Hardball

How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game

customer reviews

Timed to re-release simultaneously with Chris Matthews’s new book Jack Kennedy, which Simon & Schuster will publish this fall, this national bestseller explores the fascinating, largely unknown, relationship between Nixon and Kennedy and the crucial ways in which it shaped them—and the nation.

Hardball is a tough, funny, tell-all revelation of how politics really works. From tales of raw ambition and brutal rivalry to behind-the-scenes stories of famous disagreements, Matthews reveals the truth about master politicians such as JFK, LBJ, and Richard Nixon, while he explains the real meaning of rules such as “Only talk when it improves the silence;” “Positioning is everything;” and “Always concede on principle.”

Whether addicted to Washington politics or office politics, readers will enjoy this unprecedented guide to grown-ups’ favorite game—the game of position, power, and survival in the world today.

Choose a format:
Trade Paperback
eBook

Choose a format:

Book details:

Free Press |
240 pages |
ISBN 9780684845593 |
November 1999

$15.95 List Price

Usually ships within 1 business day

Teaching Resources

To download a file to your computer right-click on the link and choose 'save file as'

High Resolution Images

Book Cover Image (jpg): Hardball
Trade Paperback 9780684845593

(1.7 MB)

Praise

“The Wall Street Journal A thoroughly entertaining book about modern-day American politics and how it's played...Hardball is a must-read textbook that should be read with a marker. ”

SEE ALL PRAISE (10)

“The Wall Street Journal A thoroughly entertaining book about modern-day American politics and how it's played...Hardball is a must-read textbook that should be read with a marker. ”
“Stephen Stark The Washington Post Every so often a writer reads a book so incisive and so good that when he finally puts it down he says, Damn, I wish I had written this. I just finished Christopher Matthews' Hardball. And damn, I wish I had written this. ”
“George F. Will Matthews is half Huck Finn and half Machiavelli in this exuberant guide to the great game of politics. ”
“Christopher Lehmann-Haupt The New York Times Savvy and amusing...Fresh and original. ”
“Ben Bradlee author of A Good Life and Conversations with Kennedy Christopher Matthews writes about politics with relish”

– the way sports writers cover boxing.
“Hendrik Hertzberg Senior Editor, The New Yorker People will be quoting Hardball as long as the game of politics is played. ”
“Thomas P. Tip O'Neill, Jr. The best in the business! ”
“Sam Donaldson Brilliant! God may take care of fools, drunks and the United States, but Chris Matthews has the goods on how Washington politicians take care of the rest of us. ”
“William Safire Chris Matthews hits a political homer with Hardball. For political sagacity and humor, this ranks with the work of George Washington Plunkitt. ”
“Tim Russert In Washington, everyone says they practice politics, and develop policy. But to succeed they know they must play hardball. This book smartly captures that central truth! ”

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

Be warned. This is not a civics book. It is not about pristine procedures, but about imperfect people. It is not an aerial judgment of how leaders of this or any country ought rightly to behave, but an insider's view of the sometimes outrageous way they actually do. Its subject is not the grand sweep of history, but the round-the-clock scramble for position, power and survival in the city of Washington.

Let me define terms:

hardball is clean, aggressive Machiavellian politics. It is the discipline of gaining and holding power, useful to any profession or undertaking, but practiced most openly and...