Quiet Passion: A Biography of Bob Graham (Hardcover)

by S. V. Date (Author) "It is a breezy late Monday evening in November 1998 on the tarmac at Miami International Airport, and Florida's slate of Democratic candidates is putting..." (more)
Key Phrases: disqualifying eccentricity, unitary tax, oral history project, Bob Graham, United States, University of Florida Oral History Project (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Veteran Florida journalist and novelist Date (Final Orbit) details both why Graham, a two-term governor and three-term senator, has been such a popular politician in the Sunshine State-and why he has not fulfilled expectations for higher office. While Date emphasizes Graham's reserved, deliberate nature, what also comes through is the senator's ability to succeed using unconventional methods: e.g., while running for governor in 1977, he devised the idea of "workdays," when he would spend a day doing an ordinary job, a campaign strategy that, Date explains, Graham took seriously-and one that he has continued while serving as senator. He's also known for singing at campaign rallies. Date is generally positive about Graham's career, emphasizing his environmental record as governor and his important role as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee after September 11. But Date casts a critical glance at Graham's support for the death penalty and his stance against returning Elián Gonzalez back to Cuba-both positions that Date surmises might have been taken less out of conviction than with an eye toward Florida voters. Date also devotes a chapter to Graham's notebooks-in which the senator dutifully records his every move. It's an unexplained quirk that the media has jumped on whenever Graham has been considered for national office. Graham was the first Democratic candidate to drop out of the 2004 presidential race. Tarcher is hoping for a vice-presidential slot for Graham; otherwise it's hard to see a national market for this well-done bio.
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Review
A biography of the man who William Safire predicts will be the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in 2004. -- The New York Times, December 31, 2003

Bob Graham of Florida should win the Democratic primaries and bury Bush. -- Jimmy Breslin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; First Printing edition (March 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585423041
• ISBN-13: 978-1585423040
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,823,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, Detailed, Fair, and Poignant--an Excellent Read., June 14, 2004

By	Allison Garcia (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

S.V. Date's book is an easy read - you can read it over a weekend - but it is surprisingly deep and well-researched. The book, written in the straightforward prose one expects from a seasoned newspaper reporter, is especially strong on Graham's bumpy yet successful ride as a politician in Florida. The author's observations of Graham are positive, yet balanced, looking at Graham's strengths and weaknesses, his moments of true leadership and his worst mistakes. On the whole, the book left me with a favorable impression of Graham -- he comes across as a bright, patriotic and hard-working leader who tried to make peoples lives better.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Graham - One of America's best Governors and U.S. Senators, April 14, 2007

By	Paul D. Harvill (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Quiet Passion: A Biography of Bob Graham (Hardcover)

1979 was my first introduction in person to Bob Graham. The circumstances were odd, but ever since then, I have come to appreciate his service to Florida and to the nation.

On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the first inmate to be executed in Florida following the resumption of capital punishment. The night before was an all night vigil in front of the Governor's Mansion. I was there. Bob - against the advise of his advisers - walked out the front door of the mansion to speak with us.

Subsequent to that I had many opportunities to speak with and to observe him up close. Reading this book though has - with the hindsight of history - helped me to better realize what a gem both Florida and the nation has in Bob Graham.

Bob, thank you.

And by the way, last night at the Florida Wine Festival - a fund-raiser for the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee - I won the dinner with you and three of my friends at the Governor's Club in Tallahassee. Looking forward!

And thank you S. V. Date for a most informative and well written book.

Next book for me to read is your newest book about the real (and scary) Jeb Bush.

__________________________________


Regarding Scharlette Holdman, who is cited in this book:

First a brief introduction: From 1986 - 1992 I was employed as an investigator at the Office of Capital Collateral Representative (CCR) in Tallahassee, Florida, where Scharlette Holdman worked as the supervisor of the investigators from October 1985 - March 1988.

I have known Scharlette since the mid-1970s. Her office, the Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, was in the same wing of the Petroleum Building as my office at Common Cause in Florida, where I volunteered.

David von Drehle's excellent book "Among the Lowest of the Dead" provides the best history and analysis of the Florida death penalty, with Michael Mello's books a close second. Part of each of these books is about Scharlette Holdman. A bit of the negative aspects:

When Scharlette had essentially declared war upon CCR in 1987 and thereafter, some of us decided to investigate her background given some things that we had heard. Low and behold, Scharlette's claim of a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii and a Master's Degree from Memphis State (now University of Memphis) don't exist. A claimed undergraduate degree from Memphis State: I no longer recall if this was confirmed by the university.

We used Scharlette's Social Security number, her maiden name and her married name -- with all this information, both universities had no record of Scharlette having received any degrees from these institutions.

As I understand Scharlette, she needed the "degrees" to confer upon her "credentials" that she really never needed as she is indeed then and now a national expert on capital mitigation, litigation, etc. However Scharlette can be deceptive, as her lack of a PhD and Masters so demonstrates. Even today she claims to have the degrees as when she gives presentations regarding capital cases, she is identified as "Dr." A key word search of her name will bring up some of the presentations that she has made in the past several years with the title "Dr." preceding her name.

If she has received any honorary or other degrees since 1990, that would be new information for me. If so, please let me know: P.O. Box 38458, Tallahassee, FL 32315-8458.