Almost President by Scott Farris

"Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race But Changed the Nation" by Scott Farris tells the story of the men who have been nominated for President of the US but fell short. 

I really enjoyed reading about 9 of the main contenders (in the main 1st 10 chapters of the book) who fell just short of being able to call themselves president.  All are names that most fans of US history will recognize.  Goldwater, McGovern, Stevenson are some of the notable ones.  As a proud Kentuckian, I was pleased to see Henry Clay is the first "Almost" covered.  I always enjoy reading more about Lincoln's rival/friend Stephen Douglas.  I personally remember Ross Perot's jumping into the mix in the 90s, but I had forgot a lot about his efforts.

Farris devotes one chapter to the recent "almosts" in Gore, Kerry and McCain.  He also has a very nice section at the end that discusses all of the main contenders not covered in their own sections.

This is one of the more well thought out, and easy to follow books on politicians that I have ever read.  Author Scott Farris puts forth a nearly flawless effort of explaining the lives and careers of these political giants, going in to detail about how many were able to stay active and in the spotlight, while others disappear almost immediately after their presidential defeats.

Farris does a beautiful job of painting a picture of the social times as he gives information about the particular campaign.  In the section on Al Smith, the author gives an account of a child working as a cigarette roller.  When asked how long he had been working at this job, his response was, "Ever since I was."

Scott Farris' book is a very nice and easy to read volume, full of odd side notes in the world of US presidential elections.  I really enjoyed reading it straight through, and I will be keeping it around as a reference.  It gets my highest possible recommendation.