The Journey from Here - Hardcover

Bradley, Bill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579651658 ISBN 13: 9781579651657

Publisher: Artisan, 2000

Synopsis

Bill Bradley ran for president, helped shape a national debate, and altered America's consciousness and views on universal health care, child poverty, race relations, gun control, and campaign finance reform. If anything, his thinking was ahead of the country's.

That experience forms the heart and soul of The Journey from Here, a compelling call to action from a man no longer campaigning for office, but still running hard for the ideas and principles that will define the very essence of this nation.

From the perspective of a year on the road, listening to Americans in all circumstances and walks of life, Bradley now reflects on the issues we need to confront head on. The Journey from Here is a call to each of us to be our best, from a public servant at his best: informed, thoughtful, candid, unwavering in his quest to "build consensus and advance our collective humanity a few inches."

About this title

Review:

Failure in his bid for the White House hasn't deterred Bill Bradley--it's only sharpened his focus. In The Journey from Here, he compiles an outline for America's future based on impressions and ideas culled from his unsuccessful campaign against Al Gore for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination. "The fact that I didn't succeed in winning doesn't make the cause less just or the fight less honorable," Bradley writes. This slim manifesto speaks in general terms about Bradley's ideas on health care, campaign finance reform, poverty, economics, racial issues, and foreign affairs, among other issues. The former U.S. senator from New Jersey touches on everything from simplifying voter registration ("In this age of computers, anyone should be able to walk into a voting place, demonstrate proof of identity, and cast a vote that very day.") to recruiting baby-boom retirees as school volunteers ("What if we offered small, tax-free stipends to these seniors to help offset transportation?"). Bradley says he wants to offer a "new politics," a system unpolluted by money, pandering to public opinion, and political infighting. He speaks often of the "American dream" and introduces each chapter with a black-and-white photograph of himself or inspiring moments, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is about as apple pie as you can get. But it's not deep dish. Bradley resented the media prying into his private life while on the campaign trail, and he continues to keep his distance. While he reminisces some about his youth and family life, the tone is more like a stump speech than a frank discussion about what Bradley really thinks. The man remains elusive, but his ideas on American politics are presented clearly and simply. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

About the Author:

Bill Bradley was a three-time basketball all-American at Princeton, Olympic gold medalist, Rhodes scholar, member of the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977 and two-time NBA champion; he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He served as United States senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997. Since leaving the Senate, he has been affiliated with Stanford University, the University of Maryland, and Notre Dame. Mr. Bradley is the author of Life on the Run, The Fair Tax, The Journey from Here, Values of the Game, and, most recently, The New American Story. He is married and has one daughter.

About this edition

• Publisher: Artisan
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1579651658
• ISBN 13: 9781579651657
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 166