03419cam a2200373 i 4500 2426072363 TxAuBib 20250811120000.0 250214s2025||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2025001241 9780593803288 HRD 30.00 0593803280 HRD 30.00 TxAuBib rda Reich, Robert B, author. Coming up short [BOOK] : a memoir of my America / Robert B. Reich. First hardcover edition. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. 394 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier "A Borzoi book"--Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-378) and index. "From political economist, cabinet member, beloved professor, media presence, and bestselling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, a deeply-felt, compelling memoir of growing up in a baby-boom America that made progress in certain areas, fell short in so many important ways, and still has lots of work to do. A thought-provoking, principled, clear-eyed chronicle of the culture, politics, and economic choices that have landed us where we are today-with irresponsible economic bullies and corporations with immense wealth and lobbying power on top, demagogues on the rise, and increasing inequality fueling anger and hatred across the country. Nine months after World War II, Robert Reich was born into a united America with a bright future-that went unrealized for so many as big money took over our democracy. His encounter with school bullies on account of his height-4'11" as an adult-set him on a determined path to spend his life fighting American bullies of every sort. He recounts the death of a friend in the civil rights movement; his political coming of age witnessing the Berkeley free speech movement; working for Bobby Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy; experiencing a country torn apart by the Vietnam War; meeting Hillary Rodham in college, Bill Clinton at Oxford, and Clarence Thomas at Yale Law. He details his friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith during his time teaching at Harvard, and subsequent friendships with Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy; his efforts as labor secretary for Clinton and economic advisor to Barack Obama. Ultimately, Reich asks: What did his generation accomplish? Did they make America better, more inclusive, more tolerant? Did they strengthen democracy? Or, did they come up short? In the end, though, Reich hardly abandons us to despair over a doomed democracy. With his characteristic spirit, humor, and inherent decency, he lays out how we can reclaim a sense of community and a democratic capitalism based on the American ideals we still have the power to salvage". 20250811. Reich, Robert B. United States Department of Labor Biography. Cabinet officers United States Biography. College teachers United States Biography. United States Politics and government 1945-1989. United States Politics and government 1989- Biographies.