03279cam a2200325 i 4500 506169105 TxAuBib 20210803120000.0 210520s2021||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u bl2021012665 9781982134846 HRD 28.99 1982134844 HRD 28.99 TxAuBib rda Matthews, Christopher, 1945- This country [BOOK] : my life in politics and history / Chris Matthews. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition. New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021. xi, 336 pages, [16] unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes index. In This Country, Chris Matthews offers a panoramic portrait of post–World War II America through the story of his remarkable life and career. It is a story of risk and adventure, of self-reliance and service, of loyalty and friendship. It is a story driven by an abiding faith in our country. Raised in a large Irish-Catholic family in Philadelphia at a time when kids hid under their desks in atomic war drills, Chris’s life etched a pattern: take a leap, live an adventure, then learn what it means. As a young Peace Corps graduate, Chris moved to DC and began knocking on doors on Capitol Hill. With dreams of becoming what Ted Sorensen had been for Jack Kennedy, Chris landed as a staffer to Utah Senator Frank Moss, where his eyes were opened to the game of big-league politics. In the 1970s, Matthews mounted a campaign for Congress as a Democratic maverick running against Philadelphia’s old political machine. He didn’t win the most votes, but his grit put him on the path to a top job in the White House. As a speechwriter for President Carter, Matthews witnessed the triumphs and tragedies of that administration; from the diplomatic brilliance of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty to the disaster of the Iran hostage crisis. After Carter’s defeat, Chris became chief of staff to legendary Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, a perch that gave him an on-the-job PhD in American politics during the Reagan years. Chris then leapt to the other side of the political matrix as a columnist and reporter. For the San Francisco Examiner, he covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa, the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and every American presidency from Reagan to George W. Bush. Chris would go on to pioneer cable news with a fast-paced, no-nonsense television program. His show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, would become a political institution for twenty years. As Chris charts his political odyssey, he paints an energetic picture of a nation searching for its soul. Provided by publisher. 20210803. Matthews, Christopher 1945- Television journalists United States Biography. United States Politics and government 20th century. United States Politics and government 21st century. Autobiographies.