The Candidate: A Political Romance
In 1912, a young lawyer named Jimmy Grayson is plucked from obscurity and thrust onto the national stage when a deadlocked political convention nominates him for President of the United States. Joseph Altsheler transforms the machinery of American democracy into something both exhilarating and precarious: a man who has never held office, never sought power, suddenly standing at the threshold of the most powerful office in the world. War correspondent Harley races to deliver the news to Grayson and his wife, and finds himself drawn into the orbit of Sylvia Morgan, Jimmy's sharp-witted niece, as the campaign unfolds. What follows is a vivid depiction of early 20th century politics, where party bosses maneuver in smoke-filled rooms while candidates and their families navigate the crushing weight of public life. The novel pulses with democratic idealism, the sheer audacity of a system that could elevate an unknown, but also interrogates what such elevation costs.
