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Searching for America's Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope |
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Searching for America's Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope
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by Peter Edelman
Sales Rank: 435970
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List Price: $26.00
$20.80
At Amazon
on 6-20-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 288 pages
Published by: Houghton Mifflin January 22, 2001
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0395895448
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0395895443
Book Dimensions:
8.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
Weighs: 15.2 ounces
Product Review
In the tradition of men like Dennis Thatcher, Peter Edelman may be best known to the public because of his better-known wife: Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund. Yet Edelman himself made headlines in 1996, when he quit his job as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services to protest President Clinton's signing of a welfare bill. This election-year law, written mainly by Republicans, marked a "fundamental break with the longstanding commitment of the Democratic Party to protect poor children." To make matters worse, in Edelman's view, Clinton quoted the words of Robert F. Kennedy at the signing ceremony. Edelman had worked for RFK, and he was outraged: "President Clinton's misuse of Robert Kennedy's words highlighted a stark difference between the two young leaders. One pressed for social justice whenever he could. The other, originally projecting a commitment to renewing national idealism, ended up governing mainly according to the lowest common denominator." (Edelman did not actually oppose Clinton's reelection: "I have never believed that worse is better. Clinton was always fortunate in the quality of the enemies he attracted.")
Searching for America's Heart is not primarily about the Clinton presidency, but it is about the evolution of American liberalism from RFK's heyday in the 1960s to the prosperity of the 1990s, and Clinton necessarily plays a large role in this story. Edelman intends to ignite what he calls "the new progressivism," which he believes is in keeping with RFK's legacy. He still wants to fight and win the War on Poverty. His views are suited for the left-wing of the Democratic Party: some will consider them a return to the failed past; others will think they offer hope for the future. Whatever the case, Edelman is probably correct when he writes that much is up for grabs right now: "This is a time of particular opportunity. The prosperity of recent years, the ensuing surpluses, the increase in local activism, and the effect of the new welfare law in deflating anger at the poor come together to offer opportunity." The question is, in which direction? Edelman has strong opinions on this matter, and he shares them with force and eloquence in these pages. --John J. Miller
From Publishers Weekly
Popular opinion has shifted dramatically during the second half of the 20th century regarding efforts to address poverty. Lawyer and political activist Edelman chronicles the moderate rise and dramatic fall of concern for the poor in this blend of policy history, autobiography and call to political action. The first third of the book finds Edelman going to work for Robert Kennedy, and tells the story of the 1960s' war on poverty, especially welfare reform legislation intended to help the poor, through the eyes of a staffer in the thick of the fight. The middle third focuses on the conservative redefinition of "welfare reform," popularized by Ronald Reagan, to mean cutting back on assistance to the poor, culminating in Bill Clinton's welfare reform legislation that led to Edelman's resignation from the administration, where he served as an expert on welfare policy and its impact on children. To Edelman, Clinton's "goal was re-election at all costs," and he bitterly castigates Clinton's ability to elevate "shadow over substance in a way that has hurt poor children" and his general tendency to "make things worse for the politically powerless." The final third is a "where do we go from here" assessment of what requirements to be done to rediscover an understanding of poverty as a condition to be ameliorated rather than stigmatized. Like Kennedy, Edelman thinks the key is improving the lives of children, and he communicates his vision through stories of people and places rather than specific policy proposals. Like all progressives, Edelman is an optimist; his experience leaves him searching for America's heart rather than concluding that it does not exist, and readers who have held on to their liberal convictions will find Edelman's take refreshing. 4-city author tour. (Jan. 22)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reader Reviews
Robert Kennedy remains a central figure in recent history. He had an impressive resume -- mafia prosecutor, Attorney General 1960-1964, Senator 1964-1968 and presidential candidate, 1968. Edelman contrasts the fiery idealism of the 1960s with the seemingly more jaded approach towards political issues in recent times. To his credit, Edelman treats Robert Kennedy with respect. During his career in public office, Robert Kennedy was the advocate of disenfranchised persons. He encouraged people to work together as a community and seemed to feel that group efforts towards a common goal would ameliorate many societal ills such as poverty and bigotry. While Edelman praises the late Senator, he appears to take a rather condemnatory posture with President Clinton, whose tenure in office (1992-2000) came some thirty years after the incindiary activism of Robert Kennedy's times. Edelman does not appear to take into account that due to the different issues and questions of the times, the approaches that seemed to work in one era might not work in another. It is just an opinion. Times usually dictate the responses and approaches that are made toward issues. Although Edelman knew both Robert Kennedy and President Clinton, he seems to view them as a study in contrasts. The former was a passionate activist and the latter a jaded politician. Edelman seems to take the position that persons currently in public office take a more opportunistic approach than those who held high public office in the 1960s. All in all, this is a very well written book that will leave readers thinking about it for a long time.
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