Product Description

Famous for his deadpan humor, New York Times bestselling author Senator Bob Dole here brings us his favorite witticisms and hilarious remarks of this country's commanders in chief.

Referring to his own run for the presidency, Senator Dole writes: "President Nixon and I have much in common. We both grew up amidst rural privation. We both served in World War II. We both served in the House and Senate. Of course, there are some differences as well. That's why we call him President Nixon."

Just in time for the inauguration and President's Day comes this delightful book chock-full of presidential quips and humor collected by Senator Dole -- one of the country's most recognizable political figures and commentator for Comedy Central's Indecision 2000.

Great Presidential Wit collects the former senator's favorite funny stories and remarks by and about American presidents -- from George Washington to the first president elected in the twenty-first century. Senator Dole tackles the assignment of ranking the presidents from the funniest (Abraham Lincoln) to the least funny (Millard Fillmore), and everyone in between. With chapters cleverly organized according to the senator's own opinions -- from "A Class by Themselves" (Lincoln, Reagan, the Roosevelts) and "Yankee Wits" (Coolidge, Kennedy) to "The Joke's on Them" (Taylor, Harding, Van Buren, Buchanan, the Harrisons, Pierce, Fillmore) -- Great Presidential Wit is the perfect antidote to the long political season.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1032900 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Amazon.com
Friends and foes alike recognize that Bob Dole is one of the funniest men in American politics, and Great Presidential Wit is an excellent collection of wit and wisdom drawn from public life. It reads much like Dole's previous book, Great Political Wit, even if it has a narrower focus. Dole begins by ranking every president on a humor scale, and in doing so, he makes an interesting point: "At the top of the heap ... I place Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and the two Roosevelts. By most accounts they are also among the most effective chief executives. Coincidence? I don't think so." (At the bottom of the heap is Millard Fillmore. Writes Dole: "Don't get me wrong. Fillmore's been good for many a chuckle over the years. It's just that most of the laughter has come at his expense.")

Dole frankly assesses each president for his wit: "Now comes the part sure to keep this book out of several presidential birthplace gift shops," he deadpans. Here he is on John Adams: "Often cranky and full of insults--an eighteenth century Don Rickles." On George Washington: "First in peace, first in war, but middle of the pack when it came to humor." On Richard Nixon: "Those weren't jokes that were deleted from the Watergate tapes."

The bulk of Great Presidential Wit, however, is a collection of jokes and humorous stories. Sometimes they are old-fashioned knee-slappers. When Stephen A. Douglas called Lincoln two-faced, Lincoln asked the audience, "I leave it to you. If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?" Sometimes they have a deeper meaning. "It has been my experience," said Lincoln on another occasion, "that folks who have no vices generally have very few virtues." Ronald Reagan fills up quite a few pages: "An economist is someone who sees something happen in practice and wonders if it'd work in theory," he once said. Calvin Coolidge, one of the most underrated presidents, turns out to be one of the best at combining wisdom and humor: "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business." Here's John F. Kennedy answering a reporter's question about how he became a war hero aboard PT 109: "It was absolutely involuntary. They sank my boat." Bill Clinton delivered this howler in 1995, on (humorous) ways the government can save money: "Combining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms with both the Bureau of Fisheries and the Interstate Trucking Commission. We're going to call it the Department of Guys." Great Presidential Wit is a joy to read or browse, and highly recommended for anyone who likes politics served with a dash of humor. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly
"After his perennial rival, Stephen A. Douglas, called him two-faced, Lincoln turned to his audience and drawled, `I leave it to you. If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?'" Lincoln's comeback is only one of many presidential quips, jokes, sarcasms, witticisms, self-deprecations and word-plays cited by Bob Dole in Great Presidential Wit: I Wish I Was in the Book. Convinced of the salubrity of humor in the Oval Office, Dole sets out to show that the most respected, fondly remembered and effectual presidents have been endowed with a funny bone, debunking the notion of the necessarily solemn face of leadership.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
Larry King Bob Dole has one of the most humorous minds, not only of any politician I've ever known, but of any person I have ever known.

Customer Reviews

To Be Dipped Into - at your leisure
Introducing his book of Speeches, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) said it should be dipped into and not consumed in one sitting. The same logic applies to this fine set of anecdotes from Bob Dole. Not all the anecdotes are particularly humorous and quite a few of them are comments about the respective presidents rather than comments made by the man in the White House.

Dole's effort to rank the most humorous presidents gives the book a certain appeal. His top four in order are Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt. The rather lengthy material he provides on Lincoln does not in my opinion justify his ranking. It is very difficult to appreciate humor from another era and while there is not much doubt that Lincoln was a superb raconteur (particularly in his earlier days), suggesting he was the funniest occupant of the White House is just another example of the rose tinted glasses so many people put on when writing about this admittedly great president.

Dole's book suffers from a regular problem with `collections.' A lot of the very good material would benefit from better context. Reagan and LBJ were wonderful storytellers and either might have made it as a humorous keynote speaker, but their material is best enjoyed in quality biographies of either man, because you can get a better appreciation of the men. Best anecdote in book - LBJ corrects voter who thinks Johnson was born in a log cabin to which the big Texan replied. `You've got me confused with Lincoln. I was born in a manger.' Ba-Boom.

An enjoyable library piece.

Wit and humor from our presidents.
Indeed I wish Bob Dole was in this book, instead of reporting on the wit and humor of the highest office's previous occupants. I believe humor and the ability to laugh at yourself is a great asset with any person in high office. When Dole lost in 1996, he stated he slept like a baby....he cried all night.
The book is structured on rating the president's ability to crack jokes. Many people believe that Lincoln and FDR had great wits. Dole states the many unknowns such as Coolidge's jokes about his silence. Some of our underrated Presidents had great wits.
This is a nice little humorous read. If the reader needs an uplift, this is a great book to begin with.

Anecdotes and witticisms that add a human touch
After the success of "Great Political Wit", Senator Dole followed up with this book. It is a book full of witty sayings of and anecdotes about our Presidents. He has grouped the Presidents from the wittiest descending to the point of having good stories about those Presidents that weren't particularly funny. Mr. Dole even provides his own ranking of the Presidents as wits from #1 - Lincoln down to #41 - poor Millard Fillmore.

These stories and witty sayings are generally quite good. Some you will want to remember. He even has a last section on George W. Bush and Al Gore. You will remember some of these from your own reading of the news and watching Letterman and Leno.

What I like about these little stories is the human touch they add to the too often formal and impersonal view we have of our Presidents. We see their pictures, memorize a couple of dates and maybe some key legislation or war during their time in office and that will be it. We seldom get to know them as people. These stories, in just a few sentences, show their character and view of themselves, their time, and the world in which they lived. Sure, too much can be made of them. But they do add something useful and a chuckle or two never hurt anyone's day.

This is a bit larger volume than the first book, but it doesn't read long. And, like the first one, it is fun to just dip into now and again.