The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis

(Paperback)

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The Last Great Senate tells the story of the final four years of the progressive Senate of the 1960s and 1970s which compiled a record of accomplishment unmatched in our countrys history. It is a narrative history of the statesman who, working with an outsider president, Jimmy Carter, helped steer America through the crisis years of the late 1970s, transcending partisanship and overcoming procedural roadblocks that have all but crippled the Senate over the past quarter- century. The Last Great Senate recalls a critical juncture in American politics, offering a new view of the kind of leadership that will be required to restore the nations upper house to greatness. The book brings to life the renowned senators of the time---Ted Kennedy, Howard Baker, Henry Scoop Jackson, Ed Muskie, Jacob Javits, Robert Byrd and others---while capturing the Senate as an ensemble cast in a way that no previous book has. Mr. Shapiro recounts a series of legislative battles, including the historic fight over the Panama Canal treaty and the rescues of New York City and Chrysler, that are remarkable case studies of the legislative process in action. His preface to this second edition provides a compelling summary of the Senates struggles since 1980, including the first six months of the Trump presidency. The authors love of the Senate and his deep belief in its special role in our political system make the book an antidote to cynicism, leaving readers with some hope that the Senate can reverse its long decline to become again what Walter F. Mondale called the nations mediator.

Reviews

There couldnt be a better time to reissue Ira Shapiros insightful and challenging book, The Last Great Senate. If every senator and Hill staffer could read and absorb the lessons of this perceptive work following as it does in the rich tradition of such classics as Harry McPhersons A Political Education and Robert Caros The Master of the Senate it would go a long way toward breaking the gridlock in Washington. Its an important book, and I highly recommend it. -- Richard Moe, chief of staff to former senator and vice president Walter F. Mondale, and author of Roosevelts Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War

Author Bio

Ira Shapiro has worked in senior positions in the U.S. Senate and served as a leading U.S. trade negotiator, ultimately earning the rank of ambassador. He resides in Potomac, Maryland.