THAT REMINDS ME

by Alben Barkley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 1954

The former Veep reviews his colorful life with all of his ready wit and something rarer than that: basic good humor. He states his theme to be the opposite of Marc Antony's, that the evil men do should be interred and only the good live after. Barkley has little to say that is not good of all the men he has dealt with in public life, starting with his hero Woodrow Wilson, whose first inauguration as president coincided with Barkley's entrance into Congress. Barkley has a joke for every event, bitter or sweet, in his life. He describes the sign at his college, where he served as janitor, ""Barkley swept here"". As postscript to his blunt story of the defection of his supporters for the presidential nomination in 1952 he quotes Lincoln about the man rode out of town on the rail, ""If it wasn't for the honor of the thing, I would just as soon have walked"". Barkley has frank but friendly words about the men who sought, and won or lost, big office, and his book adds many illuminating as well as sweetening chapters to Twentieth Century political history. One of the best of the political autobiographies.

Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1954

Categories: NONFICTION