Mar 19, 2015
In this interview for KGNU Denver-Boulder's 'It's The Economy', former Congressman @BarneyFrank talks about his most recent book. "How did a disheveled, intellectually combative gay Jew with a thick accent become one of the most effective (and funniest) politicians of our time?"
Growing up in
Bayonne, New Jersey, the 14-year-old Barney Frank made two
vital discoveries about himself: he was attracted to government,
and to men. He resolved to make a career out of the first
attraction and to keep the second a secret. Now, sixty years later,
his sexual orientation is widely accepted, while his belief in
government is embattled.
Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex
Marriage is one man's account of the country's
transformation--and the tale of a truly momentous career. Many
Americans recall Frank's lacerating wit, whether it was directed at
the
Clinton impeachment ("What did the president touch, and when
did he touch it?") or the pro-life movement (some people believe
"life begins at conception and ends at birth"). But the contours of
his private and public lives are less well-known. For more than
four decades, he was at the center of the struggle for personal
freedom and economic fairness. From the battle over AIDS funding in
the 1980s to the debates over "big government" during the Clinton
years to the 2008 financial crisis, the congressman from
Massachusetts played a key role. In 2010, he coauthored the most
far-reaching and controversial Wall Street reform 'Dodd
Frank' bill since the era of the Great Depression, and helped
bring about the repeal of Don't
Ask, Don't Tell.
In this feisty and often moving
memoir, Frank candidly discusses the satisfactions, fears, and
grudges that come with elected office. He recalls the emotional
toll of living in the closet and how his public crusade against
homophobia conflicted with his private accommodation of it. He
discusses his painful quarrels with allies; his friendships with
public figures, from
Tip O'Neill to
Sonny Bono; and how he found love with his husband, Jim Ready,
becoming the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex
marriage. He also demonstrates how he used his rhetorical skills to
expose his opponents' hypocrisies and delusions. Through it all, he
expertly analyzes the gifts a successful politician must bring to
the job, and how even Congress can be made to
work.
Frank is the story of
an extraordinary political life, an original argument for how to
rebuild trust in government, and a guide to how political change
really happens--composed by a master of the art.