Nearly 70 years later, 'All the King's Men' shows not much has changed in politics

'All the King's Men' by Robert Penn Warren
'All the King's Men' by Robert Penn Warren
Courtesy of Harcourt

Every week, The Thread recommends a book that offers a fresh perspective on the news.

With the 2016 presidential race already dominating the news, let's talk about one of the best novels ever written about politics: "All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren.

When it was published 69 years ago, The New York Times declared: "The summer fiction doldrums are over!"

Warren modeled his central character, Willie Stark — a charismatic, amoral, ruthless political boss — after Louisiana's corrupt governor Huey Long.

Now, I'm not suggesting that any of our current presidential hopefuls resemble Stark. That's too simple.

It's more that Stark's towering contempt for democracy may feel familiar in this era of billion-dollar campaigns and the-ends-justify-the-means political shenanigans.

Fred Wertheimer, founder of Democracy 21, recently wrote that America's presidency is being "perverted" by big money. Citizens don't have a chance, he said.

He added that Super PACs enable big donors to virtually buy elective office all under an umbrella of secrecy.

Willie Stark would have loved that.

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