Making Government Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics
376Making Government Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics
376Hardcover
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Overview
A bold call to action for those who would lead well and those who would be well led.
"Performance is better than promise" has long been the motto of Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings, a former Governor of South Carolina and six-term U.S. Senator whose distinguished political career speaks volumes about the potential of the elected and the electorate to use government for the good of all. Making Government Work serves as equal parts political memoir and reform-minded call to action as Hollings shares compelling—and often candidly colorful—accounts from his half century of public service to illustrate the smart stewardship of resources and authority needed to enact policies that can make positive differences in the lives of Americans.
Hollings lays out clearly his deep commitment to improving our system of government, strengthening regulations on free trade, countering dependence on campaign contributions, and enhancing our communications and education programs to compete better in an information-driven global marketplace. This prescriptive compendium of sound thinking seeks to reinvigorate a floundering system and to call good people and good ideas back into the service of America's bright future.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781570037603 |
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Publisher: | University of South Carolina Press |
Publication date: | 07/15/2008 |
Pages: | 376 |
Product dimensions: | 6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d) |
Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings has enjoyed a remarkable career in public service as a South Carolina legislator (1949–1954), Lieutenant Governor (1955–1959), Governor (1959–1963), U.S. Senator (1966–2005), and U.S. presidential candidate (1983–1984). A visionary workhorse, Hollings has focused throughout his career on putting government on a sound financial basis and promoting economic development to create opportunities. Recognized as a policy expert on the budget, telecommunications, the environment, defense, trade, and space, he is the author of the Coastal Zone Management Act (1972), the Ocean Dumping Act (1972), and the Automobile Fuel Economy Act (1975) and coauthor of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act (1985). Hollings led in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in 1972 and passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue 1
1 The Accidental Politician 7
2 Taking Charge as Governor 42
3 Getting to Know the Kennedys 84
4 Getting Started in the Senate 111
5 Clement Haynsworth's Nomination to the Supreme Court 141
6 The Early Fight to Protect the Environment 151
7 The Supreme Court Corrupts Congress 159
8 Imperial Nixon, Cautious Ford 170
9 The Carter Years: A Time of Big Battles 181
10 The Assault on Government 201
11 Attacking the Excesses of Reaganomics 214
12 Missed Opportunities 231
13 The Early 1990s: From Budget Battles to Trade Wars 246
14 Protecting the Public Interest 266
15 The George W. Bush Years: Reckless Policies Divide the Country 277
16 Making Government Work 304
Notes 333
Index 345
About the Author 359
What People are Saying About This
In this engaging memoir Hollings demonstrates that he's still telling it like it is! In direct no-nonsense language, he describes his remarkable political career of nearly a half century of service to the people of South Carolina and the nation. When you finish this lively book, you'll agree that Fritz Hollings was an extraordinary Senator and public servant.
Only Hollings could make such a compelling case on how to make government work. His straightforward style will appeal to anyone interested in the inner workings of government.
Fritz Hollings, the keenest wit in the Senate and a grand storyteller, reveals how the people's business gets done; why big money, nonstop news cycles, polling, and armies of costly consultants produce only deadlock; and what we can do to make our government work again. Every voter should read this book.
Still showing his trademark wit and wisdom, Hollings treats us to an insider's candid retrospective on how government forged successes in the past, as well as a compelling vision of how it can be made to serve the people's interests better in the future. He has given us an owner's manual for operating our democracy in the twenty-first century.