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Pushing the Agenda
By Matthew N. Beckmann. 2010
Today's presidents enter office having campaigned on an ambitious policy agenda, eager to see it enacted, and willing to push…
so that it is. The central question of presidents' legislative leadership, therefore, is not a question of resolve, it is a question of strategy: by what means can presidents build winning coalitions for their agenda? Pushing the Agenda uncovers the answer. It reveals the predictable nature of presidents' policy making opportunities and the systematic strategies White House officials employ to exploit those opportunities. Drawing on an eclectic array of original evidence - spanning presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush and issues ranging from education to energy, and healthcare to taxes - Matthew N. Beckmann finds modern presidents' influence in Congress is real, often substantial, and - to date - largely underestimated.Architects of Power
By Philip Terzian. 2010
The United States is not a preternaturally inward-looking nation, and isolation is not the natural disposition of Americans. The real…
question is not whether Americans are prone to isolation or engagement, but how their engagement with the world has evolved, how events have made the United States a superpower, and how these developments have been guided by political leadership. Indeed, the great debates on foreign affairs in American history have not been about whether to have debates on foreign affairs; they have been between the competing visions of American influence in the world.In Architects of Power, Philip Terzian examines two public figures in the twentieth century who personify, in their lives, careers, and philosophies, the rise of the United States of America to global leadership: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Terzian reveals how both men recognized and acted on the global threats of their time and questions whether America can rise to the same challenges today. Without this clear window into the stricken world that Roosevelt inhabited and Eisenhower understood, we are unlikely to recognize the perils and challenges of the world we have inherited.Jesse Jackson Jr.
By Chicago Tribune Staff. 2012
For the past 25 years, it seemed like little could impede the quickly accelerating political career of Jesse Jackson Jr.,…
the U.S. Representative for Illinois' 2nd Congressional District and son of iconic civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson. But in just a few short months, the once-promising career of Jesse Jackson Jr. has unraveled amidst investigations by the House ethics committee, speculation about an alleged attempt to buy Barack Obama's Senate seat from Rod Blagojevich, his mysterious medical leave that ultimately revealed his bipolar disorder to the public, and his recent resignation from Congress. Jesse Jackson Jr. is a collection of the most captivating and revealing articles from the past 25 years of award-winning Chicago Tribune political reporting. With fascinating background on Reverend Jackson and his up-and-down relationship with his son, this book delves the professional and personal lives of Jesse Jackson Jr. It is a straightforward, comprehensive portrait of his many successes and the shocking particulars of his recent scandals. This book captures and contextualizes Jackson's impressive political career while serving as the best resource for investigative reporting on his ongoing legal, ethical, and health issues.Living for Change: An Autobiography
By Grace Lee Boggs. 2016
No one can tell in advance what form a movement will take. Grace Lee Boggs's fascinating autobiography traces the story…
of a woman who transcended class and racial boundaries to pursue her passionate belief in a better society. Now with a new foreword by Robin D. G. Kelley, Living for Change is a sweeping account of a legendary human rights activist whose network included Malcolm X and C. L. R. James. From the end of the 1930s, through the Cold War, the Civil Rights era, and the rise of the Black Panthers to later efforts to rebuild crumbling urban communities, Living for Change is an exhilarating look at a remarkable woman who dedicated her life to social justice.A Daughter's Memoir of Burma
By Wendy Law-Yone, David I. Steinberg. 2014
Wendy Law-Yone was fifteen at the time of Burma's military coup in 1962. The daughter of Ed Law-Yone, daredevil proprietor…
of Rangoon Nation, Burma's leading postwar English-language daily, she experienced firsthand the perils and promises of a newly independent Burma.On the eve of Wendy's studies abroad, Ed Law-Yone was arrested, his newspaper shut down, and Wendy herself was briefly imprisoned. After his release, Ed fled to Thailand with his family, where he formed a government-in-exile and tried, unsuccessfully, to foment a revolution. Emigrating to America with his wife and children, Ed never gave up hope that Burma would adopt a new democratic government. While he died disappointed, he left in his daughter's care an illuminating trove of papers documenting the experiences of an eccentric, ambitious, humorous, and determined patriot, vividly recounting the realities of colonial rule, Japanese occupation, postwar reconstruction, and military dictatorship. This book tells the twin histories of Law-Yone's kin and country, a nation whose vicissitudes continue to intrigue the world.Christmas in Plains: Memories
By Jimmy Carter, Amy Carter. 2001
Jimmy Carter remembers Christmas in Plains, Georgia, the source of spiritual strength, respite, friendship, and vacation fun in this charming…
portrait.In a beautifully rendered portrait, Jimmy Carter remembers the Christmas days of his Plains boyhood--the simplicity of family and community gift-giving, his father's eggnog, the children's house decorations, the school Nativity pageant, the fireworks, Luke's story of the birth of Christ, and the poignancy of his black neighbors' poverty. Later, away at Annapolis, he always went home to Plains, and during his Navy years, when he and Rosalynn were raising their young family, they spent their Christmases together recreating for their children the holiday festivities of their youth. Since the Carters returned home to Plains for good, they have always been there on Christmas Day, with only one exception in forty-eight years: In 1980, with Americans held hostage in Iran, Jimmy, Rosalynn, and Amy went by themselves to Camp David, where they felt lonely. Amy suggested that they invite the White House staff and their families to join them and to celebrate. Nowadays the Carters' large family is still together at Christmastime, offering each other the gifts and the lifelong rituals that mark this day for them. With the novelist's eye that enchanted readers of his memoir An Hour Before Daylight, Jimmy Carter has written another American classic, in the tradition of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory and Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales.Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life
By Jeff Wilser. 2016
The life--and lessons--of the Founding Father who mastered the arts of wit war and wealth long before…
becoming the subject of Broadway s Hamilton An American Musical Two centuries after his death Alexander Hamilton is shining once more under the world s spotlight--and we need him now more than ever Hamilton was a self-starter Scrappy Orphaned as a child he came to America with nothing but a code of honor and a hunger to work He then went on to help win the Revolutionary War and ratify the Constitution create the country s financial system charm New York s most eligible ladies and land his face on our 10 bill The ultimate underdog he combined a fearless independent spirit with a much-needed dose of American optimism Hamilton died before he could teach us the lessons he learned but Alexander Hamilton s Guide to Life unlocks his core principles--intended for anyone interested in success romance money or dueling They include Speak with Authority Even If You Have None Career Seduce with Your Strengths Romance Find Time for the Quills and the Bills Money Put the Father in Founding Father Friends Family Being Right Trumps Being Popular Leadership For history buffs and pop-culture addicts alike this mix of biography humor and advice offers a fresh take on a nearly forgotten Founding Father and will spark a revolution in your own life From the Hardcover editionChristmas in Plains
By Jimmy Carter, Amy Carter. 2001
In a beautifully rendered portrait, Jimmy Carter remembers the Christmas days of his Plains boyhood -- the simplicity of family…
and community gift-giving, his father's eggnog, the children's house decorations, the school Nativity pageant, the fireworks, Luke's story of the birth of Christ, and the poignancy of his black neighbors' poverty. Later, away at Annapolis, he always went home to Plains, and during his Navy years, when he and Rosalynn were raising their young family, they spent their Christmases together re-creating for their children the holiday festivities of their youth. Since the Carters returned home to Plains for good, they have always been there on Christmas Day, with only one exception in forty-eight years: In 1980, with Americans held hostage in Iran, Jimmy, Rosalynn, and Amy went by themselves to Camp David, where they felt lonely. Amy suggested that they invite the White House staff and their families to join them and to celebrate. Nowadays the Carters' large family is still together at Christmastime, offering each other the gifts and the lifelong rituals that mark this day for them. With the novelist's eye that enchanted readers of his memoir An Hour Before Daylight, Jimmy Carter has written another American classic, in the tradition of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory and Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales.Young Titan
By Michael Shelden. 2013
In modern memory, Winston Churchill remains the man with the cigar and the equanimity among the ruins. Few can remember…
that at the age of 40, he was considered washed up, his best days behind him. In Young Titan, historian Michael Shelden has produced the first biography focused on Churchill's early career, the years between 1901 and 1915 that both nearly undid him but also forged the character that would later triumph in the Second World War. Between his rise and his fall, Churchill built a modern navy, experimented with radical social reforms, survived various threats on his life, made powerful enemies and a few good friends, annoyed and delighted two British monarchs, became a husband and father, took the measure of the German military machine, authorized executions of notorious murderers, and faced deadly artillery barrages on the Western front. Along the way, he learned how to outwit more experienced rivals, how to overcome bureaucratic obstacles, how to question the assumptions of his upbringing, how to be patient and avoid overconfidence, and how to value loyalty. He also learned how to fall in love. Shelden gives us a portrait of Churchill as the dashing young suitor who pursued three great beauties of British society with his witty repartee, political f lair, and poetic letters. In one of many never-before-told episodes, Churchill is seen racing to a Scottish castle to prepare the heartbroken daughter of the prime minister for his impending marriage. This was a time of high drama, intrigue, personal courage, and grave miscalculations. But as Shelden shows in this fresh and revealing biography, Churchill's later success was predicated on his struggles to redeem the promise of his youth.Harold and Jack
By Christopher Sandford. 2014
Acclaimed biographer Christopher Sandford tells the engrossing story of the unlikely friendship between British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and President…
John F. Kennedy, a crucial political and personal relationship during the most dangerous days of the Cold War. This is the story of the many-layered relationship between two iconic leaders of the mid-twentieth century--British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and American President John F. Kennedy. Based on previously unquoted papers and private letters between both the leaders themselves and their families, more than half of which are available for the first time, critically acclaimed biographer Christopher Sandford reveals a host of new insights into the ways these two very different men managed to bring order out of chaos in an age of precarious nuclear balance.Sandford traces the emotional undercurrents that linked Macmillan and JFK--and sometimes estranged them. The author's personalized narrative delves into the maneuverings behind the scenes of major political events: dealing with the disastrous Bay of Pigs episode in Cuba, responding to the provocative Soviet act of building the Berlin Wall, the tense back-and-forth consultations during the Cuban missile crisis, and the serious disagreement between the two allies over the Skybolt nuclear deterrent, which almost caused a major rift in US-British relations. Also presented are vivid portraits of the two first ladies and many extracts from personal papers that reveal the human factor rarely glimpsed by the public.With a wealth of new information in an engaging narrative, this book offers a vividly told historical account of two key figures of twentieth-century history, whose legacy helped shape our world today.Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian
By Bernard Lewis, Buntzie Ellis Churchill. 2012
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Went Wrong? tells the story of his extraordinary lifeAfter September 11,…
Americans who had never given much thought to the Middle East turned to Bernard Lewis for an explanation, catapulting What Went Wrong? and later Crisis of Islam to become number one bestsellers. He was the first to warn of a coming "clash of civilizations," a term he coined in 1957, and has led an amazing life, as much a political actor as a scholar of the Middle East. In this witty memoir he reflects on the events that have transformed the region since World War II, up through the Arab Spring.A pathbreaking scholar with command of a dozen languages, Lewis has advised American presidents and dined with politicians from the shah of Iran to the pope. Over the years, he had tea at Buckingham Palace, befriended Golda Meir, and briefed politicians from Ted Kennedy to Dick Cheney. No stranger to controversy, he pulls no punches in his blunt criticism of those who see him as the intellectual progenitor of the Iraq war. Like America’s other great historian-statesmen Arthur Schlesinger and Henry Kissinger, he is a figure of towering intellect and a world-class raconteur, which makes Notes on a Century essential reading for anyone who cares about the fate of the Middle East.A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl
By Sarah Crichton, Mariane Pearl. 2003
For five weeks the world waited for news about Danny Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped in…
Karachi, Pakistan... And then came the broadcast of his shocking murder. The complete account of his abduction, the intense effort to rescue him, and the aftermath are told here-- in astonishing detail, and with courage and insight-- by his surviving wife, Mariane. A Mighty Heart is the unforgettable story of two journalists who fell in love with their work-- and with each other. Together, Mariane and Danny Pearl traveled across the globe, dedicated to journalism that increases the understanding of international politics and of ethnic and religious conflict. In the end, Danny was caught in the dangerous fissure where warring cultures, politics, and ideologies collide. A Mighty Heart is both a portrait of a partnership built on the ideals of love, truth, and justice and a critical look at the methods and structure of the Al Qaeda network.Malalai Joya has been called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan." At a constitutional assembly in Kabul in 2003, she stood…
up and denounced her country's powerful NATO-backed warlords. She was twenty-five years old. Two years later, she became the youngest person elected to Afghanistan's new Parliament. In 2007, she was suspended from Parliament for her persistent criticism of the warlords and drug barons and their cronies. She has survived four assassination attempts to date, is accompanied at all times by armed guards, and sleeps only in safe houses. Often compared to democratic leaders such as Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, this extraordinary young woman was raised in the refugee camps of Iran and Pakistan. Inspired in part by her father's activism, Malalai became a teacher in secret girls' schools, holding classes in a series of basements. She hid her books under her burqa so the Taliban couldn't find them. She also helped establish a free medical clinic and orphanage in her impoverished home province of Farah. The endless wars of Afghanistan have created a generation of children without parents. Like so many others who have lost people they care about, Malalai lost one of her orphans when the girl's family members sold her into marriage. While many have talked about the serious plight of women in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya takes us inside the country and shows us the desperate dayto-day situations these remarkable people face at every turn. She recounts some of the many acts of rebellion that are helping to change the country -- the women who bravely take to the streets in peaceful protest against their oppression; the men who step forward and claim "I am her mahram," so the fundamentalists won't punish a woman for walking alone; and the families that give their basements as classrooms for female students. A controversial political figure in one of the most dangerous places on earth, Malalai Joya is a hero for our times, a young woman who refused to be silent, a young woman committed to making a difference in the world, no matter the cost.Escape From China
By Zhang Boli. 1998
Who can forget the searing images, telecast around the world, of the brave Chinese students facing the tanks that rolled…
toward them in Tiananmen Square as they rebelled against their Communist government? After a two-week standoff, the military forces charged in and brutally suppressed the revolt, killing many students and issuing a warrant for the arrest of all responsible for the insurgence. As one of the top student leaders in the demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, Zhang Boli became even more famous as he managed to evade a ruthless nationwide police manhunt. After two years as a fugitive, he was the only leader who had not been accounted for. Among the twenty-one students placed on the government's most-wanted list, Zhang knew that he would never again be able to live openly in China and that he must bid his beloved country -- as well as his wife and baby daughter -- farewell. In Escape From China, Zhang Boli tells the fascinating, inspirational story of how he avoided capture and surpassed overwhelming obstacles in his struggle to survive and ultimately find freedom in the West. Traveling across the frozen terrain of the former Soviet Union, where Russian peasants rescued him, and finding his way through the deserted lands of China's precarious borders, Zhang had little but his extraordinary will to propel him, subsisting for months at a time on the flesh of wild animals. In the course of his long ordeal, he loses his love, finding God and, eventually, freedom. Although Zhang's incredible journey was filled with many harrowing experiences, he chooses, in this gripping first-person account, to focus on the many kind people who helped him through his darkest days. A powerful memoir of great drama and historical resonance, Escape From China will not only astound you, but renew your faith in humanity and in the power of the human spirit.John McCain: An American Odyssey
By Robert Timberg. 1999
Robert Timberg, an award-winning Washington journalist, is a 1964 U. S. Naval Academy graduate and a Marine veteran of the…
Vietnam war. He was The Baltimore Sun's White House correspondent during the Reagan presidency.War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944
By Virginia Nicholson, Iris Origo. 2001
In the Second World War Italy was torn apart by German armies civil war and the Allied…
invasion In a corner of Tuscany one woman born in England married to an Italian kept a record of daily life in a country at war Iris Origo s powerful diary War in Val d Orcia is the spare and vivid account of what happened when a peaceful farming valley became a battleground At great personal risk the Origos gave food and shelter to partisans deserters and refugees They took in evacuees and as the front drew closer they faced the knowledge that the lives of thirty-two small children depended on them Origo writes with sensitivity and generosity and a story emerges of human acts of heroism and compassion and the devastation that war can bringA Life Dedicated to the Republic
By Josette Baer. 2012
Josette Baer retraces the eventful life of Slovak politician Vavro ?robár, the principal figure in the implementation of Czechoslovak democracy…
in Slovakia. From his student days and fight for Slovak civil rights in Upper Hungary to his active resistance to German fascism, ?robár shaped Czechoslovakia's turbulent history in the first half of the twentieth century. Baer's comprehensive biography makes archived materials available to English-speaking audiences for the first time and offers unique insight into Czechoslovakia's underresearched political history.A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940
By Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Iris Origo, Katia Lysy. 2017
In 1939 it was not a foregone conclusion that Mussolini would enter World War II on the side of Hitler…
In this previously unpublished and only recently discovered diary Iris Origo author of the classic War in Val d Orcia provides a vivid account of how Mussolini decided on a course of action that would devastate his country and ultimately destroy his regime Though the British-born Origo lived with her Italian husband on an estate in a remote part of Tuscany she was supremely well-connected and regularly in touch with intellectual and diplomatic circles in Rome where her godfather William Phillips was the American ambassador Her diary describes the Fascist government s growing infatuation with Nazi Germany as Hitler s armies marched triumphantly across Europe and the campaign of propaganda and intimidation that was mounted in support of its new aims The book ends with the birth of Origo s daughter and Origo s decision to go to Rome to work with prisoners of war at the Italian Red Cross Together with War in Val d Orcia A Chill in the Air o ers an indispensable record of Italy at war as well as a thrilling story of a formidable woman s transformation from observer to actor at a great historical turning pointLove & War: Twenty Years, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home
By James Carville, Mary Matalin. 2014
Twenty years after the publication of the bestselling All’s Fair, James Carville and Mary Matalin look at how they—and America—have…
changed in the last two decades. James Carville and Mary Matalin have long held the mantle of the nation’s most ideologically mismatched and intensely opinionated political couple. In this follow-up to All’s Fair, Carville and Matalin pick up the story they began in that groundbreaking bestseller and talk family, faith, love, and politics in their two winning voices. If nothing else, this new collaboration proves that after twenty years of marriage they can still manage to agree on a few things. A fascinating look at the last two decades in American politics and an intimate, quick-witted primer on grown-up relationships and values, Love & War provides unprecedented insight into one of our nation’s most intriguing and powerful couples. With their natural charm and sharp intelligence, Carville and Matalin have written undoubtedly the most spirited memoir of the year.Henry Clay
By David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler. 2010
He was the Great Compromiser, a canny and colorful legislator whose life mirrors the story of America from its founding…
until the eve of the Civil War. Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography.David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler present Clay in his early years as a precocious, witty, and optimistic Virginia farm boy who at the age of twenty transformed himself into an attorney. The authors reveal Clay's tumultuous career in Washington, including his participation in the deadlocked election of 1824 that haunted him for the rest of his career, and shine new light on Clay's marriage to plain, wealthy Lucretia Hart, a union that lasted fifty-three years and produced eleven children.Featuring an inimitable supporting cast including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is beautifully written and replete with fresh anecdotes and insights. Horse trader and risk taker, arm twister and joke teller, Henry Clay was the consummate politician who gave ground, made deals, and changed the lives of millions.d replete with fresh anecdotes and insights. But it is Henry Clay who often rises above them all. Horse trader and risk taker, arm twister and joke teller, Clay was the consummate politician who gave ground, made deals, and changed the lives of millions. His life is an astounding tale--and here superbly told.From the Hardcover edition.