8 ms·

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's b

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know that you'll make enough money to not give a damn once your tenure is over? 1- https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/2/14779892/barack-michelle-obama-65-million-book-deal-penguin-random-house https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/2/14779892/barack-michell...

jefftk 4y ago
How does earning money from selling a book hurt your incentives to do a good job as a politician? It seems to me it makes them better: there's less temptation to take money from industries you were involved in regulating, and your book will sell better if people think you did good work in office.
- starkd 4y ago
  You can't possibly be this naive. The people giving them money have access to power. Even a former president has plenty of contacts within the government as well as the public stage. They can be enormously persuasive on issues with the attention they get.
  - jefftk 4y ago
    While it's a lot of money it's not out of keeping with the kind of sales they would have expected for his book. In it's first month "A Promised Land" sold 3.3M copies [1] and was the best selling book in the US for 2020! It's not clear to me what sort of "access to power" connections Penguin Random House would be getting out of this, and it's very clear that they got a lot of sales. [1] https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/a-promised-land-by-barack-obama-sells-more-than-3-3-million-units-in-u-s-and-canada-in-its-first-month-of-publication/ https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/a-promis...
    - hgsgm 4y ago
      The advance is fine. The buyers are suspect. (Though in this case, the buyers are likely largely a broad base of interested citizens. Rich Democratic Party women like buying books. )
- hgsgm 4y ago
  Buying books in bulk (not for reading) is a standard way to bribe a politician, by laundering campaign funds to personal funds, or even sloppy direct purchases. Several politicians have been caught, from local to national. One example; https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/gop-book-deals/2021/04/15/154f3820-9ca5-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/gop-book-deal...
  - jefftk 4y ago
    Wouldn't that make a large advance less concerning? At $65M it will be ~decades for him to earn out, which means the marginal book has ~no effect on his finances and isn't useful for bribing him.
  - shagmin 4y ago
    It seems like small fish in dollar amounts compared to other things, and I wouldn't even call it bribery so much as just unethical considering it was coming from political organizations that are responsible for helping those politicians getting elected. Plus the intent was getting the books on best sellers lists, money was just the means.
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > Buying books in bulk (not for reading) is a standard way to bribe a politician Also a standard way to propagandize that the ideas within, and the author, are popular, whether or not the author is a politician. OTOH, with a relatively young (for leaving the White House) and active figure (or couple), establishing a relationship as their publisher may have worth beyond the immediate book.
vuln 4y ago
Asking a question, not starting an argument. Is Trump the only President that didn't land in a pool full of cash when he left office and actually "lost" money / wealth while in office ?
- janalsncm 4y ago
  Did Trump lose money? Seems almost impossible to fully account for all of his assets before and after his presidency.
  - vuln 4y ago
    I don't know really. I didn't see a 65 million dollar book advance. He wasn't too quick to hit the paid speaking engagements. Never ending lawsuits, more lawsuits don't really seem to be making him money...
    - vlovich123 4y ago
      His money is tied up in his brand. Everyone constantly talking about him is his brand and he’s very much in the school of thought that “all publicity is good publicity”.
      - vuln 4y ago
        > he’s very much in the school of thought that “all publicity is good publicity”. Yeah he is, but I just can't see it being profitable at this point. His base isn't THAT big is it? His base is the poorest amongst current and previous Presidents.
        shagmin 4y ago
        Yet there are a lot of poor people willing to donate to mega church pastors that even have their own private planes, and his base probably overlaps with them quite a bit.
        vlovich123 4y ago
starkd 4y ago
Always found it suspicious how Al Gore became worth $100 million within two short years of leaving office. Clinton too.
bell-cot 4y ago
Conveniently not covered in that article - the $65M was from Penguin Random House, which had been formed in a 2013 merger...which merger then-Pres. Obama evidently didn't oppose too strongly. OTOH, it's at least arguable that Penguin Random House only cared about selling boatloads of pricey books. A quick Google found mention of a few yet-bigger advances, paid to mere authors...though for multi-book sets.

jefftk 4y ago

How does earning money from selling a book hurt your incentives to do a good job as a politician? It seems to me it makes them better: there's less temptation to take money from industries you were involved in regulating, and your book will sell better if people think you did good work in office.

starkd 4y ago
You can't possibly be this naive. The people giving them money have access to power. Even a former president has plenty of contacts within the government as well as the public stage. They can be enormously persuasive on issues with the attention they get.
- jefftk 4y ago
  While it's a lot of money it's not out of keeping with the kind of sales they would have expected for his book. In it's first month "A Promised Land" sold 3.3M copies [1] and was the best selling book in the US for 2020! It's not clear to me what sort of "access to power" connections Penguin Random House would be getting out of this, and it's very clear that they got a lot of sales. [1] https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/a-promised-land-by-barack-obama-sells-more-than-3-3-million-units-in-u-s-and-canada-in-its-first-month-of-publication/ https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/a-promis...
  - hgsgm 4y ago
    The advance is fine. The buyers are suspect. (Though in this case, the buyers are likely largely a broad base of interested citizens. Rich Democratic Party women like buying books. )
hgsgm 4y ago
Buying books in bulk (not for reading) is a standard way to bribe a politician, by laundering campaign funds to personal funds, or even sloppy direct purchases. Several politicians have been caught, from local to national. One example; https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/gop-book-deals/2021/04/15/154f3820-9ca5-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/gop-book-deal...
- jefftk 4y ago
  Wouldn't that make a large advance less concerning? At $65M it will be ~decades for him to earn out, which means the marginal book has ~no effect on his finances and isn't useful for bribing him.
- shagmin 4y ago
  It seems like small fish in dollar amounts compared to other things, and I wouldn't even call it bribery so much as just unethical considering it was coming from political organizations that are responsible for helping those politicians getting elected. Plus the intent was getting the books on best sellers lists, money was just the means.
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > Buying books in bulk (not for reading) is a standard way to bribe a politician Also a standard way to propagandize that the ideas within, and the author, are popular, whether or not the author is a politician. OTOH, with a relatively young (for leaving the White House) and active figure (or couple), establishing a relationship as their publisher may have worth beyond the immediate book.

vuln 4y ago

Asking a question, not starting an argument. Is Trump the only President that didn't land in a pool full of cash when he left office and actually "lost" money / wealth while in office ?

janalsncm 4y ago
Did Trump lose money? Seems almost impossible to fully account for all of his assets before and after his presidency.
- vuln 4y ago
  I don't know really. I didn't see a 65 million dollar book advance. He wasn't too quick to hit the paid speaking engagements. Never ending lawsuits, more lawsuits don't really seem to be making him money...
  - vlovich123 4y ago
    His money is tied up in his brand. Everyone constantly talking about him is his brand and he’s very much in the school of thought that “all publicity is good publicity”.
    - vuln 4y ago
      > he’s very much in the school of thought that “all publicity is good publicity”. Yeah he is, but I just can't see it being profitable at this point. His base isn't THAT big is it? His base is the poorest amongst current and previous Presidents.
      - shagmin 4y ago
        Yet there are a lot of poor people willing to donate to mega church pastors that even have their own private planes, and his base probably overlaps with them quite a bit.
      - vlovich123 4y ago

starkd 4y ago

Always found it suspicious how Al Gore became worth $100 million within two short years of leaving office. Clinton too.

bell-cot 4y ago

Conveniently not covered in that article - the $65M was from Penguin Random House, which had been formed in a 2013 merger...which merger then-Pres. Obama evidently didn't oppose too strongly. OTOH, it's at least arguable that Penguin Random House only cared about selling boatloads of pricey books. A quick Google found mention of a few yet-bigger advances, paid to mere authors...though for multi-book sets.