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    Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
    Unavailable
    Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
    Unavailable
    Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
    Audiobook13 hours

    Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage

    Written by Barney Frank

    Narrated by Barney Frank

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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 fourteen-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 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateMar 17, 2015
    ISBN9781427259301
    Unavailable
    Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
    Author

    Barney Frank

    Barney Frank represented the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts for nearly five decades, and chaired the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2013. He is the first member of congress to enter a same-sex marriage while serving in office. He is a regular commentator on MSNBC and lives near Portland, Maine, with his husband.

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    Reviews for Frank

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    • 4/5
      The word “Frank” has two meanings. One is the name of a person. The second is “unreserved in expressing oneself.” FRANK, by former Congressman Barney Frank, is both. The book begins in his youth and him realizing he was gay when he was fourteen years old. It ends with his life after he left Congress and was able to have a “normal” life with his husband, Jim. In between, he discusses how his sexual orientation affected him and his career and what really happens in Congress.In 1954, Barney chose to remain in the closet publically for political reasons but found “the strain of living in the closet takes a heavy toll on your personality. And it is hard to keep the anger that should be directed at your own self-denial over into dealings with others.” Later on, he stayed closeted because it might have cast a shadow on the work he was trying to accomplish. He tries to explain how, over the past six decades, “Americans have become more accepting of once-despised minorities but also more resistant to coming together through government to improve the quality of our lives.” Committed activists at both the right and left believe that the majority of voters agree with them. The situation has gotten worse because of how people get their information: Instead of getting information from all sides, many now rely on information that reinforces their own policy preferences.” In 1966, the protests by the Students for a Democratic Society did not stop the Vietnam war but did “put an end to hopes for further progress on the social and economic fronts.”Two hundred years ago, Jeremy Bentham wrote, “The greatest good for the greatest number did not call for socialism. “A person’s pain in losing something...is usually greater than the pleasure someone else experiences in benefitting from that loss.” Frank notes that the wealthy feel loss of money more while the less wealthy feel less entitled to it. In addition, he adds that losers hold grudges longer and more deeply than winners remain grateful.Inspired by Kennedy’s statement, “Ask what you can do for your country,” Frank entered Congress as Reagan announced, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.”As an insider, he discloses how Congress really works. While most people consider law or law enforcement as an important career path, Frank explains the importance of economics. He talks about when taking incremental steps to achieve a goal works when trying to accomplish everything at once can lead to total failure. And he emphasizes that drawing a large number of people to a rally, protests, and even donations are not as effective to advance a cause as actually voting. Elected officials get more respect in the party saying the vote is dictated by electoral concerns rather than because of their personal conviction.I had to look at the publishing date of the book (2015) because it reads like it could have been written about the 2016 election season. Without mentioning this year’s candidates during the primaries, he explains why Trump and Sanders have been so popular. White, middle class men are unhappy because they see themselves left out of the economic recovery. Sanders’ supporters believe they have been left out of the parties and election process. There are a lot of fallacies with each side. FRANK points out some of the sad realities of our politics. People want services but don’t want to pay for them, especially if they don’t personally benefit from them. As a result, the more money a community has, the better the services it provides: roads, schools, fire, police. But the less money in a community, the more the residents depend on public services.That myopia extends into many government areas. It talks about the city government hiring the children of the political elite for summer jobs, such as groundskeeping at the projects, instead of hiring more needy people especially those who lived there.Frank explains that effectiveness is based on the ability to deal with a very wide range of issues with never enough time and little guidance from others. For highly intelligent people, that results is a “constant source of dissatisfaction.” It is a reason that voters should think very carefully about enacting term limits.He discovered “The force of an argument is greatly magnified when it can be phrased as a quip, especially a snarky one that is easily remembered.” One of his most widely effective ones was in response to Reagan opposing abortion and cutting funds for pregnant women and poor children. He said, he “apparently believes that from the standpoint of the federal government, life begins at conception and ends at birth.”Reading FRANK seems like listening to Barney Frank speaking. It has his personal sound. It’s well-written (though a bit tedious at times) and comprehensive. For those who like him, they will find much to relish. For those who don’t or who know little or nothing about him, it’s worth a look into the man, our society, and the realities of politics.
    • 3/5
      I really never knew who Barney Frank was but thought this book would be interesting. I learned a lot about what was going on the years he was in office like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. It was interesting to see Washington through Barney’s eyes. I’m not very political so sometimes political books go in one ear and out the other for me. It was interesting to see how Washington slowly changed their views about LGBTQ rights. I think he would be an interesting person to have a conversation with over a long dinner.