A book every American citizen must read

By Hanna Mhlongo

The Buying of the President 2000 is one of those books that every American can't afford to miss. It's a reminder that politicians are in the business often not for the citizens but for themselves and those who can make the highest bid for their political campaigns.

It is an extensively researched account of how politicians and political parties over the years have been accepting funds from companies and individuals for their political campaigns in exchange for favors.

The Buying of the President is the work of former television news journalist Charles Lewis and the Center for Public Integrity. Since 1992, just before the elections, the Center has been publishing the latest on soft money contributions.

By reading this book, Americans will know how the federal government imposed a flat tax of three percent on every telephone call in the name of making every school in the nation Internet-accessible - a former vice-president Al Gore's brainchild; how the Republicans pushed for the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which allowed the industry to use the broadband services to wire up America to the Internet. That development will create a market of $150 billion.

The book also talks candidly about how the Clinton administration has been the biggest culprit on bending the rules in the White House and has accepted money from even felons; how some United States businessmen "educated" the government "to look beyond China's poor record of human rights abuses." Clinton gave China a most-favored-nation trade status a few months after he began his presidency.

One of the most interesting accounts in the book is how the sons of the former politicians climbed the political ladder and received business favors just because of their last names. For instance, according to the book, former vice-president Al Gore had other interests than politics. When asked if Gore is a presidential material, one of the famous quotes from his parents is: "We raised him to for it."

President George W. Bush is another politician who saw doors open just because his father was a president. In one of his interviews, Bush says: "My biggest liability in Texas is the question 'what did the boy do?' He could be riding on daddy's name." The book also talks about how The Harvard Foundation, which manages billions of dollars for the Harvard University, was reluctant to invest in an oil company called Harken. Months after Bush came on board to become one of the company's directors, Harvard Management invested $20 million.

Perhaps Al Gore fought hard to become president in the last election because he wanted to fulfill his parents' dream of "raising a president." George Bush became America's 43rd president because he wanted to prove that he is capable of becoming his own man.

The book includes a record of Pat Buchanan and his sister, Bay. Americans can learn how he has come back and forth from presidential campaigning to political punditry, in the process earning millions of dollars in both careers; how they have continued to raise funds even when polls clearly showed that Buchanan was not going to win the election.

The biggest strength of the Buying of the President is that while it gives all these accounts about American big money, the book is devoid of the opinions of the writer. It leaves the reader to make his own judgment. It enables the American citizens to make an informed decision every time they go to the polls.

Studies have shown that millions of Americans don't vote in this country because of political apathy. The book is a wake up call that refusing to vote will give politicians a leeway to bend the rules and thus allow corruption to be the norm.

University of Wisconsin-River Fall. Department of Journalism.
The Online Journalist. Copyright 2001