New Book Tells the Story of Mike Huckabee: A Man of the People

Last updated on: November 25, 2015 at 11:03 pm by Kathy Schiffer

New Book Tells the Story of Mike Huckabee: A Man of the People 2015-11-25T23:03:10-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When I heard that the Patheos Book Club was featuring Scott Lamb’s new authorized biography of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, I got in line for the chance to review it. During this campaign season, I intend to talk about the candidates, individually and together; and I want to be well informed.

I’m so glad to have read this book–but perhaps not for the reasons I expected. Mike Huckabee is so likeable, and I found his life story to be an encouragement to Americans of ordinary means, people who have come from humble beginnings or have struggled to make a living in a challenging economic climate. It’s also a testimony to how virtue shapes the choices one makes in all realms of life: family, education and career.

Until this point, my knowledge of Huckabee has been as the former Governor of Arkansas, and as a candidate on the broader stage of national politics.

But Scott Lamb, in his chronology, began at the beginning. He quotes Huckabee in a campaign speech during the 2008 Republican National Convention, talking about his early upbringing:

“My own father held down two jobs, barely affording the little rented house I grew up in. My dad worked hard, lifted heavy things, and got his hands dirty. The only soap we had at my house was Lava. Heck, I was in college before I found out that it wasn’t supposed to hurt to take a shower.”

He recounts how Mike Huckabee’s sister Pat Harris, a seventh-grade teacher in Little Rock, remembers her brainy brother:

Harris remembers how, even as a boy, her brother read voraciously. “Sure, I used the World Book Encyclopedia when I’d have to do a report. But Mike was that kid who just read the World Book from A to Z. I thought that was a little creepy then. Actually, I still think that’s creepy–but that’s a true fact about Mike. Seriously though, Mike’s always been big into reading–books, magazines, newspapers–all the time.”

Huckabee’s campaign has always emphasized his plain roots. “I stand for Wal-Mart Republicans,” he would say, “not Wall Street Republicans.” And Lamb spotlights the respect which Mike Huckabee shows toward the working class, because they are like his own parents. “Mike’s higher educational and economic position,” Lamb writes, “has not stripped him of remembering who he is–Dorsey and Mae’s son.”

By high school, Mike Huckabee had distinguished himself as leader of the student council, as well as in the field of communications. He earned praise as a musician, as a preacher, and as a best-selling author. He earned the respect of the people of his home state of Arkansas, who elected him Lieutenant Governor in 1993 and Governor in 1996. For seven years he had a respected talk show on the Fox News Network, ending the show in January 2015 to explore a potential bid for the presidency. In 2005, Time magazine named him one of the top five governors in the nation.

The book includes a colorful photo gallery, showing the popular Southern pastor and politician with his family, playing his guitar, fishing with friends, and much more.

But besides the Huckabee stories and memorabilia, the book brings back to mind many of the seminal events of the ’60s and ’70s. Huckabee looks back on the times when, as he expressed it, “the wheels fell off our nation”: the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the shooting of George Wallace, the Chicago Democratic Convention, the hippie movement, the war in Vietnam. He lived through the NASA space program and the first flight to the moon–as did I; and I enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

I understand, more than before, that Mike Huckabee is a good man, under whose leadership our nation could flourish.

But do I expect that Huckabee will emerge as the Republican nominee for the presidency? I am seriously concerned that Huckabee’s candidacy faces an uphill battle. His deep Christian faith drives him to speak resolutely on the issues; but his unyielding rhetoric has yet to persuade unchurched Americans, a significant element in the population, of the efficacy of his positions on social issues. A poll by RealClearPolitics showed that if the Clinton and Huckabee faced off in the 2016 election, Huckabee would pull 41.5% of the votes and Clinton, 49.0%. That doesn’t bode well for those of us who want to see a limited-government, pro-life politician in the White House next year.

Whether Mike and Janet Huckabee move into the White House in January 2017 or not, I think you’d enjoy reading Huckabee: The Authorized Biography.

The book is a selection of the Patheos Book Club, where you can find more information or read an excerpt.

Books

Politics

2016 Presidential Election

Mike Huckabee

Previous Post

November 24, 2015

SHOCKING: Consecrated Hosts Desecrated in Spanish Art Exhibit

Next Post

November 29, 2015 The Miraculous Myrrh-Streaming Icon of St. Anna

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the helmet represent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The power of prayer The Holy Spirit Faith Salvation