IN THE SENATE: Amidst the Conflict and Turmoil

by Norris Cotton ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1978

Cotton, for 20 years a Senator from New Hampshire (1954-1974), gives his fond but plain-spoken Yankee impressions of Capitol Hill--bloated beyond recognition and, he believes, beyond effectiveness, by a surfeit of staffers, currently numbering about 15,000. A conservative Republican, he takes the opportunity to issue stern warnings about ""national solvency,"" the escalating debt, and the falling dollar. During his years in the Senate the debt ceiling was raised 26 times! Another source of distress is the Warren Court which, in his view, seriously encroached on the executive and the legislative branches. Apart from the solemn lectures, Cotton takes time to recall such colleagues as mentor Styles Bridges, his home state's most illustrious politician, and Vermont's George Aiken. Among the Presidents he knew, Johnson had the most ""complex and amazing personality"" while Nixon, even in disgrace, remains a friend. A lesser and somewhat more ornery book than Bernard Asbell's The Senate Nobody Knows (p. 141) but similar in intent.

Pub Date: April 1, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION