Mo: The Life and Times of Morris K. Udall [Paperback]

Donald W. Carson (Author), James W. Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Everybody liked Mo. Throughout his political life— and especially during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976— thousands of people were drawn to Arizona congressman Morris K. Udall by his humor, humanity, and courage. This biography traces the remarkable career of the candidate who was "too funny to be president" and introduces readers to Mo the politician, Mo the environmentalist, and Mo the man. Journalists Donald Carson and James Johnson interviewed more than one hundred of Udall's associates and family members to create an unusually rich portrait. They recall Udall's Mormon boyhood in Arizona when he lost an eye at age six, his service during World War II, his brief career in professional basketball, and his work as a lawyer and county prosecutor, which earned him a reputation for fairness and openness. Mo provides the most complete record of Udall's thirty-year congressional career ever published. It reveals how he challenged the House seniority system and turned the House Interior Committee into a powerful panel that did as much to protect the environment as any organization in the twentieth century. It shows Udall to have been a consensus builder for environmental issues who paved the way for the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, helped set aside 2.4 million acres of wilderness in Arizona, and fought for the Central Arizona Project, one of the most ambitious water projects in U.S. history. Carson and Johnson record Udall's early opposition to the Vietnam War at a time when that conflict was largely perceived as a just cause, as well as his early advocacy of campaign finance reform. They also provide a behind-the-scenes account of his run for the presidency— the first House member to seek the office in nearly a century— which gained him an intensely loyal national following. Mo explores the paradoxes that beset Udall: He was a man able to accomplish things politically because people genuinely liked and respected him, yet he was a loner and workaholic whose focus on politics overshadowed his personal life. Carson and Johnson devote a chapter to the famous Udall sense of humor. They also look sensitively at his role as a husband and father and at his proud and stubborn bout with Parkinson's disease. Mo Udall will long be remembered for his contributions to environmental legislation, for his unflagging efforts in behalf of Arizona, and for the gentle humor with which he conducted his life. This book secures his legacy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carson and Johnson, both veteran Arizona journalists, present the late Arizona Congressman Morris Udall (1922-1998)--who served in the House from 1961 to 1991 and in 1976 nearly wrested the Democratic nomination for president from Jimmy Carter--as an extraordinarily honorable man with sound political instincts, but one whose singular commitment to public service left his personal life neglected and atrophied. Udall's first marriage ended in divorce, his second wife committed suicide and his children were emotionally estranged from their father yet still admired him. At the heart of the book is Udall's political persona, which was engaging, fair-minded, self-effacing and possessed of extraordinary wit. Even the Vietnam War, of which he was an early vocal opponent, and Watergate are highlighted only to the extent that they played a role in his career. Soberingly, the issues to which Udall devoted his considerable skills--campaign finance reform, congressional reform, tobacco-related questions, civil rights, land use and conservation, and population control--are problems still on legislative agendas today. Where Carson and Johnson shine is in the insight they provide into the inner workings of Congress and what it's like to run for president. For example, in Mo's brother Stewart Udall's opinion, McGovern's 1972 campaign was flawed because McGovern, incredibly, believed that winning the nomination made him a shoo-in for the presidency. About his own presidential bid, Mo Udall once said, "You find yourself almost wishing someone would tell you for sure--that it's no use--so you could quit." Crisp and absorbing, this book should appeal to readers from Udall's home state of Arizona and to conservationists who remember Udall's role in their fight. (Feb.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Veteran political reporters and University of Arizona professors Carson and Johnson recount the life, times, and political legacy of Morris K. Udall (1922-98), who became a political hero to many liberal Democrats during his 30-year congressional career. Udall's loss of an eye at age six, combined with his height as an adult, he was a towering 6'5" differentiated him from an early age and likely contributed to his drive to succeed, a force that shaped his life in both negative and positive ways. His enormous energy and workaholic behavior undermined his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and his second marriage, which ended with his wife's suicide. But it also propelled Udall to leadership in reforming the House of Representatives in the early 1970s. Even though this Young Turk's challenge to his party's House leadership failed, he made an even bolder attempt to claim his party's 1976 presidential nomination. Ultimately, it took Parkinson's disease to thwart "Second Place Mo's" ambition. Throughout his entire life, Udall won over his opponents and built a national following with his decency, work, and sense of humor. Political junkies will enjoy this readable biography, which merits a paperback edition for classroom use. Highly recommended. William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press; 1St Edition edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816524491
• ISBN-13: 978-0816524495
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding biography of a man all too quickly forgotten, December 26, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Ellis "bored recluse" (Richardson, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mo: The Life and Times of Morris K. Udall (Hardcover)

Its amazing how quickly we forget our leaders. After serving 31 years in Congress, running one of the most likeable Presidential campaigns in history, and nearly getting elected majority leader of the U.S. House of Represenatives, Democrat Morris Udall's political career was cruelly and tragically brought to a halt by Parkinson's disease. Once famed as perhaps the wittiest man in Congress (as well as one of the most effective), Udall died seven years after his retirement -- his sterling wit permanently silenced as the disease robbed him of his ability to speak. Most tragically, this man who -- with his brother Stewart -- co-founded both the current conservation movement and America's first Mormon political clan, died a forgotten figure, remembered only by a few political junkies like myself. Fortunately, however, Donald Carson and James Johnson have produced a wonderfully engaging biography of this man that gives us a warts-and-all portrait of a remarkable public servant. While giving ample reason why the man was so beloved, they also don't flinch from revealing why Morris Udall ultimately remained a mystery to even his own family. Unlike other political biographies, this book neither sets out to debunk or canonize Rep. Udall but instead stands as a sharp portrait of a complex man whose public service -- whether you agreed with his liberal politics or not (I certainly don't) -- made this country a better place.

Written in a breezy, conversational tone that still manages to maintain a proper biographical distance, Mo follows Udall from his strict Mormon childhood in Arizona to his first election to the U.S. House. While a great deal of the book focuses on Udall's legislative achievements -- Udall was an environmentalist before it become trendy -- the best of the early chapters deal with Udall as a liberal upstart setting out to reform the stodgy House. As Udall himself would often wryly point out, his political life was often a bizarre tragic comedy of second-place finishes that ultimately became victories for others. Both of Udall's insurgent campaigns for both Speaker and Majority Leader ended in failure but sparked the revolution that overthrew (however briefly) the Congressional seniority system. The book's highlight is the detailing of Udall's 1976 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination where he managed to finish second in a record number of primaries without ever once finishing first. If Udall didn't set the electorate on fire, he did distinguish himself by revealing himself to be one of the most genuinely witty Presidential wanna-bes to ever pop up on a primary ballot (or, as one columnist put it, "Is Morris Udall to funny to be President?" That's the 70s talking. As of late, some genuine and intentional humor in American politics would be a bit of a relief, I'd think.) The campaign made Udall famous for his wit but as this biography reveals, that wit often concealed a rather distant temperment that so focused on work that even his own children grew up calling him "Mo." As a politician, Udall was that rare thing -- an honest and sincere compassionate liberal who actually saw big government as a way to help the downtrodden. Yet this same man who dedicated his life to helping strangers drove one wife to divorce and another to alcoholism and suicide. The dichotomy makes for a fascinating read and Carson and Johnson explore these issues without ever descending into lurid muckracking. The book concludes with a touching (and quite frankly heartbreaking) section dealing with Udall's final, brave, and tragic battle with Parkinson's Disease (which, as I read it, was also sadly reminicent of Ronald Reagan's -- another politician never given the respect that was his due -- current battle with Alzheimer's; another nefarious disease that, like Parkinson's, cruelly robs men and women of their dignity without reason or warning.)

Despite the fact that, politically, I'm probably about as far to the right as the late Congressman Morris Udall was to the left, I still find myself mourning the comically tragic failure of his 1976 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. As the election was the first post-Watergate election and the Republican Party was going through one of its periodic near-deaths, the election of a Democrat was pretty much assured. All Udall had to do was win the nomination and, for four years at least, a one-eyed, 6'5, former probasketball player and nonpracticing Mormon named Mo Udall would have been President. Of course, the nomination didn't go to Udall but instead went to the far less witty Jimmy Carter. Considering the way the world was in the late 70s, its doubtful Udall would have had any a better time of it than Carter but instead of hearing that America's problems were due to "malaise," a President Udall would at least find time to tell at least one corny, Ayatollah joke. And, even if the voters didn't realize it at the time, America would have been better off for that joke. Just as its now better off to have this book to remember Morris Udall by.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing a gifted Public Servant Back to Life, February 26, 2001

By 

Jay Rochlin "Jay Rochlin" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mo: The Life and Times of Morris K. Udall (Hardcover)

The authors do a masterful job in telling the story of one of America's most valuable public servants during the 2nd half of the 20th century.

The authors, two gifted journalists and writers chronicle the good, bad, ugly, and the excellent parts of Mo Udall's extraordinary career in congress.

And (a terrific plus) this is a very readable book. I love reading authors who can tell a complex story using simple everyday English -- the kind they use with thier friends. This is real nitty-gritty history -- documentation, footnotes, and all -- but the story reads fun and easy. I highly recommend it.

Jay Rochlin

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding portrait of an important political leader, September 17, 2002

By 

Steve Kelley (Hermosa Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mo: The Life and Times of Morris K. Udall (Hardcover)

Every student of U.S. politics or Arizona history should read this book. Carson and Johnson thoroughly and brilliantly chronicle the life of a man who profoundly influenced the course of America in ways that politicians of greater renown never did. The authors reveal how Mo Udall could champion the most liberal causes and yet gain the respect of someone as conservative as Barry Goldwater. Read this book and you'll wonder what turns America might have taken had Udall fulfilled his dream of becoming president.