A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House by Charles Osgood

Charles Osgood has written a book about the Presidential Campaign trail. What's great about this book is the history. Osgood shows us some of the funny quotes the candidates have made from the Truman vs Dewey election to the Bush vs Kerry election. He begins each chapter (campaign) with a brief description and moves into the funny blunders the candidates made.

In a season when people may be weary of all things politics, it's good to read some things political that make us chuckle.

Here are some of the memorable quotes:

Truman vs Dewey (1948)
Truman - "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference."Truman - "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself."

Eisenhower vs Stevenson (1952)
Stevenson on being an elitist - "If I talk over people's head, Ike must be talking under their feet."

Kennedy vs Nixon (1960)
Kennedy - "There is no city in the United States in which I get a warmer welcome and fewer votes than Columbus, Ohio."

Reagan vs Carter (1980)
Reagan - "I had a dream the other night. I dreamed that Jimmy Carter came to me and asked why I wanted his job. I told him I didn't want his job. I wanted to be president."

Bush vs Dukakis (1988)
Bush - "It's not exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another."

VP Dan Quayle - "Republicans understand the importance of the bondage between parent and child."