This book gives a disturbing look at the agenda of the far right. Frum shows courage is his ability not to sugar coat the far right's message but state it as it is. He often smacks of racism using such terms as "black" and "underclass" virtually interchangably. Frum advocates stopping immigration because he believes America is risking "cultural suicide." More disturbing is his vision of a good society. Frum endorses reinstating social stigmas against homosexuality, children born out of wedlock, single unmarried women and premarital sex. He openly admits that would like to see a more religious society for the secular reason that it would be a better behaved society. Frum himself does not come off as a religious man himself but as one who promotes Christianity for the purpose of controlling people. Frum's vision of society is disturbing but at the same time refreshing. He proves that the far right is guilty of elitist politics liberals have been accusing them of for years.

David Frum is a conservative not afraid to give blunt, constructive criticism to his fellows. In "Dead Right", he questions whether the Republican coalition has actually made any progress toward reducing the size and scope of the federal government. In spite of good intentions, he determines very little progress has been made because the GOP is unwilling to incur the pain of telling people what they don't want to hear, which is that moving from a self-reliant nation to a welfare state has damaged our national character.

The contrast between self-reliance and welfarism is the key insight of the book. Frum points out that negative behaviors like divorce, single parenthood, promiscuity, drug abuse, and chronic unemployment are now subsidized by the state and therefore have ballooned to nearly unmanageable proportions.

He realizes that actual budget and program cuts carry a heavy political price. Regardless, he believes conservatives should pay the price of unpopularity and speak the truth in hopes of someday winning a real victory, rather than a pyrrhic one where office is held, but nothing can be done.

In an interesting sideline, Frum takes time to survey the thinking of isolationist "paleoconservatives" who resent the current influence of the liberal-turned-conservative internationist "neo-cons" who changed allegiance during the Cold War. The intramural dispute is very interesting and extremely current with today's events.

Frum is one of the few writers who combines statistical analysis with insider history of the movement to create a dazzling policy book. This is one analysis that doesn't read like a stale pamphlet full of bullet points you've heard a million times. Besides that, Frum is probably the most talented conservative writing today. Pick up "Dead Right" and "How We Got Here: The Seventies" to see for yourself.

"Dead Right," by David Frum, lays it all on the line, telling conservatives not necessarily what they want to hear, but definitely what they need to know. Mr. Frum points out the problems of the conservative movement, and discusses where conservatives have went wrong in pushing their agenda, and what they must do to truly save the nation from the liberal muck in which it currently rests. Mr. Frum puts conservatives into three distince categories: optomists, moralists, and nationalists. In discussing the three categoreis, Frum points out the major problems of each camp. He shows, by example, exactly where each camp has strayed from pushing the true objective of the conservative movement; getting government off the people's backs. In "Dead Right," Frum objectively shows conservatives where they have went wrong, and he tells them how to fix things before it is too late. This is a must read for anyone who strives to change the way our government works, and bring the function of government back to a situation of which the founding fathers could be proud. We, as conservatives, need a guidance as to meet our goals. "Dead Right" provides that guidance in a conscice and objective manner.

Frum is at his best when examining the major public policy questions of the Seventies from, of course, his very conservative perspective. He has an especially good command of his material when he writes about Nixon's wage-and-price controls, the horrible conflict over court-ordered busing in Boston, and and oil shortages of the mid-70s.

Frum is also good on select cultural trends--such as the rise of pornography and the increasingly overt sexuality in more mainstream outlets (such as romance novels). He devotes much attention to the decline of mainline Protestant denominations and the striking rise of divorce statistics. In so doing, he makes a persuasive case that it was the Seventies, more than the Sixties, that really changed American society "for better or worse" (and there can be no doubt that Frum would say the latter).

Despite these promising comments on culture, there isn't anything like an attempt at an overview of American popular culture during this fascinating period. Frum has surprisingly little to say about movies or television, popular music (even disco), sports or any number of other significant barometers of the culture.

A writer as talented as Frum might have had some important (or at least amusing) insights about, say, Roots, All in the Family, Charlie's Angels, Jaws, Billy Jack, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, or dozens of other memorable pop culture events from the decade. But for the most part, other than the occasional reference to Studio 54, the Godfather movies, or the Village People, Frum leaves this area to other writers.

His polemical style occasionally goes over the top, notably in his discussion of gay liberation, where his visceral loathing for gay men becomes obvious. Frum trots out a few sensational anecdotes, involving the more extreme behavior in sex clubs, and leaves it at that, as if that small slice of commercialized subculture were the only part of the story worth telling. His discussion of affirmative action is so one-sided that it lacks credibility.

Predictably enough, some of the reviewers above are conservatives who are delighted with Frum's attacks on liberalism and cultural excesses in this book, as they love Frum's polemical pieces in The Weekly Standard. It's too bad that this is likely to be the book's primary appeal. It could have been much more.

I got the impression that Frum had a more ambitious plan for this book and ended up finishing it ahead of its time. There are so many things he doesn't address, and the quality of his analysis is so uneven. And the appalling number of typographical errors, incomplete sentences and other word-processor-related mistakes (and the apparent lack of proofreading or even spell-checking) suggests an accelerated publication schedule.

One doesn't have to agree with Frum's conservative ideology to enjoy his writing or perspective, as I have in his earlier books. And in places, this book sparkles. Frum began to write a major conservative interpretation of the 70s, and with regard to public policy issues he succeeded. It's too bad that he pulled up short of crafting a more complete and satisfying study of American society during the period.

Frum's book presents a compelling argument for his thesis that much of the societal change for which we assign credit/blame to the 60s actually occured in the 70s, and was a product of that decade's culture. He presents a complete--though by no means exhaustive--portrait of America's psyche during the 'Me' decade.

Frum writes in a very accessible, easygoing style, but his exploration of the 70s lacks any sense of nostalgia. (For instance, you'll read little of leisure suits, disco music, or Pet Rocks.) Rather, he presents a careful (but not really unbiased) analysis of how social institutions changed during the decade. He points out that much of our present distrust of government does not stem directly from Vietnam and Watergate (as it is usually assumed) but developed gradually throughout the years preceding them. He accurately diagnoses the causes and effects of the decline of "mainline" Protestantism in the 70s. Frum also points out how the sexual revolution happened not during the so-called "Summer of Love" but developed in the early 70s.

(I would *love* to see Frum take on the 80s, another greatly misunderstood decade.)

All in all, this book is fascinating and highly quotable. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about this strange and powerful period in American history--or anybody who's just looking for a good read.

But I've got one quibble, and it's a big one: the proofreading in this book is *atrocious*. I've never seen a book reach the market with more spelling and grammatical errors. Unfortunately, there are factual errors as well: Frum states that , during the winter of 1977-78, "[t]emperatures plunged to minus 100 in Minnesota." That's simply wrong, and it casts doubt on some of the other unsubstantiated statements Frum makes.

I don't think this is serious enough to discredit the entire book. Frum provides sources for many of his factual claims; this book would simply benefit from more thorough and careful editing. But read it anyway!

This is a brilliant book. Mr. Frum has written about the 1970s in a style that should be the model for all future historians. All works on a historical time period should take Mr. Frum's lead in combining politics, pop culture, values, and yes, humor into a single work. Frum's thesis - that the origin of what we call the "modern world" came from the 1970s - is proved beyond a doubt. It was a time, you could say, when 1960s political values came into our backyards. Freedom marches in Selma became forced busing in Boston. Flower children became porn stars in our living rooms. Of course, this condition was accompanied by a violent backlash from conservatives. The meeting of these two cultures naturally led to war. In the courts. In the schoolboards. In our government. In most cases, liberal values won out. Where liberalism wasn't as successful was in the economic sphere, where inflation discredited government planning and regulation almost as badly as the Great Depression discredited laissez-faire in the 1930s. The post-war political consensus on the economy and social values ruptured along several faults and the consequences of that split affect us to this present day. Frum analyzes this condition with candor and facts. From Vietnam to Watergate, from blue jeans to disco, from divorce to busing, from New Age cults to Arab sheiks, you will not find a better read on the 1970s than in the pages of this book.

Throughout this book I found the tone similar to David Gergen's "Eyewitness to Power." Whereas Gergen was trying to fit 4 presidents in one book, Mr. Frum deals only with our current president. That focus sets this book apart.

On the jacket, the book talks about Frum's "honest admiration" for George W. Bush. This might set alarm bells off for some potential readers. It shouldn't. It is easy to perceive Frum's surprise (and he does tell us outright) at feeling this admiration after his doubts during the 2000 campaign.

The book is insightful and intimate. The focus is personal, but you can directly compare this profile with those of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton in Mr. Gergen's book. The observations are of a similar vein. More than that, it is an opportunity to get to know a president who, as Frum admits, is pretty insular. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

David Frum's memoir of his year as presidential speechwriter for Goerge W. Bush is an exceptional book; it's very well written (as you'd expect)while providing a fascinating insight to the inner workings of the White House. Frum's limited access to President Bush as a speechwriter provides a more objective perspective than one usually gets from the memoirs of a former White House staffer. Of course, the terrorism of September 11 is the centerpiece of the author's conclusion that George W. Bush found the true purpose of his presidency in the aftermath of that tragic day. The "axis of evil" phrasing is fully explained by the intial author, Frum. Then, only Iraq was the nation obviously earning that dubious description. Since then, North Korea and Iran have shown themselves equally deserving of the title. Overall, a solid book that should be required reading for anyone interested why President Bush is so committed to an Iraq without "the evil ones".

I read this book. Then I read this book's reviews on this site. To the writer who claimed 'Islamophobia!', well, having witnessed the events of Sept.11, 2001 from inside the White House, I am not at all surprised that Mr. Frum is a little frightened of what has been done in the name of Islam. (I, frankly, am terrified.)I suppose that as a woman, I am also 'Islamophobic' because were I living in a middle eastern Islamic state, I would be scared of the often brutal misogyny practiced today in the name of that religion.

Politics aside, The Right Man is a clear and well written book; it is easy to read, thoughtfully meshing public knowledge with behind-the-scenes details only a White House insider can provide. It is truly a fascinating look at our current President and his administration. I recommend this book to everyone who questions the current leadership of this great country. Regardless of your political orientation (unless you're completely closed-minded or a closet sociopath), you are guaranteed to learn something new.

God Bless America!

I'm SO disappointed with David Frum's new book, What's Right. After ten years of faithfully reading his columns and articles and listening to him on the radio every chance I get, I was expecting him to continue targeting Socialist welfare mothers, immigrant parasites and Black opium addicts with his usual brilliance and precision. But what did I get? All this vague nonsense about "Fiscal Responsibility" and "Tomorrow's Children" and "Coalition Building" - it's as if he's writing political science fiction! Look, I'm not saying that David's not still clever in his own special little way, but I think he'd better start shaping up and responding to what his readers want before they wake up and realize that he'd rather hear himself blather on about nothing than really fix what's wrong with America today. Because I can GUARANTEE you that there are at least twenty other conservative writers currently competing for the public's money and attention who aren't afraid to take on the communist media, who aren't hesitant to deliver hard-hitting right commentary, and who don't spend whole books ruminating about these esoteric topics just because they happen to be trendy. Remember, David: it's a free market. You'd better get your act together before YOU'RE the one begging for change. And that's a fact.

Analytically, David Frum is the most powerful thinker in conservative ranks today. He realizes that many "conservative" politicians in office today are not really conservative. Newt Gingrich is complicit in NASA spending, a horrendous waste of money. The centrist Eisenhower was right when he responded- "a man to the moon-WHY?!" Bud Shuster, lifetime American Conservative Union Rating of 95%, is truly only a pork barreling log roller. If he had his way, all of American would be just one big highway. Do you want to see Shuster's ideal town of the future? Visit America's ugliest small town, Breezewood, PA. Shuster is hardly a conservative. As for Jack Kemp, once a conservative darling, is there any social program he would cut? Is there any social program he doesn't want to see funded at the same level as Ted Kennedy would have it funded? No and no. Kemp is hardly a conservative. Yes Frum knows all the frauds for what they are. Frum's declaration that Pat Buchanan is a socialist borders on the insane. Yet Frum's personal hatred of Buchanan borders on the insane. Why? Possibly because Buchanan is more brilliant than David Frum. Possibly because Frum knows that conservatives tune in to Crossfire and The McLaughlin Group because of Buchanan. No other conservative, not even David Frum, has that sort of following. Not even close. Possibly because Buchanan isn't obedient to the Israelis lobby and Frum is Jewish. Frum's vindictiveness towards Buchanan is famous in conservatism's ranks; his attack of Buchanan in The American Spectator in 1991 not only widened the chasm between paleo-conservatives and neo-conservatives to the point where the two sides (briefly united during the Reagan Administration and the Cold War) are at open, blood curdling warfare but also cost The American Spectator hundreds of subscriptions, including mine. One last note on this would-be conservative Pope. David Frum is married to Danielle Crittenden. She is intelligent but a "conservative" feminist(an oxymoron, right) to boot. Obviously, she has chosen to not take her husband's last name. Both forget that one of the things conservatism is all about are traditions. Conservative traditions include the wife taking the husband's surname and the male head-of-household. David Frum, so quick to condemn other conservatives for deviating from the true creed, ought to consider some of his own deviations from the conservative creed.