Iowa:
(noun)
1. The 29th state to join the United States, located in the central plains of North America.
2. An enchanting, intimate, ballyhooed and fleeting state of the presidential campaign.

... and in 2008, it was a campaign like no other.

Documentary photographer J. Alex Cooney was there to cover the year-long campaign from beginning to end. From the rise and fall of some of the biggest names in American politics, to the surging triumph of the underdogs, his photographs capture the essence of the one-of-a-kind campaign that is the race for Iowa.