seem obsessed with NOT reporting on Trump's actual policy stances. For example:
- "The Trump Conundrum: How should his Republican rivals handle him at next week's debate? And who might inherit his supporters?" National Journal (moderate "analysis" magazine, focusing on candidate attacks), Aug. 1, 2015
- "Donald Trump Is Stupendously Wrong, But So Are Those Deserting Him" Forbes Magazine (conservative business-oriented magazine, claiming that Trump has no policies, and of course mentioning his hair), July 5, 2015
- "Genetics trumps claim that The Donald's hair is fake", Los Angeles Times (liberal newspaper treating hairstyles as an issue), July 29, 2015
- "Rand Paul attributes Trump's rise to a 'loss of sanity'," The Hill (establishment blog, reporting what one candidate says about another's poll standing, as if that is news), July 30, 2015
- "Mike Huckabee: Trump Showed 'Disrespect' to POWs, All Veterans", Newsmax (conservative blog treating candidate attacks as news), July 20, 2015
- "Lindsey Graham Says Reince Priebus Should Denounce Donald Trump on Immigration", Bloomberg News (conservative reporting on what one GOP candidate thinks the GOP chair should do about another GOP candidate -- that's "news"?), July 12, 2015
- "How would President Donald Trump’s hair rank on the world stage?" Washington Post (liberal newspaper, analyzing the hairstyle "issue"), July 24, 2015
- "Trump’s Campaign Manager: We’ll Release Specific Policies When We Want To", Buzzfeed.com (liberal blog), July 30, 2015
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That last article is a complaint about Trump's campaign not offering policy proposals beyond brief outlines. That's our biggest complaint about the mainstream media: they pretend that they have to report about his hair or other candidates' attacks. We at OnTheIssues are clear that the mainstream media CHOOSE to report primarily about Trump's hair and candidate attacks -- they PRETEND that Trump has no issue stances, because they don't want to undertake the hard work of reporting Trump's issue stances.
Before Trump even announced for president, OnTheIssues had hundreds of excerpts from Trump's books and statements during his previous presidential flirtations. After Trump announced for president, OnTheIssues readily found dozens more excerpts, and we will find dozens more every month because we LOOK for them. Trump wrote a policy book in preparation for the 2012 presidential race, and Trump also has an older policy book which he wrote in preparation for the 2000 presidential race. Those are serious policy books, and serious reporters might read them and stop whining that Trump has no policy positions -- because those books are full of them!
Serious reporting about Trump might include how his issue stances changed between his 2000 policy book and his 2012 policy book -- OnTheIssues does exactly that in our book review of Time to Get Tough. The current mainstream media has failed at serious reporting on these grounds:
- By reporting on hairstyles instead of policy, the mainstream media makes a farce of the political system (which is exactly what the mainstream media accuses Trump of doing!)
- By pretending that Trump has no policy positions, the mainstream media forces the voting public to pay attention to flamboyant daily attacks (which is also exactly what the mainstream media accuses Trump of doing!)
- By failing at their core duty, the mainstream media should "drop out" of the presidential race (which is exactly what the mainstream media suggests Trump should do!)
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In summary, anyone who reports on daily candidate attacks, or about hairstyles, should NOT be called "serious reporters." Those articles should be relegated to the Entertainment sections. The mainstream media should be ashamed of their coverage of Trump, and should get off their lazy butts and read his policy books and then report about them. The authors of the articles cited above -- who all claim to be "serious reporters" at "serious journalistic institutions" -- should apologize to the public, or should resign from journalism, or both. Trump is not the problem with the political system -- the news media's REPORTING about Trump IS the problem!
-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, August 2015
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Budget & Economy
Donald Trump: We prospered after 9/11; we'll prosper after Great Recession.
Donald Trump: 2006: Warned about impending implosion of financial sector.
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Corporations
Donald Trump: Being a know-it-all shuts the door on new ideas.
Donald Trump: Business is an acquired skill based on discipline & focus.
Donald Trump: Pragmatic positive: be positive, but be realistic.
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Education
Donald Trump: Americans don't know their roots: study your ancestry.
Donald Trump: Comprehensive education instead of limiting subjects.
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Energy & Oil
Donald Trump: Oil is the lifeblood of all economies.
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Environment
Donald Trump: Partner with environmentalists when undertaking projects.
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Foreign Policy
Donald Trump: Things change; empires come and go.
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Health Care
Donald Trump: 1988: Flew sick kids cross-country on his private jet.
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Homeland Security
Donald Trump: Business students should read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War".
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Principles & Values
Donald Trump: Greatest fear? I don't have any; I only have "concerns".
Donald Trump: I believe in the toot-your-own-horn theory.
Donald Trump: I'm more humble than people might think.
Donald Trump: Build your reputation as "responsible, professional & loyal".
George W. Bush: OpEd: Bush's presidency made tough situation for 2008 GOP.
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Technology
Donald Trump: Took chance by starting Clear Channel radio program.
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Welfare & Poverty
Ayn Rand: Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think.
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The above quotations are from Think Like a Champion
by Donald Trump.
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