Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America

Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America

"THE PURPOSE OF POLITICS IS NOT TO DEFEAT YOUR OPPONENT AS MUCH AS IT IS TO PROVIDE SUPERIOR LEADERSHIP AND BETTER IDEAS THAN THE OPPOSITION." â€”JACK KEMP

The late 1970s were miserable for America. It was the postâ€“Vietnam, postâ€“Watergate era, a time of high unemployment, ruinous inflation, gasoline lines, Communist advances, and bottomed-out U.S. morale. In the 1980s, it all turned around: "stagflation" ended and nearly two decades of prosperity ensued. The Soviet Union retreated, then collapsed. America again believed in itself. And around the world, democratic capitalism was deemed "the end of history."

Ronald Reaganâ€™s policies sparked the American renaissance, but the Gipperâ€™s leadership is only part of the story. The economic theory that underpinned Americaâ€™s success was pioneered by a star professional quarterback turned self-taught intellectual and "bleeding-heart conservative": Jack Kemp.

Kempâ€™s role in a pivotal period in American history is at last illuminated in this first-ever biography, which also has lessons for the politics of today. Kemp was the congressional champion of supply-side economicsâ€”the idea that lowering taxes would foster growth. Even today, almost no one advocates a return to a top income tax rate of 70 percent.
Kemp didnâ€™t just challenge the Democratic establishment. He also encouraged his fellow Republicans to be growth (not austerity) minded, open their tent to minorities and blue-collar workers, battle poverty and discrimination, and once again become "the party of Lincoln."

Kemp approached politics the same way he played quarterback for the Buffalo Bills: with a refusal to accept defeat. Yet he also was incapable of personal attack, arguing always on the level of ideas. He regarded opponents as adversaries, not enemies, and often cooperated with them to get things done. Despite many ups and downs, including failed presidential and vice-presidential bids, he represented a positive, idealistic, compassionate Republicanism.

Drawing on never-published papers and more than one hundred Kemp Oral History Project interviews, noted journalists Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes trace Kempâ€™s life, from his childhood through his pro football career to his influential years as a congressman and cabinet secretary.

As the American Dream seems to be waning and polarized politics stifles Washington, Kemp is a model for what politics ought to be. The Republican party and the nation are in desperate need of another Kemp.
Country USA
Brand Signet
Manufacturer Sentinel
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber illustrations
ReleaseDate 2015-09-29
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781591847434

Country	USA
Brand	Signet
Manufacturer	Sentinel
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	illustrations
ReleaseDate	2015-09-29
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781591847434

Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America

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