In this book, Oppenheimer and the late Bob Peabody provide a detailed analysis of the 1976 House Majority Leadership race. Upon the retirement of Speaker Carl Albert (D-OK), Majority Leader Tip O’Neill (D-MA) won the contest to replace him unopposed. The race to replace O’Neill has been viewed by many scholars as the most consequential in the history of the House. In evaluating it, Oppenheimer and Peabody combine insider access with broader game theoretical analysis to explain how Rep. Jim Wright (D-TX) emerged victorious over three other formidable candidates (by one vote). The insider access stemmed from interviews conducted by the authors with the four candidates (Wright and Reps. Phillip Burton and John McFall of California and Dick Bolling of Missouri) and their supporters during the race.

The detail and cast of characters make this book fascinating for any student of congressional history. Honestly, if it were simply 180 pages of entertaining member quotes about Phil Burton, I would still recommend it. Fortunately, it is more than that. What makes this book so unique is the structure. It was originally presented as a paper at the 1977 APSA conference. Some forty years later, Oppenheimer published it “with only minor edits (4)” as the first ten chapters of this book. In the concluding three chapters, he reevaluates the work and trac