The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw
(Click for Amazon book review)
OnTheIssues.org BOOK REVIEW:
This book has become a classic--its title coined a new term in the American lexicon--but it has become a classic in the manner of many classics that nobody actually reads. So we read it. Everybody knows the theme of this book: Our parents and grandparents saw us through the Great Depression and WWII by sacrificing to build the future for us. But few people know the structure of this book: Brokaw tells the story of dozens of members of the "greatest generation", some just regular people, some who became famous later. We outline just five of those stories: the five politicians who on our website (two Democrats and three Republicans, although the famously anti-war Sen. Hatfield might prefer to be a Democrat today. Hence Brokaw is, as always, balanced). You can read them and get a taste for a book that is probably on your coffee-table or bookshelf anyway.
-- Jesse Gordon, OnTheIssues editor-in-chief, May 2012
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Abortion
Mark Hatfield: Pro-life; raised in a strongly religious family.
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Budget & Economy
Mark Hatfield: Cast vote to defeat Balanced Budget Amendment.
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Civil Rights
Bob Dole: Disabled is a group no one joins by choice.
Daniel Inouye: Faced anti-Japanese discrimination after WWII.
Daniel Inouye: Sponsored Japanese internment reparations.
Norman Mineta: Proposed reparations for Japanese WWII internment.
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Crime
Mark Hatfield: Against death penalty; split from GOP on litmus test.
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Energy & Oil
Mark Hatfield: Nuclear power is our greatest environmental problem.
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Government Reform
Daniel Inouye: No limit on pain & suffering in lawsuits.
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Gun Control
Mark Hatfield: For gun control; split from GOP on litmus test.
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Homeland Security
Bob Dole: 1990s: Led campaign for WWII memorial.
George Bush Sr.: Army service is an honor; vets shouldn't ask for more.
Mark Hatfield: Unshakable anti-nuke philosophy, in war and in energy.
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Principles & Values
Bob Dole: Injured in Italy in WWII; suffered 3-year recovery.
Bob Dole: 1996 V.P. debate: "Stop lying about my record".
Daniel Inouye: Enlisted in Army after designation as "enemy alien".
Daniel Inouye: Wounded in Italy in WWII; lost an arm.
Daniel Inouye: First Japanese in Congress; first Hawaii Representative.
George Bush Sr.: Volunteered as Navy flier; shot down over Pacific.
Mark Hatfield: Witnessed battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Norman Mineta: Forced internment by US government during WWII.
Norman Mineta: First Japanese big city mayor; in Congress' Watergate class.
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War & Peace
Mark Hatfield: Against Vietnam war; Grenada war; and Kuwait war.
Mark Hatfield: 1945: Witnessed aftermath of Hiroshima, and became anti-nuke.
Mark Hatfield: Opposed Gulf War as just for oil.
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The above quotations are from The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw.
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