Presidency...or Pulitzer?

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What does it take to win the presidency? Sound foreign policy and a pledge to protect Social Security might help. But a candidate also needs shelf life. Here's a guide to recent books from the men who want to be Commander in Chief:

CANDIDATE GEORGE W. BUSH

BOOK A Charge to Keep

ABOUT Him, vowing "to never allow others to define me"

VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I'm a compassionate conservative: "call me a conservative with a heart"

BUZZ This year's most anticipated book by a politician

[CANDIDATE] JOHN MCCAIN

[BOOK] Faith of My Fathers

[ABOUT] A prisoner of war survives Vietnam

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I'm a hero, but I'm flawed--just like you

[BUZZ] This is actually a good memoir

[CANDIDATE] PATRICK BUCHANAN

[BOOK] A Republic, Not an Empire

[ABOUT] Isolationism

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] "Most heartening about [the 1996] campaign was the respectful and extensive coverage my ideas received in the mainstream media"

[BUZZ] Got bad buzz for notion that Hitler was no big U.S. threat; even infuriated Republicans

[CANDIDATE] STEVE FORBES

[BOOK] A New Birth of Freedom

[ABOUT] Forbes magazine parables answer America's problems

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I have "positive, forward-looking solutions," and I'm the Forbes editor in chief

[BUZZ] Alas, money can't buy you buzz

[CANDIDATE] BILL BRADLEY

[BOOK] Values of the Game

[ABOUT] Basketball as leadership

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I played basketball very, very well with others

[BUZZ] Great jock allegory

[CANDIDATE] AL GORE

[BOOK] Earth in the Balance

[ABOUT] Environmental bleakness

[VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE] I can save the planet, and God is on my side

[BUZZ] Ideas slammed by conservatives as too radical