And after college, somebody handed me the book - I was working for Charlie Cook, a political handicapper, kind of fell into that job. I didn't write for my school newspaper in college or anything like that. I always say I have the zeal of the converted. I had sort of come to politics relatively late in life. I don't think there's much of - there's enough of that in our journalism today.

And the thing that I think that most informed my journalism after that year that I think you spent with him and I spent with him on the buses in 1988 was the kindness and the humanity that he displayed toward politicians.Īt a time when, you know, the default position for our business was cynicism, nonstop cynicism, wall-to-wall cynicism, Richard realized that these were, many of them, amazing people who were running for office who had lived incredible lives, who had been challenged and really had a visceral need to do public service. He also had the time and space to write in detail. JOE KLEIN, TIME magazine: Well, you know, he had such a wonderful eye for detail.Īnd he was so relentless. What did his way of telling stories and - how did it inform what you did? Joe Klein, you're a storyteller, too, in much the same way in some respects that Richard Ben Cramer was.

His 1992 book, 'What It Takes: The Way to the White House,' which told the story of six men who ran for president in 1988, became a gold standard for political journalism.įor more on Cramer's influence, we're joined by Joe Klein of TIME magazine and Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post. Writing for Esquire, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and two newspapers, Cramer excelled at the finely drawn profile, from baseball stars to Irish revolutionaries to American politicians.Īnd he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his coverage of the Middle East. Next, we remember author and journalist Richard Ben Cramer, who died yesterday at the age of 62.

Ben cramer what it takes