Young, A. (2010) The Politician, New York, St. Martin’s Press /replay

This is an account of the rise and fall of vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in 2004 who also ran for president in 2008. The author is an aide to the candidate.

Andrew Young has both a BA degree and Law Degree. He really was uncomfortable speaking before groups of people and thus chose a different route as an assistant to a U.S. Senator  John Edwards rather than the legal profession.

Young was a “body man” for the presidential candidate. This means that he is the supreme go-fer for the senator. Other books have outlined and described “advance men” “security” “speech writer” and others. As described in this book, the “body man” is the closest and most distant assist in the assembly of workers for the candidate. He holds very close conversations with the candidate as wells as being part of the candidate’s family. He is also the one who empties the trash and picks up a room before visitors come into a room.

Edwards was the American Dream. He came from very down home roots from a small town in the south to a household name who was a serious contender to run the largest power in the world. As much as he discussed his roots, he was ambivalent about them. Thus, he would quickly shift to many different topics and try to acquire the persona. His small town and the death of one of their sons made the magic of great

candidates, and yet life style of the rich were hard for him to master. However, on the campaign trail, he could he easily shift to an everyday  person with special talents.

Candidates who have sex outside of marriage must work through various strategies to conduct this activity. Most use a highly expensive and exclusive escort service that delivers and returns the sex worker to place of origin.

Another strategy is to adopt an ongoing worker who hopefully has some task that they can do. They perform the task and provide sex services in unusual situations. Reille Hunter became that sex worker/photographer and web video producer. Not only did Edwards fall, but she was a very demanding and constantly increasing expensive worker.

She also got pregnant which is not what sex workers are supposed to  do. As her demands increased, Edwards could rely on an individual who was a member of an old money wealthy family that traces their tremendous power back over the decades. Bunny Mellon was there all the time to bail him out of trouble. She expected that “alpha” males like John were adulterers. She saw it in other candidates and some members of her own family. Great men need a lot of sex.

As time went on the author became more and more involved with the candidate and pushed into unlawful behavior. This is the rub. He thought that by doing the right thing for a good candidate, he had become a patsy with a handsome man without much if any of a moral conscience.

Edwards was a quick study and could speak superficially on numerous topics. He was an excellent campaigner. His wife was one of the best

and worst candidate’s wife. Her demands to Young were exhausting. In one note, she literally  asked him to arrange services to redecorate a room in the large expensive Edward’s home. She also was thought to have terminal cancer.

At the end, Andrew Young and his wife were dumped from the group. He knew too much and Edwards was falling into a deep spiral. Young now was unemployed and needed money and a way to restart his career. His wife was employed, but he was not. He wrote the book for the details that he knew and for the money, and he says so at the beginning of The Politician.

This is another great book about the behind the scenes work done by numerous people who support the family of an important candidate.

It is like a political saga of some who run for a position in the White House. There is a load of compromises to get there and each who have served in the capacity of president may prosper, but are humbled by the position.

BUNNY MELLON DIED IN THE FIRST WEEK OF APRIL/ 2014