Presidency...or Pulitzer?

By Harriet Barovick, Val Castronovo, Mitchell Frank, Tam Gray, Desa Philadelphia, Julie Rawe, Hope Reeves, Chris Taylor and Owen Thomas

What does it take to win the presidency? Sound foreign policy and a pledge to protect Social Security might help. But a candidate also needs shelf life. Here's a guide to recent books from the men who want to be Commander in Chief:

CANDIDATE GEORGE W. BUSH

BOOK A Charge to Keep

ABOUT Him, vowing "to never allow others to define me"

VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I'm a compassionate conservative: "call me a conservative with a heart"

BUZZ This year's most anticipated book by a politician

[CANDIDATE] JOHN MCCAIN

[BOOK] Faith of My Fathers

[ABOUT] A prisoner of war survives Vietnam

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I'm a hero, but I'm flawed--just like you

[BUZZ] This is actually a good memoir

[CANDIDATE] PATRICK BUCHANAN

[BOOK] A Republic, Not an Empire

[ABOUT] Isolationism

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] "Most heartening about [the 1996] campaign was the respectful and extensive coverage my ideas received in the mainstream media"

[BUZZ] Got bad buzz for notion that Hitler was no big U.S. threat; even infuriated Republicans

[CANDIDATE] STEVE FORBES

[BOOK] A New Birth of Freedom

[ABOUT] Forbes magazine parables answer America's problems

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I have "positive, forward-looking solutions," and I'm the Forbes editor in chief

[BUZZ] Alas, money can't buy you buzz

[CANDIDATE] BILL BRADLEY

[BOOK] Values of the Game

[ABOUT] Basketball as leadership

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I played basketball very, very well with others

[BUZZ] Great jock allegory

[CANDIDATE] AL GORE

[BOOK] Earth in the Balance

[ABOUT] Environmental bleakness

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I can save the planet, and God is on my side

[BUZZ] Ideas slammed by conservatives as too radical