The Eighteen-Day Running Mate

McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis

By: Joshua M. Glasser

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

No skeletons were rattling in his closet, Thomas Eagleton assured George McGovern’s political director. But only eighteen days later—after a series of damaging public revelations and feverish behind-the-scenes maneuverings—McGovern rescinded his endorsement of his Democratic vice-presidential running mate, and Eagleton withdrew from the ticket. This fascinating book is the first to uncover the full story behind Eagleton's rise and precipitous fall as a national candidate.

Within days of Eagleton's nomination, a pair of anonymous phone calls brought to light his history of hospitalizations for “nervous exhaustion and depression” and past treatment with electroshock therapy. The revelation rattled the campaign and placed McGovern's organization under intense public and media scrutiny. Joshua M.Glasser investigates a campaign in disarray and explores the perspectives of the campaign’s key players, how decisions were made and who made them, how cultural attitudes toward mental illness informed the crisis, and how Eagleton's and McGovern's personal ambitions shaped the course of events.

Drawing on personal interviews with McGovern, campaign manager Gary Hart, political director Frank Mankiewicz, and dozens of other participants inside and outside the McGovern and Eagleton camps—as well as extensive unpublished campaign records—Glasser captures the political and human drama of Eagleton's brief candidacy. Glasser also offers sharp insights into the America of 1972—mired in war and anxious about the economy, a time with striking similarities to our own.

©2012 Joshua M. Glasser (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

A book nearly as long as it’s subject matter

This was a very good read… I was impressed that Glasser was able to get as much out of a very short historical moment. Occasionally, some of the points and quotes were repeated, which felt unnecessary. But, it’s a pretty fascinating story and definitely helps a reader understand the forces at work in a major American political campaign circa 1972.

The narrator did an outstanding job with one minor issue. In quoting the Yeats poem at the end of the book a very critical line was misread as “things fly apart”. I only point this out because it’s one of my favorite poems ever and I hate to hear it misquoted. Feel free to edit the recording and delete this part of my review. Beyond that, the narrator was spotless and has a remarkable voice.