Politics & Government - Quotations, U.S. Politics & Government - 20th Century, Governors - U.S. Political Biography, 20th Century American History - Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous, General & Miscellaneous U.S. Political Biography, New Yor
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Overview
The circumstances were unusual. One man, Mario M. Cuomo, was governor of New York and a leading figure in the national hierarchy of the Democratic Party. The other was Alan Chartock, a college professor who also managed eight public radio stations and the Legislative Gazette newspaper in Albany. The two were thrown into the kind of relationship most journalists only dream about. For nearly twelve years, Chartock interviewed Cuomo once a week on a program that was heard on most of the public radio stations in New York State. Anyone who ever heard the program can confirm that it was combative and humorous - a feast of fast talk, wit and sarcasm rivaling the best of salon conversation. Despite Cuomo's long-running claim that only three people were listening - "Harvey and Ethel and someone who has now switched to Chinese opera" - the program attracted a legion of loyal fans who would time their rides home from their weekend houses in upstate New York so they could hear the jousting. Cuomo revealed himself on these programs. He voiced his view of the Catholic church, a view quite often at odds with that of his bishops. He spoke eloquently on the issue of abortion and a woman's right to choose and he took incredible pains to use contemporary events to portray his view of the world. When Jimmy Cagney died he gave a eulogy on the radio show that couldn't possibly be surpassed, and he spoke of why the clergy should dress in white instead of black. A chapter on family speaks of his mother, his father and of the marriage of his son Andrew to Robert Kennedy's daughter. That exchange was so moving that The New York Times boxed it and published it in full. It's difficult for one to read it and not get wet around the eyes.Editorials
Library Journal
Chartock (political science, SUNY-New Paltz) hosted a radio show for 12 years on which he interviewed New York's thenGovernor Mario Cuomo once a week discussing whatever issue on the state and national political scene he or the governor felt was worth pursuing. Quoting extensively from the radio dialogs, Chartock looks at the complexitiesand consistenciesin Cuomo's personality and political philosophies. Cuomo should be pleased with this very flattering book, for Chartock portrays the governor as a highly intelligent, insightful, and astute politician; a sensitive, devoted father and husband; and a concerned leader who feels a strong sense of civic responsibility. The governor is also strongly self-critical and always ready to laugh at himself. Cuomo, in his own highly readable and often entertaining book, shows he has been doing a lot more than munching corn chips since he left the governor's mansion. In an impassioned and articulate response to the Republicans' Contract with America, he labels the climate surrounding this Congress the "New Harshness." He characterizes Congressional Republicans as "Running Hard Backwards." And not just 60 years backward to the pre-New Deal days but to the era before the Constitution was framed. Cuomo chides GOP leaders for proposing a system that has been tried and failedone that champions individualism and state sovereignty. He eloquently explains how the progressive government movements that began in this century and evolved through the New Deal and postwar economic boom succeeded because people worked together to solve problems. While he admits to excesses and failures in the system, he decries the GOP reaction as throwing the baby out with the bath water and advocates compromise and coordinated approaches to solving our problems. Libraries in New York State will want Chartock's volume, while Cuomo's book is recommended for political collections across the country.Jill Ortner, SILS, SUNY at BuffaloBook Details
Published
December 31, 1995
Publisher
Barricade Books Inc
Pages
304
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781569800560