The Journey from Here [Hardcover]

Bill Bradley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2000

Bill Bradley ran for president, helped shape a national debate, and altered America's consciousness and views on universal health care, child poverty, race relations, gun control, and campaign finance reform. If anything, his thinking was ahead of the country's.

That experience forms the heart and soul of The Journey from Here, a compelling call to action from a man no longer campaigning for office, but still running hard for the ideas and principles that will define the very essence of this nation.

From the perspective of a year on the road, listening to Americans in all circumstances and walks of life, Bradley now reflects on the issues we need to confront head on. The Journey from Here is a call to each of us to be our best, from a public servant at his best: informed, thoughtful, candid, unwavering in his quest to "build consensus and advance our collective humanity a few inches."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Failure in his bid for the White House hasn't deterred Bill Bradley--it's only sharpened his focus. In The Journey from Here, he compiles an outline for America's future based on impressions and ideas culled from his unsuccessful campaign against Al Gore for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination. "The fact that I didn't succeed in winning doesn't make the cause less just or the fight less honorable," Bradley writes. This slim manifesto speaks in general terms about Bradley's ideas on health care, campaign finance reform, poverty, economics, racial issues, and foreign affairs, among other issues. The former U.S. senator from New Jersey touches on everything from simplifying voter registration ("In this age of computers, anyone should be able to walk into a voting place, demonstrate proof of identity, and cast a vote that very day.") to recruiting baby-boom retirees as school volunteers ("What if we offered small, tax-free stipends to these seniors to help offset transportation?"). Bradley says he wants to offer a "new politics," a system unpolluted by money, pandering to public opinion, and political infighting. He speaks often of the "American dream" and introduces each chapter with a black-and-white photograph of himself or inspiring moments, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is about as apple pie as you can get. But it's not deep dish. Bradley resented the media prying into his private life while on the campaign trail, and he continues to keep his distance. While he reminisces some about his youth and family life, the tone is more like a stump speech than a frank discussion about what Bradley really thinks. The man remains elusive, but his ideas on American politics are presented clearly and simply. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

About the Author

Bill Bradley was a three-time basketball all-American at Princeton, Olympic gold medalist, Rhodes scholar, member of the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977 and two-time NBA champion; he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He served as United States senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997. Since leaving the Senate, he has been affiliated with Stanford University, the University of Maryland, and Notre Dame. Mr. Bradley is the author of Life on the Run, The Fair Tax, The Journey from Here, Values of the Game, and, most recently, The New American Story. He is married and has one daughter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 166 pages
• Publisher: Artisan; First Edition edition (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579651658
• ISBN-13: 978-1579651657
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,149,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, Informed and Sincere, November 18, 2000

By 

John Orfield (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Journey from Here (Hardcover)

When Bill Bradley bowed out of the 2000 presidential campaign in March, it broke my heart for many reasons. First, because Bill is truly one of my heroes, someone whose passion and ideas I have admired for as long as I've followed politics (I was born in 1974 so I knew Bill as a Senator before I ever even knew he played in the NBA). Second, it broke my heart because I had waited for Bill to run for president for such a long time, convinced he was one of the very few with an actual heartfelt vision for this great country. When his campaign ended, I wondered WHAT NOW?

Bill answered my question with this book. "The Journey From Here" reiterates the ideas and principles that fueled Bradley's vision in a series of essays on (what should be) the most important questions facing our country today -- developing basic national health care, improving race relations, giving relief to working families, opening the democratic process through campaign finance reform, eliminating child poverty, maintaining a steady and healthy economy, and understanding our country's role on the world stage. Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, whatever... folks, we're Americans and these are the questions we all must confront together.

Critics will charge (and have charged) that Bradley's plans are too liberal, too idealistic, and too far-fetched. To me, the questions are basic and Bradley's views are decent, practical and rooted in sound financial and social common sense. For example -- People ask how can we afford to provide basic national health care? The question should be, how long can we afford not to? It's simply too important to continue to refuse to acknowledge the problem. We consider our country the greatest on earth, yet the World Health Organization ranks us thirty-seventh in the world in the quality of health care. And Bradley assures us, it's really not about money (we already spend over a trillon dollars on health care), it's about attacking the problem in an intelligent and fiscally sound manner, yet making sure that no one is overlooked. We owe that to each other. After all, a healthy country is a happy and productive country.

Bradley does recognize that the government cannot solve all of our problems. In fact, that's why he wrote the book. Now that he does not hold an elected office, he's a regular citizen, like all of us. But that doesn't make the ideas irrelevant. And Bradley reminds us that WE should set the agenda for the country and for the government, not vice versa. He writes, "In a country where legitimacy rests with the individual, only the individual can ratify a nation's path." And he's right.

If you are familiar with some of Bill Bradley's other books, like "Time Present, Time Past" or "Values of the Game," you can already guess the best part of "The Journey From Here" -- Bradley's easy-going and candid nature. Thoughtful, informed, and sincere, Bill's words are his own, not culled from polls and focus groups or paid for by special interest groups. In today's political climate, it's rare and immensely refreshing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, October 14, 2000

By 

michael leahy (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journey from Here (Hardcover)

It is refreshing to read a book by a politician and beleive every word they are saying. Though I don't agree with all of Bradley's stances, I admire him for his frank and poignant observations of the status of America's fragile democracy. With big money interests playing a larger role in politics in the campaigns across the country it is admirable that Bradley stands up to these injustices and speaks from his heart.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I ENJOYED THIS ONE., April 24, 2007

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Journey from Here (Hardcover)

First, let me make it clear. I am liberal in some areas and quite conservative in others...not really middle of the road, but pretty close to it. That being said, I must admit to having enjoyed this work. Unlike many of our leaders today, Bradley will at least commit his ideas in a frank, forward way for public scrutiny, something I find quite refreshing. You certainly do not have to agree with him point for point, but in many areas he does make a lot of sense. I suppose what I like about this work, and some of his other writings, is that he is able to articulare his position quite clearly. Ideas set aside, this guy is quite a good writer and it is a pleasure to read his work. No matter which side of the political scale your on, it is always good to gather ideas from everyone, and this is a great sorce. Recommend this one highly.