Edward Segal

Leadership Strategy Senior Contributor/author, Crisis Ahead — 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Another Rave Review For My New Book, “Whistle-Stop Politics“

“‘Whistle-Stop Politics” is a one-of-a-kind book about politicians and train travel. It reflects the author's love for a mostly bygone era, and it succeeds because of the many anecdotes he has collected from the politicians themselves and the journalists who covered them.

“‘Whistle-Stop Politics’ a refreshing look at politics as it once was and a trip down memory lane, when trains stopped in small towns and time seemed to move more slowly.”

—Eleanor Clift, political reporter at the Daily Beast and coauthor of “Selecting a President”

“Whistle-Stop Politics” is available wherever books are sold.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

When Bush Was Too “Chicken” To Debate Clinton

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump quickly agreed to debate each other before the election in November. Their first debate is next Thursday.

But as I recount in my new book, “Whistle-Stop Politics,” in 1992 the Republican presidential nominee was reluctant to agree to debate the Democratic candidate.

When President George H. W. Bush sought reelection, his campaign train appearances in the Midwest were shadowed for more than a week by hecklers wearing chicken costumes and holding signs that read “Chicken George Won’t Debate.”

The “chicken offensive” was meant to call attention to and make fun of the Republican candidate’s refusal to debate Bill Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Underneath the fifteen or twenty chicken costumes that followed Bush around the country were flesh-and-blood volunteers working under the direction of the Clinton campaign.

At one rear-platform campaign rally, Bush apparently could not take the ribbing any longer. “You talking about the draft record chicken or are you talking about the chicken in the Arkansas River?” he asked the bird in the audience, the New York Times reported. Getting no reply from the sign-holding feathered heckler, Bush pressed on. “Which one are you talking about? Which one? Get out of here. Maybe it’s the draft? Is that what’s bothering you?”

For whatever reason, the Republican president finally agreed to debate Clinton.

Although the chicken did not claim credit for pushing Bush over the edge, fowl play was never ruled out by authorities.

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping presidential candidates, read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about the book at https://t.co/T2Eut3n3mB.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Another Rave Review For “Whistle-Stop Politics”

“Don’t miss this train! With political strategist/best selling author Edward Segal in the engineer’s seat, the reader is in for a hi-speed, often humorous, always historically fascinating ride over thousands of miles and more than a century of campaigning on the rails across America.

“Segal recounts the hurdles faced by reporters on the trains, including some of the humiliating experiences of Black journalists on campaign trips during segregation. If you love history, politics, journalism, or just some good vignettes evocative of a traveling circus, you’ll enjoy ‘Whistle-Stop Politics.’ So sit back, put your feet up, and enjoy the ride!”

—Carol McCabe Booker, co-author with Simeon Booker of “Shocking the Conscience, A Reporter's Account of the Civil Rights Movement,” and editor of “Alone Atop the Hill: the Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press.”

“Whistle-Stop Politics” is available wherever books are sold.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

How FDR “Walked” Onto His Campaign Train’s Platform

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who could not walk because of polio, “loved campaigning by train, speaking from the back platform at the whistle-stops along the way,” Hugh Gregory Gallagher wrote in his book, FDR’s Splendid Deception.

“The railings on the back platform were specially elevated for his use. Once the train was halted and the crowd gathered, FDR would ‘walk’ out onto the platform, leaning on the arm of a son.

“After brief remarks, introducing the members of his family, and joking with his son, he would say goodbye. As the train pulled out, he would remain, waving on the platform. Once out of sight, he would return to his bedroom, and his valet would remove his braces until the next whistle-stop.”

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping politicians, read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is available wherever books are sold.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Why The Time That FDR Spent On His Campaign Train Was Time Well Spent

During his run for the White House in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt “used his time on the train to nurture his network of supporters, picking up local Democratic leaders and officials at one stop, chatting with them, then dropping them off at a later stop,” recalled Scott Martelle in his book, 1932.

An FDR aide “estimated hundreds of people hopped on and off the trains, including ‘governors, senators, mayors, obscure county politicians, farmers, miners, mine owners, tradespeople, local bankers, newspaper owners, reporters, manufacturers, welfare workers.’ Roosevelt ‘never stopped having a wonderful time,’” according to Martelle.

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping politicians, read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is available wherever you buy books.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

New book on ‘whistle-stop’ campaign trains describes politics and adventure throughout history

https://t.co/MnnsodMsGz

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Now Available Wherever Books Are Sold:

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

“Whistle-Stop Politics” Can Now Be Ordered At Barnes & Noble Bookstores

I am pleased to share the news that my new book, “Whistle-Stop Politics,” can now be ordered at your local Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Here’s what the Associated Press says about “Whistle-Stop Politics”:

“Just in time for the 2024 presidential election, [this] new book chronicles the storied history of whistle-stop campaign trains, from the earliest days of rail travel through today. . . . The stories are at times humorous, at times harrowing. . . . Altogether, Segal has cataloged at least 180 campaign train trips throughout US history—from William Henry Harrison to Joe Biden, with dozens of presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, representatives, senators, and governors in between.” —Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Another Rave Review For Edward Segal’s “Whistle-Stop Politics”

“In contrast to today’s divisive politics of gloves-off, dark art savagery, Segal delivers in ‘Whistle-Stop Politics’ a welcome respite, returning us to a gentler political era when better manners were more a rule than an exception. This is a fun read.”

Frank N. Wilner, Contributing Editor
Railway Age

“Whistle-Stop Politics” is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about the book at https://t.co/T2Eut3n3mB

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

A Bomb Scare For Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s whistle-stop train tour from Springfield, Illinois to his inauguration in Washington, DC in 1861 was marked by several threats to the president-elect’s life.

For example, after his train left Cincinnati, Ohio, a bomb was discovered in a small carpet bag on a seat in the railroad car that was occupied by Lincoln and his family and friends. The bomb was found only because luggage was prohibited in the car.

The explosive device, which was timed to detonate in fifteen minutes, was quickly deactivated. It “would have exploded with a force sufficient to have demolished the car and destroyed the lives of all persons in it,” according to an 1861 story in “The World” newspaper.

For more stories about whistle-stopping politicians, read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is available wherever books are sold.

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

Barack Obama’s Enthusiastic Trackside Reception

Barack Obama is no stranger to whistle-stop campiagn train tours.

In 2008, Obama had just finished speaking to a crowd of supporters who had traveled from miles around to greet his campaign train and listen to the impassioned speech he delivered at the railroad depot in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

Then, as reported by John Dickerson in Slate magazine, “a 12-year-old girl, Kabira Arnold, ran from the crowd that swarmed around Obama after the speech and screamed, ‘He hugged me.’ Her friends collapsed around her as she twirled and danced. After the hug, she told Obama, ‘You are the best person ever.’”

Obama traveled in comfort when he went on the four-city whistle-stop tour in Central Pennsylvania, according to Dickerson.

He enjoyed “the plush comfort of the Georgia 300 lounge car, which is filled with leather upholstery, Tiffany lamps, and embroidered finery….The candidate even has access to a tidy little bedroom with a pink Pullman bedspread and a bathrobe,” Dickerson wrote in Slate.

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping politicians, read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is now available wherever books are sold, including Amazon at https://t.co/O7vrJyq8ib

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

When FDR’s Campaign Train Got “Lost” In Ohio

An example of what could go wrong when politicians campaigned by train is when New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt’s train got “lost” in Ohio during his 1932 whistle-stop tour.

Through a misunderstanding by the railroad company, FDR’s train was misrouted on its way from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, “sending it through towns which it had not been expected to touch, and disappointing an early morning crowd at Springfield, Ohio, where a five-minute stop had been planned,” the Associated Press reported on October 30, 1932.

The Governor and his party were up and ready to greet the gathering in Springfield, but to their surprise the train dashed straight on through, while the crowd yelled for it to stop. The surprised Gov. Roosevelt then discovered that he was well on his way to Cincinnati, instead of following the schedule of heading directly for Indianapolis from Springfield.

“Making the best of it, he greeted a small crowd at Middletown, Ohio, mostly workmen who perched on boxcars to get a good view of the nominee,” according to the Associated Press.

For more anecdotes and stories about whistle-stopping politicians, be sure to read my new bestselling book, “Whistle-Stop Politics: Campaign Trains and the Reporters Who Covered Them,” which is available wherever books are sold including Amazon at https://t.co/O7vrJyq8ib

[Edward Segal @Edwardsegalcom1]

More Praise For “Whistle-Stop Politics,” Now Available Wherever Books Are Sold