Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"An engaging and thorough account. . . . A first-rate chronicle."--Michael Barone "Wall Street Journal " "Meijer's engaging biography traces Vandenberg's evolution - from a young politician drawn toward isolationism, to a decisive proponent of the United Nations and an enduring American world role. Meijer has produced an affecting human portrait of a public servant who came to symbolize the bipartisan pursuit of the national interest and a more peaceful world."--Henry A. Kissinger "Every member of Congress should read this book for a lesson in leadership. The story of Vandenberg's switch from a pre-World War II partisan isolationist to one of the chief architects of post-war international institutions highlights how essential it is for a leader to learn from his times. But to be effective, Vandenberg also understood that he had to work in a relentlessly bipartisan manner, which wasn't easy then as it isn't now. Still, he succeeded."--Cokie Roberts "Meijer strikes a good balance between telling a comprehensive story and presenting a reasonable narrative. . . . One of Michigan's top business leaders has written the definitive account of Michigan's greatest statesman."--Middle West Review "A detailed and admiring biography of Arthur Vandenberg. . . . Meijer gives us a portrait of a politician with somewhat of an old-school manner; he was an orator, a backroom master, and a strategist who loved hearing good things about himself (are there politicians who don't?). Principally, he shows us a man who believed in working with rather than condemning his colleagues. A sturdy and necessary biography of a politically principled man who is sadly fading into obscurity." --Kirkus "Hendrik Meijer's Arthur Vandenberg is an important contribution to 20th century U.S. political history. Meijer brilliantly captures the bipartisan spirit of NATO, the Marshall Plan, and much more, which Vandenberg embodied. A landmark achievement."--Douglas Brinkley, author of Rightful Heritage "It is a first-class political biography, enthralling, a page-turner." --National Review
