I Never Did Like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America's Mayor, and Why He Still Matters

(Hardback)

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Fiorello La Guardia was one of the twentieth century's most colorful politicians-on the New York and national stage. He was also quintessentially American: the son of Italian immigrants, who rose in society through sheer will and chutzpah. Almost one hundred years later, America is once again grappling with issues that would have been familiar to the Little Flower, as he was affectionately known. It's time to bring back La Guardia, argues historian and journalist Terry Golway, to remind us all what an effective municipal officer (as he preferred to call himself) can achieve... Golway examines La Guardia's extraordinary career through four essential qualities: As a patriot, a dissenter, a leader, and a statesman. He needed them all when he stood against the nativism, religious and racial bigotry, and reactionary economic policies of the 1920s, and again when he faced the realities of Depression-era New York and the rise of fascism at home and abroad in the 1930s. Just before World War II, the Roosevelt administration formally apologized to the Nazis when La Guardia referred to Hitler as a "brown-shirted fanatic." There was nobody quite like Fiorello La Guardia. In this immensely readable book, as entertaining as the man himself, Terry Golway captures the enduring appeal of one of America's greatest leaders.

Reviews

"A suitably admiring biography of an admirable politician."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Gripping...The book's organization around the admirable qualities that distinguished La Guardia's character and leadership works brilliantly, making this a first-rate biography of a unique and transfixing figure."
--Booklist

"La Guardia is still considered the greatest of American mayors, over 75 years after his death. Why is that Terry Golway, one of our best and most readable political historians, provides the answers, in this lively, eye-opening look. For anyone interested in just what a democratic leader can be, this is an invaluable book."
--Kevin Baker, author of The Fall of a Great American City

"La Guardia came to power at a time of great division and tumult... It was, as Terry Golway argues in his well-researched and beautifully conceived portrayal, a "time not unlike our own." This is why Golway's reexamination of La Guardia is not only so well timed, but important, because in his portrait of a man most modern readers know primarily as the namesake of an airport, we see the rise of a genuine populist, someone who saw public service not as a means to an end, but an elysian calling and one who dedicated his boundless energy to serving the disadvantaged."
--Dr. Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Iona College, Bloomberg TV politics contributor

"Brilliantly entertaining .. a spot-on timely portrayal of the original 'America's Mayor' who proved the government could deliver even amid the worst of depressions and wars. Full of hope, I Never Did Like Politics makes us yearn for such leadership and integrity."
--Derek Leebaert, author of Unlikely Heroes

"La Guardia was the quintessential New Yorker: brash, street smart and pugnacious. He was also a Mayor of ultimate integrity who set the gold standard for public service. In I Never Did Like Politics Terry Golway captures the essence of the man, his times and his love for New York and its people!"
--Peter King, Former US Representative, New York

"Enormously entertaining...Golway curates dozens of stories and anecdotes from one of the 20th century's most-colorful political leaders to remind us of what leadership and integrity look like."
--Dan Goldberg, Politico and author of The Golden Thirteen

"A delightful man-behind-the-myth account of the iconic 'Little Flower'--as unlikely and as successful a mayor as New York City has ever elected."
--Harold Holzer, Director, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute

"Golway presents La Guardia as a model for today."
--Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

TERRY GOLWAY was a senior editor at POLITICO and the author of several works of history, including Frank and Al and Machine Made. He has been a columnist and city editor at the New York Observer, a member of the editorial board of the New York Times, and a columnist for the Irish Echo. He holds a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Rutgers University and has taught at the New School, New York University, and the College of Staten Island.