In the foreword to this, the first of a multi-volume biography of J. Reuben Clark, Marion G. Romeny writes: "I have always hoped that those who would write about J. Reuben Clark, Jr., would remember [that] it mattered little whether he was being praised or criticized; it mattered much, however, whether his course was right and true... An account of his life should tell of his decisions and indecisions, sorrows and joys, regrets and aspirations, reverses and accomplishments, and above all, his constant striving to overcome and and all obstacles... In this first volume, I have found what I hoped to find."