George Pataki is the real McCoy. He's a small-town boy from Peekskill, New York, where his family's immigrant background and farming life shaped his down-to-earth politics. A second-generation American with roots in Hungary, Italy, and Ireland, Pataki has retained a common touch that his Yale and Columbia educations haven't changed. He finally followed a lifelong dream of entering public service when he left a corporate law firm to join a Senate task force on the reorganization of the court system. In 1982 Pataki became mayor of his hometown, and in 1994 he stunned New York's political world by defeating Mario Cuomo in the gubernatorial election. Suddenly George who? became a GOP power broker. He'll give readers the inside story of his incredible upset victory and bring us into the governor's mansion to show the day-to-day job of running the diverse state of New York--the issues it raises, the choices he makes, the beliefs that determine how he governs. Told with warmth and wry humor, the governor's story shows that winning politics can still come from a simple source--straight from the heart.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
New York Governor George Pataki is one of the most intriguing American politicians to emerge in the 1990s. In the 1994 gubernatorial campaign, the Republican from Albany defeated incumbent Mario Cuomo, a liberal giant once thought unbeatable--even without the support of New York City's Republican mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Since then, Pataki has reigned over a strong economy and falling crime rates, and some say he will wind up on the GOP presidential ticket in 2000. Like so many memoirs by politicians on the rise, however, Pataki says little of a provocative nature, with the possible exception of a passage in which Pataki describes cooking marijuana with baked beans during his college days. Still, political junkies, especially those right of center, will find this a welcome albeit uncritical introduction to a man who may play a visible role in every American's future. --John J. Miller
From Publishers Weekly
The most engaging part of this lackluster autobiography by the Republican governor of New York, assisted by freelance writer Paisner, deals with Pataki's childhood in Peekskill, N.Y. The son of a mail carrier, he lived with his brother and his parents on a farm owned by his grandfather, who sold produce at a farm stand. The governor credits his grandfather, a Hungarian immigrant, with teaching him the importance of hard work and honesty. He describes the joys of rural life and remembers with obvious pleasure such family gatherings as the yearly bacon barbecue. Interwoven with these reminiscences is a self-promoting narrative of Pataki's career as mayor of Peekskill and as state assemblyman, and details of the 1994 gubernatorial election, when he defeated Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo. Pataki believes voters favored his conservative stance on crime and welfare, which he restates here as well as sharply attacking Cuomo's liberalism. He also discusses the infamous 1949 Peekskill riots (which occurred when singer Paul Robeson, a leftist black political activist, arrived to give a concert) and his father's participation in the protest against Robeson's appearance.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Biography,
By Jack Perkins "Jack" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PATAKI : AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (Hardcover)
This is one of the best biographies I have ever read. Casual and right to the point. Interestingly he talked very casually about when he ... at law school and about how much .... Didn't mind talking about himself in not always positive ways. Without using many words, Pataki was able to give the reader a clear impression of his political career and what a longshot he was considered when he started running in 1994 and how he managed to win without the support of Rudy Giuliani. Pataki is one of the greatest politicians in America and wrote one of the greater autobiographies.
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