Compare and contrast All the Kings Men and Primary Colors

Primary Colors, written anonymously by Joe Klein, captures the essence of political ruthlessness, as it conveys the story of how far one couple will go in their determination to win the Democratic Primary. In his quest for the Democratic tic

Klein’s Primary Colors, excels in its portrayal of a man who has no concept of his actions negatively affect not only him but also others. Through out the book Jack Stanton continually looks for away to escape these consequences instead of accepting them.

In Robert Warren Penn’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, All the Kings Men, readers are introduced to the lager than life character Willie Talos and also witness his transformation from an honest small town politician to a corrupt Governor who is addicted to being in control of everything. After gaining power in such a rapid fashion, Willie’s ego soon inflates to epic proportions, which begins to cause him personal woes. Willie’s State Auditor is caught in a scandal and faces impeachment. Instead of standing down and admitting that Byram B. White was a poor choice for the job, Willie’s ego forces him to stand by his man, which in effect alienates other people close Willie’s heart. Willie also has no ability to separate his personal and professional life. Tom, Willie’s son, finds himself in trouble injuring a girl in a car crash. Soon it is revealed that Tom is the father of the injured girl’s baby, a fact that gives Willie an upper hand in a political deal of his. Willie’s estranged wife, Lucy, is livid about the way he brings personal matters into his professional life. She is disgusted that her unborn grandchild is involved in some scheme involving “money and politics and somebody wanting to be a Senator,” (Warren 468). Willies immoral way of working doesn’t stop there. Similar to the actions of Governor Stanton in Primary Colors, Willie implorers his aides to look for any damaging details about his political rivals allowing him to keep his new found power. Willie’s longtime rival Sam MacMurfee attempts to blackmail Willie into bowing out of the Senate race by threatening to reveal to the papers that Willie’s teenage son will soon be a father (Willie’s actions catch up on him here, but he is too blind to recognize it). Willie’s team is instructed to dig deep and find anything that can stop this from happening. The team discovers a scandal involving Judge Irwin, who has been one of Mac Murfee’s biggest supporters. Willie becomes so bent on revenge that he doesn’t care about losing the election, even “if it takes ten years to find,” he instructs his men to “find it and…make it stick,” (Warren 71-72). Warren excellently depicts how Willie’s power quickly corrupts, as he becomes everything he

Some topics in this essay:
Primary Colors, Jack Stanton, Governor Stanton’s, Jesus Neanderthals, Cass Mastern, Susan Stanton, Tom Willie’s, Sam MacMurfee, Mac Murfee’s, Tom Lantos, primary colors, one’s actions, jack stanton, robert warren penn’s, growth human, power hungry, teenage son, governor stanton, involved politics, professional life, joe klein, kings primary colors,