Follow Here To Purchase Josiah for President: A Novel

Author: Martha Bolton

Publisher: Zondervan

ISBN: 978-0-310-00000-0

Martha Bolton, author of over forty books, has written an unusual book titled,  Josiah for President about an Amish man who becomes President of the United States in current day America.

This three hundred and eleven page book came in manuscript pre-production format with a jacket cover of an Amish man wearing suspenders and a black hat, with his back to the camera, tethering a huge horse and walking toward the White House. Although there were no grammatical or typographical errors, pages 198 to 203 were duplicated, dangling prepositions were used and, reverently from this reader’s perspective, pronouns of deity were not capitalized. There are no profanities, sexual references or innuendos.

The story is about Mark Stedman, a congressman running for President of the United States who quits his campaign in D.C. and starts driving home to Wisconsin. Getting lost, he erroneously drives his car in to a ditch in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Josiah Stoltzfus, a nearby true-to-the-core Amish farmer, comes to Mark’s aid after his car accident by having his horses pull his car out of the ditch, tows it to his property and the two men try to fix it. Spending a few days at the simple homestead with Josiah and his family, Mark learns the Amish way of hospitality, truthfulness and honesty. Once the car is fixed and Mark returns home, he decides to enter Josiah as a write-in candidate for President.

After Mark makes a second visit to try to convince Josiah to run for office, Josiah feels God is directing his path and becomes a presidential candidate. As Josiah becomes more popular in the polls, Harley, an abrasive, crooked opponent, does his best to deter, demean and disgrace both Mark and the Amish man and his beliefs. Due to the poor state of the country and everyone looking for hope, the votes are counted and President Josiah takes over the White House, bringing horses, a goat, and a clothesline, turning the country around with his unorthodox ways. Without giving the ending away, Mark learns what true friendship and loyalty are and has to change to be the man God wants him to be.

Bolton’s story is naïve and unrealistic in today’s real world of true politics, the powerful players that really run our country and rampant greed and corruption. However, this wish-it-could-happen book is an interesting read for the preteen and older who wants to learn about the Amish way of life, past United States presidents’ nuances and the White House.