64 results for "Memoir"

Breaking history: a White House memoir

Kushner, Jared
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER #1 PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY BESTSELLER #1 AMAZON BESTSELLER Jared Kushner was one of the most consequential presidential advisers in modern history. For the first time, he recounts what happened behind closed doors during the Trump presidency. Few White House advisors have had such an expansive portfolio or constant access to the pre[Bokinfo]
Broadside Books 2023-08-22 492 pages

The world as it is: a memoir of the Obama White House

Rhodes, Ben
"For nearly ten years, Ben Rhodes saw almost everything that happened at the center of the Obama administration, first as a speechwriter, then as deputy national security advisor, and finally as a multipurpose aide and close collaborator. He started every morning in the Oval Office with the President's Daily Briefing, traveled the world with Obama, and was at the center of some of the most consequential and controversial moments of the presidency. Now he tells the full story of his partnership--and, ultimately, friendship--with a man who also happened to be a historic president of the United States....Rhodes shows what it was like to be there from the early days of the Obama campaign to the final hours of the presidency. It is a story populated by such characters as Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Hillary Clinton, Bob Gates, and--above all--Barack Obama, who comes to life on the page in moments of great urgency and disarming intimacy. This is the most vivid portrayal yet of Obama's worldview and presidency, a chronicle of a political education and an essential record of the forces that shaped the last decade."--
Random House 2019 450 pages

Thanks, Obama: my hopey changey White House years

Litt, David
"A different kind of White House memoir, presidential speechwriter David Litt's comic account of his years spent working with Barack Obama and his reflection on Obama's legacy in the age of Trump. Like many twentysomethings, David Litt frequently embarrassed himself in front of his boss's boss. Unlike many twentysomethings, Litt's boss's boss was President Obama. At age twenty-four, Litt became one of the youngest White House speechwriters in history. Along with remarks on issues like climate change and criminal justice reform, he was the president's go-to writer for comedy. As the lead on the White House Correspondents' Dinner speech (the "State of the Union of jokes"), he was responsible for some of President Obama's most memorable moments, including Keegan-Michael Key's appearance as Luther, Obama's "anger translator." With a humorist's eye for detail and a convert's zeal, Litt takes us inside his eight years on the front lines of Obamaworld. In his political coming-of-age story, he goes from starry-eyed college student--a self-described "Obamabot"--to nervous junior speechwriter to White House senior staff. His behind-the-scenes anecdotes answer questions you never knew you had: What's the classiest White House men's room? What's the social scene like on Air Force One? How do you force the National Security Council to stop hitting reply-all on every e-mail? In between lighthearted observations, Litt uses his experience to address one of today's most important issues: the legacy and future of the Obama movement in the age of Donald Trump"--
Ecco 2017-09-19 310 pages

Thanks, Obama: my hopey changey White House years

Litt, David
"A different kind of White House memoir, presidential speechwriter David Litt's comic account of his years spent working with Barack Obama and his reflection on Obama's legacy in the age of Trump. Like many twentysomethings, David Litt frequently embarrassed himself in front of his boss's boss. Unlike many twentysomethings, Litt's boss's boss was President Obama. At age twenty-four, Litt became one of the youngest White House speechwriters in history. Along with remarks on issues like climate change and criminal justice reform, he was the president's go-to writer for comedy. As the lead on the White House Correspondents' Dinner speech (the "State of the Union of jokes"), he was responsible for some of President Obama's most memorable moments, including Keegan-Michael Key's appearance as Luther, Obama's "anger translator." With a humorist's eye for detail and a convert's zeal, Litt takes us inside his eight years on the front lines of Obamaworld. In his political coming-of-age story, he goes from starry-eyed college student--a self-described "Obamabot"--to nervous junior speechwriter to White House senior staff. His behind-the-scenes anecdotes answer questions you never knew you had: What's the classiest White House men's room? What's the social scene like on Air Force One? How do you force the National Security Council to stop hitting reply-all on every e-mail? In between lighthearted observations, Litt uses his experience to address one of today's most important issues: the legacy and future of the Obama movement in the age of Donald Trump"--
Ecco 2018-09-04 310 pages

Bobby Kennedy: the making of a liberal icon

Tye, Larry
“A multilayered, inspiring portrait of RFK . . . [the] most in-depth look at an extraordinary figure whose transformational story shaped America.”—Joe Scarborough, The Washington Post NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Soon to be a Hulu original series starring Chris Pine. Larry Tye appears on CNN’s American Dynasties: The Kennedys . “We are in Larry Tye’s debt for bringing back to life the young presidential candidate who . . . almost half a century ago, instilled hope for the future in angry, fearful Americans.”—David Nasaw, The New York Times Book Review Bare-knuckle operative, cynical White House insider, romantic visionary—Robert F. Kennedy was all of these things at one time or another, and each of these aspects of his personality emerges in the pages of this powerful and perceptive biography. History remembers RFK as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy’s enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that began with his service as counsel to the red-baiting senator Joseph McCarthy. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to capture the full arc of his subject’s life. Tye draws on unpublished memoirs, unreleased government files, and fifty-eight boxes of papers that had been under lock and key for forty years. He conducted hundreds of interviews with RFK intimates, many of whom have never spoken publicly, including Bobby’s widow, Ethel, and his sister, Jean. Tye’s determination to sift through the tangle of often contradictory opinions means that Bobby Kennedy will stand as the definitive biography about the most complex and controversial member of the Kennedy family. Praise for Bobby Kennedy “A compelling story of how idealism can be cultivated and liberalism learned . . . Tye does an exemplary job of capturing not just the chronology of Bobby’s life, but also the sense of him as a person.” — Los Angeles Review of Books “Captures RFK’s rise and fall with straightforward prose bolstered by impressive research.” — USA Today “[Tye] has a keen gift for narrative storytelling and an ability to depict his subject with almost novelistic emotional detail.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “Nuanced and thorough . . . [RFK’s] vision echoes through the decades.” — The Economist
Random House 2016 580 pages

One damn thing after another: memoirs of an attorney general

Barr, William Pelham
"William Barr's first tenure as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush was largely the result of chance, while his second tenure under President Donald Trump a deliberate and difficult choice. In this candid memoir, Barr takes readers behind the scenes during seminal moments of the 1990s, from the LA riots to Pan Am 103 and Iran Contra. Thirty years later, Barr faced an unrelenting barrage of issues, such as Russiagate, the COVID outbreak, civil unrest, the impeachments, and the 2020 election fallout"--
William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 2022 595 pages

The Clinton wars

Blumenthal, Sidney
The Clinton Wars is the remarkable story of the Clinton White House, as told through the eyes of Sidney Blumental, Assistant to the President from 1997 to 2001. A long-standing friend, adviser and confidant to the Clintons, Blumenthal's unique position in the White House secured him direct access not only to such scenes as the inside of Air Force One, and the sealed Senate impeachment hearing room, but also to the minds of those making crucial decisions. Offering far more than revealing anecdotes and insider stories, this memoir stands as an important work on American politics and a central and essential reference for all future historians.
Penguin 2004 832 pages

Coming up short: a memoir of America

Reich, Robert B.
"From political economist, cabinet member, beloved professor, media presence, and bestselling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, a deeply-felt, compelling memoir of growing up in a baby-boom America that made progress in certain areas, fell short in so many important ways, and still has lots of work to do. A thought-provoking, principled, clear-eyed chronicle of the culture, politics, and economic choices that have landed us where we are today-with irresponsible economic bullies and corporations with immense wealth and lobbying power on top, demagogues on the rise, and increasing inequality fueling anger and hatred across the country. Nine months after World War II, Robert Reich was born into a united America with a bright future-that went unrealized for so many as big money took over our democracy. His encounter with school bullies on account of his height-4'11" as an adult-set him on a determined path to spend his life fighting American bullies of every sort. He recounts the death of a friend in the civil rights movement; his political coming of age witnessing the Berkeley free speech movement; working for Bobby Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy; experiencing a country torn apart by the Vietnam War; meeting Hillary Rodham in college, Bill Clinton at Oxford, and Clarence Thomas at Yale Law. He details his friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith during his time teaching at Harvard, and subsequent friendships with Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy; his efforts as labor secretary for Clinton and economic advisor to Barack Obama. Ultimately, Reich asks: What did his generation accomplish? Did they make America better, more inclusive, more tolerant? Did they strengthen democracy? Or, did they come up short? In the end, though, Reich hardly abandons us to despair over a doomed democracy. With his characteristic spirit, humor, and inherent decency, he lays out how we can reclaim a sense of community and a democratic capitalism based on the American ideals we still have the power to salvage"-- Provided by publisher.
Alfred A. Knopf 2025-08-05 394 pages

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Hazleton, Lesley
In 1966, Lesley Hazleton went to Israel for a two-week vacation - she discovered the seductive city of Jerusalem and stayed for thirteen years. During this time Hazleton, a British Jew, became a seasoned journalist, experienced the Six Days War, and made her first pilgrimage through the Old City to the Western Wall. She left Israel in 1979, but it was like ending a passionate love affair: Hazleton could not break the intense emotional times that bound her to Jerusalem, and she returned year after year. Jerusalem, Jerusalem is set during Hazleton's "farewell" visit in 1984, and it chronicles her own personal struggle to come to terms with what this troubled country means to her. Veering between the past and present, this poignant memoir traces the political and environmental changes that have transformed Israel since the Six Days War, and addresses the ever-growing conflict between religious and secular Jews. Lesley Hazleton explores the divisions of souls - Israel's and her own - as she paints an intimate, honest, and compelling portrait of a city living on the brink of war and peace.
Atlantic Monthly Press 1986 243 pages

Counselor: a life at the edge of history

Sorensen, Theodore C.
In this gripping memoir, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor recounts in full for the first time his experience counseling Kennedy through the most dramatic moments in American history.... from the decision to go to the moon to the Cuban Missile Crisis, when JFK requested that the thirty-four-year-old Sorensen draft the key letter to Khrushchev at the most critical point of the world's first nuclear confrontation. After Kennedy was assassinated, Sorensen stayed with President Johnson for a few months before leaving to write a biography of JFK. In 1968 he returned to Washington to help run Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. Through it all, Sorensen never lost sight of the ideals that brought him to Washington and to the White House, working tirelessly to promote and defend free, peaceful societies.--From publisher's description.
Harper 2008-05-06 556 pages

Citizen Koch: an autobiography

Koch, Edward I.
Best known for his "How'm I doing?" approach to politics and life, as well as his candid stands on controversial issues, Ed Koch survived his years in public office by being the most outspoken and candid mayor in the history of New York City. Citizen Koch is an insightful, funny, and outrageous memoir about life, politics, and the City of New York. Ed's taken off the gloves and bares all about the highs and lows of his mayoralty and life. Besides being a hard-hitting, unusually honest political memoir, Citizen Koch is filled with heartfelt reminiscences from Koch's life - his childhood working as a hatcheck boy in a Newark dancehall with his immigrant parents during the Depression, his years living in Brooklyn, his World War II experiences as a Sergeant in the 104th Infantry Division, his time as a young attorney, and much, much more. Best of all, he chronicles his introduction to politics and offers a private and personal recounting of his nine years as a U.S. Congressman and three terms as Mayor of New York City. And, for the first time, Ed discusses his contemplation of suicide during the corruption crisis that clouded his third term. In Citizen Koch, Ed Koch also provides hilarious anecdotes and witty reminiscences from his years in public life, including wonderful stories from his time in Gracie Mansion and visits with Menachem Begin, Sir Laurence Olivier, Leonard Bernstein, Mother Teresa, and audiences with Presidents Bush and Nixon, Daniel Ortega, Pope John Paul II, and many, many others. And, perhaps best of all, Ed discusses his life out of office and offers up his opinions on many of the issues facing America today. Citizen Koch is the most candid, searching, and intimateportrait of one of our best-known public figures.
St. Martin's Press 1992 281 pages

My country, my life: fighting for Israel, searching for peace

Barak, Ehud
"The definitive memoir of one of Israel's most influential soldier-statesmen and one-time Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, with insights into forging peace in the Middle East. In the summer of 2000, the most decorated soldier in Israel's history--Ehud Barak--set himself a challenge as daunting as any he had faced on the battlefield: to secure a final peace with the Palestinians. He would propose two states for two peoples, with a shared capital in Jerusalem. He knew the risks of failure. But he also knew the risks of not trying: letting slip perhaps the last chance for a generation to secure genuine peace. It was a moment of truth. It was one of many in a life intertwined, from the start, with that of Israel. Born on a kibbutz, Barak became commander of Israel's elite special forces, then army Chief of Staff, and ultimately, Prime Minister. My Country, My Life tells the unvarnished story of his--and his country's--first seven decades; of its major successes, but also its setbacks and misjudgments. He offers candid assessments of his fellow Israeli politicians, of the American administrations with which he worked, and of himself. Drawing on his experiences as a military and political leader, he sounds a powerful warning: Israel is at a crossroads, threatened by events beyond its borders and by divisions within. The two-state solution is more urgent than ever, not just for the Palestinians, but for the existential interests of Israel itself. Only by rediscovering the twin pillars on which it was built--military strength and moral purpose--can Israel thrive"--
St. Martin's Press 2018-05-08 472 pages

Bright, infinite future: a generational memoir on the progressive rise

Green, Mark J.
"Blending the historical, biographical and political, this wide-ranging "memoir + manifesto" describes how the values of the 1960s are shaping a new progressive majority in 2016 and beyond. Multi-faceted Mark Green--bestselling author, public interest lawyer, elected official--guides us through contemporary American politics as Johnson retaliates against his antiwar work; Nader launches the modern consumer movement; Clinton wins the 1992 New York primary and therefore the nomination; the author debates Castro in Havana on human rights; and Green loses the closest NYC mayoral election in a century to Bloomberg after 9/11 in a perfect storm of money, terrorism, and race. As Public Advocate for New York City, Green is Mayor Giuiliani's bête noir--he exposes the NYPD's racial profiling, kills off Joe Camel, inspires the city's 311 system, and shows how a person who believes in positive, progressive government can make it work for average citizens. Starting with the consequential movements of the 1960s, Bright, Infinite Future tracks how a rising tide of minority and Millennial voters, the GOP's lurch from mainstream to extreme, and the contrast between the disastrous presidency of Bush 43 and the successful ones of Clinton and Obama are leading to a new era of "progressive patriotism" that will culminate in the 2016 presidential election. Full of behind-the-scenes stories about boldfaced names, this will be the 2016 book for liberals looking to Leonard Bernstein's 'bright, infinite future," conservatives who want to know what they're up against, and readers who want to know what it takes and what it's like "in the arena." "--
St. Martin's Press 2016-05-03 383 pages

Heroic conservatism: why Republicans need to embrace America's ideals (and why they deserve to fail if they don't)

Gerson, Michael J.
Journalist and speechwriter Gerson uses his own experiences in the upper tier of the Bush White House to show why America needs a conservatism that is heroic in its aspirations--including "compassionate conservative" proposals to confront global AIDS, combat poverty in America, and promote human rights and dignity abroad--initiatives that Gerson fought for during his time in government. Gerson has a unique ability to frame complex issues in a way that both challenges and inspires, and here he delivers a new manifesto for the Republican Party and a memoir of a history-shaping Presidency.--From publisher description.
HarperOne 2007-10-30 302 pages

The monkey and the dragon: a true story about friendship, music, politics and life on the edge

Jaivin, Linda
Memoir, biography and travel book, The Monkey and the Dragon is a story about the personal and political tumult of a changing China. Linda Jaivin traces this transformation through the life of Hou Dejian: Taiwan pop star, defector to communist China, hunger-striker at Tiananmen Square, political activist, celebrity fengshui master and friend.
Text Pub 2001 438 pages

Crazy rhythm: Richard Nixon and all that jazz

Garment, Leonard
Crazy Rhythm is a smart, swinging memoir that answers the question "How did a liberal Jewish jazz musician from Brooklyn become one of President Richard Nixon's most trusted advisers and one of Washington's most influential lawyers?" Leonard Garment was probably the hippest man ever to serve in the White House - a jazz musician with an affinity for artists, African-Americans, Jews, American Indians, and the "rabble-rousers" of post-1960s American politics, a man as comfortable with Dick Gregory as he was with Dick Nixon. Garment presents a rare view of Nixon, showing us the man as he ascended to the presidency - brilliant, fascinating, and complex. Garment describes his advocacy on behalf of Israel at the United Nations, his efforts to expand government support for the arts, his crisis management of American Indian protests, and his ideological wrestling matches with Pat Buchanan. He also writes poignantly of his tumultuous first marriage to Grace Albert, a talented television writer who, one day, mysteriously disappeared.
Times Books 1997 418 pages

War and decision: inside the Pentagon at the dawn of the War on Terrorism

Feith, Douglas J.
Of all the players in the planning and evolution of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism, few were more integral--or more controversial--than Douglas Feith, the chief strategist on Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon policy team. A highly influential international policy analyst for more than a quarter century, Feith worked closely with Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Cheney, and President Bush in defining the U.S. response to the attacks of 9/11--from the successful war on Afghanistan to the more challenging invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. Now, in this candid and revealing memoir, Feith--a charter member of the neoconservative movement and an architect of the administration's preventive strategy in the war on terrorism--offers the most in-depth and authoritative account yet of the Pentagon's evolving stance during one of the most controversial eras of American history. Drawing upon a unique trove of documents and records, this extraordinary chronicle will put the reader in the room for scores of previously unreported senior-level meetings, showing how hundreds of critical decisions were made in defense of American interests during and after the crisis of 9/11--decisions both successful and controversial. Where journalists like Bob Woodward could only speculate, Feith is the first inside player to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, at a time when history hung in the balance.--From publisher description.
HarperCollins 2009-02-03 674 pages

Getting to the heart of the matter: my 36 years in the Senate

Levin, Carl
"Representing Michigan for thirty-six years in the U.S. Senate, Carl Levin, the longest-serving senator in Michigan history, was known for his dogged pursuit of the truth, his commitment to holding government accountable, and his basic decency. Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate is his story - from his early days in Detroit as the son of a respected lawyer to the capstone of his career as chair of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Levin's career placed him at the center of some of our nation's most critical points in modern times: from the aftermath of the 1967 Detroit riots, to the Clinton impeachment, through 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2008 financial crisis. He met with numerous world leaders, including Egypt's Anwar Sadat and China's Jiang Zemin. Getting to the Heart of the Matter recounts Levin's experiences, thoughts, and actions during these historic moments. Consisting of seventeen chapters, the book takes the reader through Levin's early life in Detroit of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s where he met his wife, started a family, practiced law and served as the first General Counsel for the newly created Michigan Civil Rights Commission and the chief appellate defender for Detroit's Legal Aid Office. Elected to the Detroit City Council in 1969, where Levin served for eight years including four as Council president, the book describes how his fight against the Department of Housing and Urban Development's devastating housing practices in the neighborhoods of Detroit led him to run for the U.S. Senate with a pledge to make government work more effectively. Winning election six times, Levin had an illustrious career in the Senate where he challenged leaders in government and the private sector for the greater good of the nation. Levin describes how, as a Democrat, throughout his time in the Senate, he worked with Republican senators who often held different policy positions in order to find common ground to achieve national goals, and how he and his Senate staff searched for creative solutions to trade issues, support for the auto industry and manufacturing sector, U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and efforts to protect the Great Lakes and the environment, among many other issues. Levin's hope in writing this memoir is that by sharing his deeply held beliefs about the responsibility of elected officials, the book will serve as a resource for people beginning a career in, or contemplating running for, public office. Readers with an interest in politics, history, facts, and perseverance will find kinship in this book" -- provided by the publisher
Wayne State University Press 2021 338 pages