Loading ...Three Books You Must Read Before Entering Politics
Today is Election Day in Illinois. Across the state, thousands of candidates are competing for many different offices at the township, municipal, or district level. Earlier this week, I published My Endorsements for Today’s Election. Now, I want to offer my recommended reading list for anyone who is entertaining the idea of running for public office regardless if you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent.
How to Win a Local Election: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Lawrence Grey’s book, How to Win a Local Election: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide (Evans, 2007), is exactly what its title suggests; a “how to” guide that covers everything a novice candidate needs to know before entering the “strenuous life.”
Grey, a former county prosecutor and appellate court judge, writes clearly and offers great advice on topics ranging from getting your name on the ballot to fundraising to canvassing to yard signs.
Michael Eshleman says “There are lots of books on politics, but most are by political scientists-who never get their hands dirty by actually running for office-or by reporters or participants in big campaigns for the White House or Congress. Anyone who wants to get on the school board or the city council will find this book exceedingly helpful, as Grey speaks from years of experience.”
The Art of War
The words of Master Sun (孙子) are as well known to the Chinese today as they were when the he wrote these sayings nearly 2,500 years ago. Widely regarded as the oldest military treatise in the world, The Art of War (Penguin Classics, 2003), still retains much of its original authoritative merit as a strategic masterpiece.
For example, Sunzi opens his work saying:
War is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction, a matter to be pondered carefully.
Such can be said of politics, business or many other aspect of life. In his introduction, John Minford sums up The Art of War this way:
…The Art of War offers more than insight into Chinese ways of doing things (including business). Like its venerable predecessor The Book of Changes (I Ching), it leads itself to infinite applications. It has been used as a springboard for an American self-help book about interpersonal relationships. It could no doubt also serve as the basis for a book on tennis, cooking, or defensive driving. The strategic advice it offers concerns much more than the conduct of war. It is an ancient book of proverbial wisdom, a book of life.
But there is an art to reading The Art of War. It should be read, as the Ming-dynasty scholar Liu Yin wrote, not reverentially but “in a lively manner, like pearls rattling around in a dish, with no prescribed order.” It should be read “practically, in an applied manner, from the very beginning.”
And like I Ching, The Art of War should be read often in order to comprehend its finer points.
Render Unto Caesar
Until a few months ago, my recommended reading list stopped with those two books. After reading Archbishop Charles Chaput’s Render Unto Caesar, I added it as the third book in my list.
In my original review, which you can read here, I said:
The book does not endorse any political party of candidate. Partisans looking for such red meat need to look elsewhere. What Chaput does do is explain how faithful formation is necessary for proper public discourse. It applies to candidate and citizen alike, and requires unapologetic effort.
I agree with Chaput that too many of my fellow Catholic citizens have “come to see the church through the lens of American secular politics.” The church is not an arena for interest-group. She is in the business of saving souls. In recommending this book, I am trying to correct Catholic politicians as well as showing non-Catholics how important a well-formed faith can be a benefit to the nation.
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