Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them | 
 enlarge | Authors: John Mccain, Mark Salter
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $13.85
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 928312
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 752
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 0446581429
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780446581424
ASIN: 0446581429
Publication Date: August 14, 2007
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New, hardbound with a dustjacket, $27.99 price on dj, remainder marked. (h)
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Product Description
In Hard Call, acclaimed authors John McCain and Mark Salter describe theanatomy of great decisions in history by telling the remarkable stories ofmen and women who have exemplified composure, wisdom, and intellect in theface of life's toughest decisions.The authors identify six qualities typically represented in thebest decisions:Awareness.Timing.Foresight. Confidence.Humility. Inspiration.These qualities are personified by the exceptionalindividuals in this book, each of whom made a hard call:Branch Rickey's awareness of the opposition he would face inintegrating the Brooklyn Dodgers, and his sagacity in choosing the rightman, Jackie Robinson, to break baseball's color barrier.Winston Churchill's foresight in preparing England's Navy forwar.Anwar Sadat's and Menachem Begin's timing in choosing to risktheir lives and political careers by seeking peace in the aftermath ofwar.Gertrude Ederle's confidence in deciding to swim the EnglishChannel - and her fortitude in continuing the quest against the wishes ofher coach, despite the fact that no woman had ever succeeded.Reinhold Niebuhr's humility in deciding to abandon his pacifistviews and endorse the use of violence against persecution in Nazi Germanyand the Soviet Union.Abraham Lincoln's historic act of inspiration: His decision toissue the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of faith in his life, and hiswillingness to suffer for a cause greater than himself. Woven into these stories are John McCain's own views on theprocess and art of decision-making and examples of the hard calls we facein our lives. "When I assess a decision," McCain writes, "I want to knowall I can about the character of the decision maker before I examine theproperties of the decision, its outcome or how it was arrived at." Hard Call is a testament to the people whose choices serve as a beacon forus all.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
"Oddball" McCain reveals some very personal quirks! October 23, 2008
John McCain is quite an interesting man, and this first person account was fascinating. I was surprised to read that McCain puts aside 35 minutes each day to tap dance, and follows a diet consisting entirely of tangerines. And who would have thought McCain wears the very same pair of "lucky" underpants every day, except for his "Sunday pants." I was hoping that McCain would have gone into more depth about his year-long relationship with Edith Piaf in the late 1930s, but I guess there's always the next one! Great book!
 a must read for everyone October 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With all of the biased coverage of news these days, it is important to find information to give balance to the whole picture. This book, with its choices of material, is an excellent example of what a person needs to read to help form opinions and delve through all of the "stuff" that bombards us daily. Add it to your list of "must reads" today, and enjoy it all!
The Art of the Hard Call September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
John McCain's "Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions" reveals the essential character qualities required to make the "Hard Call" by retelling stories of great decision makers, past and present. I learned many new things about the character of people like Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Abe Lincoln, and many others. As McCain illuminates the character qualities each of these people displayed in their great decisions, we get a glimpse at the character of the author as well.
Hard Calls and Good History September 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Certainly the timing of this book's release and its review of tough decision making are not coincidental to John McCain's presidential campaign. This does not detract from its value. As do Barack Obama's books (for example, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance), it tells us what a political leader wants us to know about his view of the world. To McCain and Slater, decision making is characterized by Awareness, Foresight, Timing, Confidence, Humility and Inspiration. These qualities are examined through 20 case studies, including Gerald Ford's decision to pardon Richard Nixon and the efforts of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat to achieve peace between their countries.
The book's structure presents some choices. First, it can be read as ordered, with a discussion of each aspect of leadership followed by historical examples. It runs a little long this way, though. I listened to it as an audio book and felt like I was trudging though history on foot. Worth the walk, but quite a trek.
Readers with more selective interests might sample just the stories that intrigue or that fill gaps in their historical knowledge. It is worthwhile to learn about the history of Liberia or experience another perspective on Alexander Graham Bell's inventiveness. Each of the 20 decision scenarios is a self-contained story, which facilitates such picking and choosing.
Finally, readers eager to examine John McCain's leadership style can confine themselves to the book's introduction, and to the introductory chapters in each of the six sections. These chapters point to the kind of decisions he admires, what he has learned from them, and how he--and we--can make decisions like them. Whether you agree with him or not, his brand of decision making is made plain to be understood and evaluated.
 Written by a Charlatan July 28, 2008
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
McCain has never tried to work through a tough decision. His own autobiography describes (although the description is watered down) his duplicity that got American service men killed. If you want to buy a book about hard decisions then buy it from someone who has made one.
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