Ron Paul’s rEVOLution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired

In disorganized fashion, journalist Doherty (Radicals for Capitalism) tries to explain how Paul and his supporters—“homeschooling Christians and couch-surfing punk rockers, college professors and famous actors”—are “changing the shape of American politics.” Doherty attempts to frame Paul in a historical context by tracing the argument for a “separation of government from banking” as far back as the Van Buren administration, while also comparing Paul to William Jennings Bryan, suggesting that “the two politicians’ character, style, populist appeal, and most specifically their anti-imperialism mark them as kin.” Though Paul’s recollections about marrying his high school sweetheart, getting drafted in 1962, and, as a doctor, seeing “an infant [that] was put in the trash and left to die” provide the book’s most compelling passages, a full picture never emerges. Instead, Doherty rehashes existing accounts of Paul’s first House election in 1976, hastily mentions Paul’s 1988 presidential campaign on the Libertarian ticket, and rushes through the next 20 years to his 2008 Republican presidential campaign. The chapters mostly proceed chronologically, but without any coherent, compelling structure or narrative. In a too transparent effort to link the book with Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign, Doherty briefly summarizes the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries and concludes, “Paulites will represent [the] future,” though how or why Doherty makes this claim remains unclear. Agent: William Clark, William Clark Associates. (May)