''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'' is the fifth

Stainless Steel Rat James Bolivar diGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is a fictional character and a series of comic science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison. Description James Bolivar diGriz goes by many aliases, including "Slippe ...

novel, published by Harry Harrison in 1982.

Plot summary

''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'' is a comic science fiction novel in which interstellar con man Slippery Jim DiGriz and his family clean up corruption on the banana republic world of Paraiso-Aqui. After realizing that a planetary dictator is rigging elections, the rat decides to oust him by running as a competing candidate. As his Vice President, he chooses a fair man who should have been president if not for the corruption. Since the entire media, military, and political establishment is on the side of the dictator, DiGriz has few tools at his disposal. He uses political judo on his opponent. After deliberately angering the dictator into creating a blowout political election, DiGriz conducts a live interview in a precinct where 100% of the vote went to the incumbent. He then asks each villager to publicly state who they voted for and they all say DiGriz. This is clear evidence that fraud was committed, which forces a redo of the election with better balloting controls. After winning the (mostly) fair election, DiGriz feigns being assassinated so that the Vice President can take over.

Reception

Ken Ramstead reviewed ''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'' in '' Ares Magazine'' #17 and commented that "''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'' is the product of a craftsman comfortable and satisfied with his work; Harrison has hit his stride with his latest effort, and his readers can hopefully look forward to more of the same."

In other media

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

, editor Johnny Wilson adapted scenes from ''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'' into unofficial scenarios for the SSI tactical space combat game

Galactic Gladiators ''Galactic Gladiators'' is a 1982 computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II and IBM PC. Gameplay ''Galactic Gladiators'' is a game in which the player fights against an alien opponent. Reception David Long reviewed t ...

Reviews

*Review by Jude Camillone (1982) in

Fantasy Newsletter ''Fantasy Newsletter'' was a major fantasy fanzine founded by Paul C. Allen and later issued by Robert A. Collins. Frequent contributors included Fritz Leiber and Gene Wolfe. Publication history The first issue appeared in June 1978, and Allen ...

, #54 December 1982https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1153 *Review by Joseph Nicholas (1983) in Paperback Inferno, Volume 6, Number 4 *Review by Frank Catalano (1983) in Amazing Science Fiction, May 1983 *Review by John Silbersack (1983) in Heavy Metal, September 1983

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stainless Steel Rat for President 1982 novels