A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House: Humor, Blunders, and Other Oddities from the Presidential Campaign Trail - Hardcover

Charles Osgood writes and anchors The Osgood File four times daily over the CBS radio network and anchors CBS television's Sunday Morning every week. He is the winner of two Emmys and three Peabody Awards; Washington Journalism Review named him "Best in the Business" five years running; and in 1990 he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters' Broadcasting Hall of Fame. He lives in New Jersey.

Osgood, a soothing voice on the radio and a comforting visage on Sunday-morning television, here compiles campaign quotations for his sizable audience. Picked from presidential campaigns between 1948 and 2004, the speakers’ lines prompt chuckles that are sometimes intentional, frequently unwitting, and always amusing. Osgood’s eye for the political funny bone covers the myriad ways a politician gets a laugh, including self-deprecation, ridiculing the opposition, satirizing the carnival aspects of campaigning, and foot-in-the-mouth goofs. Some pols probably would have been better stand-up comics than presidents, such as 1976 also-ran Morris Udall, who quipped: “The voters have spoken—the bastards!” Osgood’s nomination for the funniest candidate is two-time loser Adlai Stevenson, who furnished this collection’s title and a string of wry remarks about his egghead image and hopeless chances against the popular Eisenhower. For each campaign, Osgood thumbnails the issues and the candidates’ use of humor, noting their reliance on the risible with the increasing political influence of comedy shows. From Richard Nixon’s “Sock it to me” delivery on Laugh-In to appearances on the shows of Leno and Letterman, presidential hopefuls have used jokes to connect with folks. Well-stocked with verbal pratfalls (“Republicans understand the importance of the bondage between parent and child.” ––Dan Quayle), Osgood’s collection provides welcome comedic relief during this year’s silly season. --Gilbert Taylor