Spoiler alert! Robert Day does not REALLY want to be President. However, as the presidential primaries unfold (Trump took on the Pope today), polling indicates that support for his candidacy is growing.
Robert Day for President is not an easy book to review. For that matter, anyone not of the author’s generation may find it difficult to appreciate fully the book’s cultural, literary, cinematic, political and historical references. Those of ANY age who can’t tolerate political opinions other than their own are certain to be exasperated at times, just like some readers were in the days of Mark Twain and, more recently, Art Buchwald and Molly Ivins. All three of them came to mind as I read the book. They would have enjoyed it.
This reviewer is in no way suggesting that the Millennial Generation won’t find a great deal in Robert Day’s “candidacy” to enjoy. It’s just that many of us retired white males who grew up in nurturing families of modest means in the Midwest during the Great Depression or World War II share more in common with the candidate. If you happen to fall in that category, you may find yourself, as I did, digressing from the text to reflect on memories of your own childhood, family life, education, and those special people and events that—to paraphrase the author in his Preface–make up the story of how we became the political people we are today. Professor Day would disapprove of my profession’s use of the term “Political Socialization” to describe this process. But, that, among other things, is precisely what he set out to do—in the unique Day voice and style.
Robert Day for President is not a conventional autobiography, and therein lies part of its charm. If you don’t know the author, he reveals much about himself in relatively few pages. He won’t mind if you decide not to vote for him. But, as I did, you may just learn something about yourself and be enormously entertained in the process.
Full disclosure: I’ve known Bob Day since he brought Kansas and his literary talents to Washington College in 1970. I liked him and his work then and I like them now. In between, we’ve fished. What more needs to be said about a friendship?
Dan Premo is Professor Emeritus of History and Political Science at Washington College.
MARY WOOD says
All one has to do is watch the daily news to decide to vote for Bob Day. I remember him back in the halcyon 70s when he taught in cowboy boots. I advise all concerned citizens to read his book. They will be enlightened as well as amused. How many of the current candidates have done that ?