Chris Matthews is a political insider; he has seen the game played. Matthews took a lot of notes when he worked as an aide for former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, and collaborated his works, creating an inside look at the game, and the rules politics is played by. When Matthews’ confided to a member of the House of Representatives on the book he was writing, the listener replied, “Why do you want to go and give them away?”

Hardball‘s purpose was to unveil “the enduring human truths in the rules that politicians play by.” Chris Matthews lists the rules of politics, and explains how each one is important, and examples of the rules implementations.

There are a handful of basic rules to the game of politics, and Chris Matthews gives them all. The first is: “It’s not who you know; it’s who you get to know.” This rule was pioneered by President Lyndon B. Johnson. When the young pol (the short name Chris Matthews gives politicians) arrived in Washington, he sets out to meet everyone as fast as possible. The future President’s strategy worked. Within months of arrival, LBJ was elected Speaker of the “Little Congress,” the organization of House staff assistants. Lyndon Johnson made his rise to fame at the retail level, making each and everybody’s concern an issue. Jack Brooks, a Texas congressman and a friend to LBJ, knew quite well of the “Johnson treatment.”

“Lyndon Johnson would convince you that your concern, no matter how small it might seem to other people, was the most important thing in the world to Lyndon Johnson.”

The Great Retailer, as President Johnson soon to became known as, used his audience to create alliances. He knew the House republican from Arizona was not interested in the lakes of Minnesota, and used his knowledge and senses to use political retailing as a means to swing votes in Congress.

Similarly, this is where John F. Kennedy failed in the White House. Kennedy used his good looks and his television coverage to get elected. JFK was a “dashing wholesaler” but fell short on Capitol Hill, where the Great Retailer would get his way.

“Behind those vaunted closed doors lies not only the paraphernalia of power but a distinctive language, which I myself have learned to speak. It is a world of tough old alliances, Gothic revenge and crafty deal-making, but also of marvelous state-of-the-art tactics such as spin and positioning.”

No one perfected the maneuver of positioning as well as man they called “The Great Communicator,” President Ronald Reagan. One example of this maneuver was during his press conferences. Ronald Reagan always seemed to know the name of the reporters, calling them out on a first-name basis. For people watching at home, or the press corps at the White House that day, they saw a President that acted as a regular guy. The reason this conception took place was because the President had a seating chart, and spent hours learning it. When a reporter stood up to ask a question, the President would call out, “Pat!” The reporter, stunned that that the President knew his name, was not going to attempt anything “tricky” at that moment.

Furthermore, the “Great Communicator” used another ploy during his annual State of the Union addresses. The former actor took advantage of the new technology that was available in the high-flying eighties; in specific, the TelePrompTer. For viewers at home, the President spoke eloquently, flawlessly, and to both sides of the audience. These great speeches were attainable due to the two TelePrompTers located on the floor of the Capitol. Only on wide shots were the well-spaced glass plates visible to viewers. However on the television screen, they looked like bullet-proof security shields.

The impact of Chris Matthews book is larger than expected, at least to him: “…I had no idea this book would become a classic, that many hard-nosed politicians would employ it as their bible… that the word “hardball” itself would so penetrate the country’s vocabulary.”

The truth of the matter is this: politics is a game. And like all games, there are rules. You follow the rules, and you’ll do fine, but when the game gets tough, it’s only those who can play hardball that will survive… reelection.