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From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STEPS to Restoring America's Greatness
With the small but powerfully
inspiring word "hope,"
nationally recognized leader
and policy-maker Governor
Mike Huckabee points out that
progress for our country cannot
happen with the continued
bipartisan rift dividing it. He
taps into the fundamental core
of every American, confronting matters closest at hand with the
call for a critical change in perspective and a clear plan of action
that shows what we can become as a truly indivisible nation. The
governor presents 12 key things we need to STOP doing in order
to make America stronger, speaking out on immigration, the job
market, health care, education, and taxes, and provides practical
solutions that could bring our nation to higher ground.
inspiring word "hope,"
nationally recognized leader
and policy-maker Governor
Mike Huckabee points out that
progress for our country cannot
happen with the continued
bipartisan rift dividing it. He
taps into the fundamental core
of every American, confronting matters closest at hand with the
call for a critical change in perspective and a clear plan of action
that shows what we can become as a truly indivisible nation. The
governor presents 12 key things we need to STOP doing in order
to make America stronger, speaking out on immigration, the job
market, health care, education, and taxes, and provides practical
solutions that could bring our nation to higher ground.
- GenresPoliticsMemoirNonfiction
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
4 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Mike Huckabee
57 books62 followersAmerican politician and a political commentator for Fox News Channel. A member of the Republican Party,
Huckabee served as governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries; he announced his candidacy on January 28, 2007. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee and Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008.
Huckabee is the author of several books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker. He is well known for having lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in a very short time and for advocating a healthy lifestyle. He and his wife, Janet, have been married 33 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah.
Huckabee served as governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries; he announced his candidacy on January 28, 2007. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee and Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008.
Huckabee is the author of several books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker. He is well known for having lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in a very short time and for advocating a healthy lifestyle. He and his wife, Janet, have been married 33 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 17, 2016
I have never read a “campaign” book before. I was handed this one for free after having a conversation with Mike Huckabee’s Iowa Political Director at the annual NICHE conference. Gov. Huckabee’s From Hope to Higher Ground is eminently readable and insightful.
“Hope” refers to Hope, Arkansas, where Gov. Huckabee is from. “Higher Ground” can be a metaphor for many things, including improving ourselves, improving our families, and improving our nation, not to mention to Gov. Huckabee’s presidential ambitions. It is a metaphor that works well in this quick 196-page read.
The book gives us 12 “Stops” to restoring America’s greatness. The stops refer to things that we must stop doing, which is interesting because the book not only serves to introduce us to Gov. Huckabee’s beliefs and political positions, but provides us with sound advice. The book will thus have resonance beyond 2008, as do, I am sure, his earlier titles: Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork and Character Makes a Difference.
For instance, we should stop “being cynical,” stop “abusing our planet,” stop “robbing the taxpayers,” stop “the heat and turn on the light for hot issues,” stop “the loss of America’s prestige at home and abroad,” and–my favorite–stop “being a selfish citizen,” among others. Gov. Huckabee interweaves into each chapter specific standards we ought to hold our political leaders accountable to and specific principles by which we ought to be governed. He also tells stories from his life, including his ten-and-a-half years as Governor of Arkansas, to illustrate his stops. At the end of each chapter, Gov. Huckabee lists “12 Action Steps” to stop doing whatever the subject of the chapter is. For example, in “STOP the Culture of Chronic Disease,” he lists, “Eliminate processed sugar from your diet as much as possible, if not totally;” in “STOP Being Cynical,” he lists “have regular conversations with people very unlike you.” I appreciate the specificity of the suggestions, which tell us much about the type of person Gov. Huckabee strives to be.
Gov. Huckabee comes across in this book--which he wrote without a ghost writer–-exactly like he comes across in debates, speeches, and campaign stops: articulate, humorous, kind, humble, and right on the important issues of the day. If you are interested at all in Gov. Huckabee’s campaign, this book will give you good insight into the man. If you are not interested in his campaign, this book will still give you good insight into “restoring America’s greatness.”
“Hope” refers to Hope, Arkansas, where Gov. Huckabee is from. “Higher Ground” can be a metaphor for many things, including improving ourselves, improving our families, and improving our nation, not to mention to Gov. Huckabee’s presidential ambitions. It is a metaphor that works well in this quick 196-page read.
The book gives us 12 “Stops” to restoring America’s greatness. The stops refer to things that we must stop doing, which is interesting because the book not only serves to introduce us to Gov. Huckabee’s beliefs and political positions, but provides us with sound advice. The book will thus have resonance beyond 2008, as do, I am sure, his earlier titles: Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork and Character Makes a Difference.
For instance, we should stop “being cynical,” stop “abusing our planet,” stop “robbing the taxpayers,” stop “the heat and turn on the light for hot issues,” stop “the loss of America’s prestige at home and abroad,” and–my favorite–stop “being a selfish citizen,” among others. Gov. Huckabee interweaves into each chapter specific standards we ought to hold our political leaders accountable to and specific principles by which we ought to be governed. He also tells stories from his life, including his ten-and-a-half years as Governor of Arkansas, to illustrate his stops. At the end of each chapter, Gov. Huckabee lists “12 Action Steps” to stop doing whatever the subject of the chapter is. For example, in “STOP the Culture of Chronic Disease,” he lists, “Eliminate processed sugar from your diet as much as possible, if not totally;” in “STOP Being Cynical,” he lists “have regular conversations with people very unlike you.” I appreciate the specificity of the suggestions, which tell us much about the type of person Gov. Huckabee strives to be.
Gov. Huckabee comes across in this book--which he wrote without a ghost writer–-exactly like he comes across in debates, speeches, and campaign stops: articulate, humorous, kind, humble, and right on the important issues of the day. If you are interested at all in Gov. Huckabee’s campaign, this book will give you good insight into the man. If you are not interested in his campaign, this book will still give you good insight into “restoring America’s greatness.”
August 17, 2008
Great book, very well written. This guy should be our next president. His hope he writes about is contagious and those who criticize MH for his politics and "churchy-behavior" need to read this book first and take a hard look in the mirror. This book outlines very practical steps as to how we can make an immediate positive impact for our communities and for our country. Huck is a man that "preaches" (no pun intended) getting back to how our country was originally designed. None of this partisan politics, bickering and hair-splitting on irrelevant issues. Huckabee refers to caring about our country more than ourselves...sound familiar? Huckabee really has some good things to say that are pretty hard to dispute. He talks about family, education and character. I always like comparing Huck's books with those of other politicians books. Seems most other politicians talk of party unity, complain all the time and are more concerned about themselves and "their people" rather than the country as a whole. Great book-highly recommended.
June 27, 2011
This book explains Huckabee's views on lots of issues. I agree with him on about 96% and the few I disagree I can see his side. He also clears up some of the out right lies that have been told about how he believes. I think he would make an excellent President! I hope he will run in the future!
August 18, 2007
This reads more like a self-help book than a serious statement from a political candidate. From his “Twelve STOPS to Restoring America’s Greatness” to his rehashing of Clinton’s “I’m from Hope” line, Huckabee seems more interested in inspiring us all to be happier, healthier citizens than actually addressing any of America’s problems.
In an age of rampant corporate corruption and increasingly aggressive foreign policy, it’s important for presidential candidates to show responsible leadership, highlight accountability and restore reason to government. Huckabee’s response is “stop being cynical.” Apparently the decline of America’s credibility is not something to be concerned about; we just stop watching the news and those icky documentaries people are making. In a complete misreading of history, Huckabee criticizes Kerry’s negative campaign points in 2004 and applauds Reagan’s “Morning in America” in 1984. Remember Reagan? The guy who ignored AIDS for a good six or seven years?
Huckabee is reasonable on issues such as healthcare and immigration, but fallacious or absurd in many of his comments on other issues. While I understand Christian conservatives are expected to be pro-life, the “Fetal Protection Act” seems absolutely ridiculous. Huckabee is inordinately proud about this measure to make it a crime to assault or murder a pregnant woman. Was it not a crime already? Do we need two laws for the same thing? Murder is a crime, period. It’s this kind of needless legislation that sensible libertarians are supposed to be against.
Another predictable position is his anti-gay marriage stance, which he insists is not “anti” at all. This sounds a lot like Bush, with his assertion that restricting the definition of marriage is really done in its defense. Quick logic lesson: if you are proposing to narrow the definition of something, you are in fact against the things you are proposing to exclude from that definition. Huckabee equates gay rights with a broader movement that belittles the sanctity of marriage, citing no-fault divorces and the growing ease of getting married. What irks me about this whole “sacred tradition” garbage is that it is simply not historically accurate. Anyone invoking this tradition deliberately ignores its origins. Until very recently, marriage amounted to fathers trading off their daughters for financial or political gain. It was a land grab scheme; the “sanctity” merely justified it. The daughter was unlikely to object because that would amount to defying not only her parents but God. These were not happy marriages, whether divorce was allowed or not. Even the relatively happy marriages did not in any but the most superficial ways resemble the concept of marriage we have today. Marriage for love is a new thing. Many of the problems we’re having with it today are more accurately attributed to growing pains as society adjusts to a new concept than blamed on an “anti-marriage” agenda.
Finally, Huckabee is completely fallacious when discussing Iraq. He begs the question: what if Hussein had possessed WMDs and we didn’t attack? Well, guess what, Mike: he didn’t. The rhetoric in this section is absolutely ridiculous. The day we start invading sovereign nations merely because it’s logically possible that they could pose a threat is the day we truly become an evil empire.
Apart from a few refreshing examples of reason, this book seems to only exemplify the worst mistakes of the GOP in recent years. Why is it that otherwise reasonable people sound like the lunatic fringe when the topics of religion and culture are brought up? Shouldn’t a philosophy of keeping government out of pocketbooks extend to keeping it out of bedrooms? I’m not expecting a revolution, just a little consistency.
In an age of rampant corporate corruption and increasingly aggressive foreign policy, it’s important for presidential candidates to show responsible leadership, highlight accountability and restore reason to government. Huckabee’s response is “stop being cynical.” Apparently the decline of America’s credibility is not something to be concerned about; we just stop watching the news and those icky documentaries people are making. In a complete misreading of history, Huckabee criticizes Kerry’s negative campaign points in 2004 and applauds Reagan’s “Morning in America” in 1984. Remember Reagan? The guy who ignored AIDS for a good six or seven years?
Huckabee is reasonable on issues such as healthcare and immigration, but fallacious or absurd in many of his comments on other issues. While I understand Christian conservatives are expected to be pro-life, the “Fetal Protection Act” seems absolutely ridiculous. Huckabee is inordinately proud about this measure to make it a crime to assault or murder a pregnant woman. Was it not a crime already? Do we need two laws for the same thing? Murder is a crime, period. It’s this kind of needless legislation that sensible libertarians are supposed to be against.
Another predictable position is his anti-gay marriage stance, which he insists is not “anti” at all. This sounds a lot like Bush, with his assertion that restricting the definition of marriage is really done in its defense. Quick logic lesson: if you are proposing to narrow the definition of something, you are in fact against the things you are proposing to exclude from that definition. Huckabee equates gay rights with a broader movement that belittles the sanctity of marriage, citing no-fault divorces and the growing ease of getting married. What irks me about this whole “sacred tradition” garbage is that it is simply not historically accurate. Anyone invoking this tradition deliberately ignores its origins. Until very recently, marriage amounted to fathers trading off their daughters for financial or political gain. It was a land grab scheme; the “sanctity” merely justified it. The daughter was unlikely to object because that would amount to defying not only her parents but God. These were not happy marriages, whether divorce was allowed or not. Even the relatively happy marriages did not in any but the most superficial ways resemble the concept of marriage we have today. Marriage for love is a new thing. Many of the problems we’re having with it today are more accurately attributed to growing pains as society adjusts to a new concept than blamed on an “anti-marriage” agenda.
Finally, Huckabee is completely fallacious when discussing Iraq. He begs the question: what if Hussein had possessed WMDs and we didn’t attack? Well, guess what, Mike: he didn’t. The rhetoric in this section is absolutely ridiculous. The day we start invading sovereign nations merely because it’s logically possible that they could pose a threat is the day we truly become an evil empire.
Apart from a few refreshing examples of reason, this book seems to only exemplify the worst mistakes of the GOP in recent years. Why is it that otherwise reasonable people sound like the lunatic fringe when the topics of religion and culture are brought up? Shouldn’t a philosophy of keeping government out of pocketbooks extend to keeping it out of bedrooms? I’m not expecting a revolution, just a little consistency.
February 27, 2010
"From Hope to Higher Ground" reads less like a book from a man looking at running for major office, and more like a New International Version of The Bible, with fewer thee's and thou's.
With that that, I feel compelled to point out that Huckabee makes a few valid points that should be looked at more closely. I may not agree with his stance on gay marriage, abortion, gun control, and our national drug policy, he has a smart idea for lowering the national debt, eliminating the IRS, and funneling more money into our school systems.
If you're looking for a unbiased political book, this is not it. If you're looking for a religious text, this is also not it. This is a middle ground between the two.
With that that, I feel compelled to point out that Huckabee makes a few valid points that should be looked at more closely. I may not agree with his stance on gay marriage, abortion, gun control, and our national drug policy, he has a smart idea for lowering the national debt, eliminating the IRS, and funneling more money into our school systems.
If you're looking for a unbiased political book, this is not it. If you're looking for a religious text, this is also not it. This is a middle ground between the two.
Want to read
September 3, 2008Mike Huckabee is one of my heroes, can't wait to read some of his work!
January 5, 2009
Good to read. Informative. Got some good viewpoints, not necessarily mine. Exclusively republican guy
April 23, 2010
Skimmed most of it...
October 19, 2009
More like one-and-a-half stars.
September 6, 2011
l-oved it!
May 24, 2012
Great book, his policies are what America needs
July 9, 2012
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11227088
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11227088
November 25, 2012
This book changed my life. i really do hope that someday he is our President.
April 23, 2019
What a great blue print to follow to make our country better! The governor's insights are invaluable and his life story is the American Dream!
January 27, 2013
Some great thoughts on government and governing drawn from Huckabee's time in the Governor's office. Would've been helpful to hear more anecdotal stories of how he fleshed out his policies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews