When Ohio Was Blue (My Twenty-Year Journey with John Glenn)

When Ohio Was Blue is a book about politics for people who aren’t steeped in it and who may not even like politics very much. Far more than simply a memoir, this book provides readers with a behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to work at the highest level of Ohio politics during the 1980s and ’90s, when Democrats like the late US Senators John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum dominated the political landscape in the Buckeye State.

Dale Butland—who was both personally and professionally close with Glenn, Metzenbaum, and the other political figures who take center-stage in these pages—peppers his account with hilarious stories and poignant anecdotes to give readers a true sense of who these men were, what made them tick, and why they enjoyed such enormous success. Along the way, Butland highlights how Glenn and Metzenbaum navigated many of that era’s most controversial political issues, illuminating the critical but unsung role talented staff members can play in the process.

When Ohio Was Blue isn’t just a nostalgic look at past politics, rather it is an insightful analysis of the unpredictable and quirky business of politics and Butland’s attentive examination of how and why America’s politics have become so thoroughly polarized in recent years, along with a few suggestions for how to fix our badly broken economic and political systems.

For those who crave a funny, unvarnished, and thoroughly entertaining look at what politics once was—and perhaps can be again—When Ohio Was Blue is just the book.