Sam Houston
Allan Carpenter
A biography of the colorful Sam Houston who served America in many ways, but whose name is now inextricably linked with Texas.
Read Time: ~5.5 hr
House and home
by Steve Gunderson and Rob Morris with Bruce Bawer (1996)
About this book
House and Home is an extraordinary story: the personal account of the only openly gay Republican congressman in history, along with the man who shares his life and has helped form his political vision. This important and provocative book, written by him and his lover, Rob Morris, tells the story of Steve Gunderson's growing up gay in Wisconsin, his refusal to accept his sexuality for years, and his reluctance to publicly acknowledge it until well into a successful career in politics. It chronicles both the pain and the liberation of coming out, and what it meant in terms of effectiveness in Congress and in the challenge of winning reelection in the face of strident attacks from the religious right. It recounts the reactions of his Republican congressional colleagues, ranging from savagely vituperative to warmly and sometimes surprisingly supportive. And it describes what it was like when Steve and Rob were invited to dine at the Clinton White House.
Setting / LocationGlobal
Story EraModern Era
Protagonist / CoreHouse and home Lead Character
Readers who enjoyed this also loved
Senator Pothole
Leonard Lurie
Senator Pothole: The Unauthorized Biography of Al D'Amato explains how and why the U.S. Senate's most controversial member has become one of the country's most important political figures, even though his name has been repeatedly associated with political scandal and his friends and personal associates so often end up in jail. Senator Pothole describes the deals and betrayals that resulted in his election to the Senate in 1980, defeating the venerable Senator Jacob Javits. The book shows how - for a price - D'Amato has set banking policy, determined whether leveraged buy-outs will be allowed, decided which part of society will bear the heaviest tax burden, and whether criminals would be put in jail or become the hidden manipulators of power. Senator Pothole reveals:. How D'Amato arranged Defense Department contracts for the Wedtech Corporation; tolerated the sale of subsidized, low income housing to his friends; and successfully headed off expulsion from the Senate in his roller-coaster (and supposedly last) re-election campaign in 1992. D'Amato's ties to organized crime; at one point D'Amato pleaded with then U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani not to prosecute Godfather Paul Castellano. How D'Amato committed perjury before a grand jury and then admitted it ten years later when the statute of limitations had run out. His involvement in the savings-and-loan scandal. How D'Amato intimidated the Senate Ethics Committee members into slapping him on the wrist instead of expelling him from the Senate. How D'Amato let his brother Armand use his office to peddle influence in selling an obsolete Unisys weapons system to the Navy, which didn't want it. As a result, his brother was convicted of mail fraud in 1993. And much more. The author conducted over four hundred interviews with Senator D'Amato's family members, enemies, friends, and political associates. He also made extensive use of court records and transcripts. The result is the most explosive, eye-opening book written about probably the most corrupt member of Congress of our day.
J. William Fulbright
Eugene Brown
The shaping of Fulbright's views -- Public service, 1942-1959 -- Public service, 1959-1963 -- Myths old and new -- Fulbright's dissent, 1965-1966 -- The limitationist critique and the end of the Johnson consensus -- Fulbright in the Nixon years -- Autumnal perspectives.
Daniel Inouye
Laura Wingfield
A biography of the first Congressman from the state of Hawaii who was also the first American of Japanese descent to serve in the Congress of the United States.