- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (Jun 2 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0520211944
- ISBN-13: 978-0520211940
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.8 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 680 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,029,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
William F. Knowland was a leading figure in Republican politics during the 1950s. As Senate Majority Leader, he was instrumental in shaping government policy throughout the decade and played a key role in the appointment of Earl Warren to the Supreme Court. But he left Congress to run for governor in his native California in 1958, hoping to set a presidential campaign in motion, and instead brought his political career to a halt. Biographers Gayle B. Montgomery and James W. Johnson both worked for Knowland at the Oakland Tribune, which he published from 1966, taking over after his father's half-century reign, until depression and debt led him to suicide in 1974. Their account of his life is notable for its thoroughness of detail, which--by explaining just how much power Knowland held and just how far he fell--renders its tragic tale all the more powerful.
From Library Journal
Authors Montgomery and Johnson worked as journalists at the Oakland Tribune, the newspaper once owned by the Knowland family, which originally propelled the Knowlands into California politics. Knowland served in the California assembly and the army before being appointed to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat in 1945. In 1957, he left the Senate to run for governor of California, losing in an avalanche of votes for Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. Knowland then experienced a personal decline that ended in a failed marriage and the loss of the family fortune. While the book is well written and researched, and Knowland's association with Earl Warren and Nixon provides some insight into those famous Californians, the reader must follow the tragic life of an "also ran." In the end, Knowland wound up taking his own life in despair in 1974. Recommended reading that will appeal to political historians or those interested in California politics.?Mark E. Ellis, Albany State Univ. Lib., Leesburg, GA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
On Saturday morning, February 23, 1974, former U.S. Senetor William F. Knowland was up early, and had coffee alone in his luxurious Oakland home. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On Saturday morning, February 23, 1974, former U.S. Senetor William F. Knowland was up early, and had coffee alone in his luxurious Oakland home. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the finest Amrican political biographies., Jun 2 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (Hardcover)
" Big Bill " Knowland is the " forgotten man' among the titans of post-war (and Cold war) American politics. Now, thanks to this compassionate, richly detailed biography,people might come to a better understanding of this very able, but tragically flawed , human being. This book also sheds light on the careers of LBJ, Nixon, Eisenhower, Earl Warren, Ronald Reagan , and Barry Goldwater, among others. However, even the reader uninterested in American politics, or the history of California, will find this book fascinating. Knowlands personal tragedies, and the amazing story of his family, are the stuff, if not of Greek tragedy, then at least of a novel by James Gould Couzzens or John O'Hara. Indeed, attentive readers might be reminded of "The Magnificent Ambersons", the real-life Knowlands in Oakland were very much like Tarkington's ( and Welles) fictional Ambersons, in Indianapolis.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling read for everyone., Sep 3 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (Hardcover)
I knew Senator Knowland well, having worked for twenty years for the Oakland Tribune, and having had the unenviable assignment of writing his obituary for the newspaper following his death. Gayle Montgomery and Jim Johnson have done a magnificent job of capturing the driving demons of a man whose brusque and hearty demeanor disguised a complex and, in the end, tortured personality. This is a compelling book for every reader, not just those interested in the social an political history of the time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
ONE STEP FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: SENATOR WILLIAM F. KNOWLAND, Dec 25 1999
By DANIEL E. WYATT - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (Hardcover)
Gayle B. Montgomery and James W. Johnson have presented an excellent book on the complex life of Senator William F. Knowland. This book is great history of California and the (SF) East Bay Area;the Republican Party of the 1950's and the Oakland Tribune. Daniel Wyatt, the author of the life of Bill Knowland's father, Joseph Russell Knowland.
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