Cross to Bear: America's Most Dangerous Politics

by John Maginnis

A wild ride through Louisiana's tumultuous political landscape. They called it the Race from Edwin Edwards vs. David Duke vs. Buddy Roemer. For Louisiana voter, it was like watching a train wreck, except they were along for the ride. This exposé provides a clever glimpse behind the scenes of the Louisiana governor's race that had the whole world watching. The current national political phenomena of racial alienation, voter rage, sex-life inspections, and third-party challengers exploded first in Louisiana before rocking the American scene and revealing itself in explicit and colorful details.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

374 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this one after listening to Slate’s Slow Burn podcast, which covered David Duke this past season. A recap of the 1991 Governor’s race, aka “the race from hell”, Maginnis does a great job breaking down the particulars of the race and the outlandish history of New Orleans politics. He also foreshadows Donald Trump’s wise in many and various ways through his coverage of David Duke’s candidacy. This is a tough book to get ahold of but it’s worth it if it’s available at your library or you come across it used. It gave me a better picture of the nuances of Louisiana politics and how a people can fall sway to a racist demagogue.

[Adam Eversole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Scott Wolfe Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

“That large animal that thundered through Louisiana in 1990 and 1991 has galloped on. It has thrown several small riders since, and it's still out there, running loose.”