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In This Country, Chris Matthews "has written a love letter to his country" (Joy Reid, host of The ReidOut and author of The Man Who Sold America), offering 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 than 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 animated picture of a nation searching for its soul. He reflects with grace and wisdom, showcasing the grand arc of the American story through one life dedicated to its politics.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 1, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797122960
- File size: 264155 KB
- Duration: 09:10:19
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 5, 2021
Former Hardball host Matthews (Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit) delivers an earnest yet disappointing account of his life and political views. Raised in an Irish-American family in Philadelphia, Matthews supported Barry Goldwater in the early 1960s, but the Vietnam War and Goldwater’s objection to the 1964 Civil Rights Act pushed his political allegiances to the left. After college, Matthews joined the Peace Corps, working in Swaziland to assist in that country’s economic development. He returned to the U.S. in 1971 and took a job answering constituent mail for Utah senator Frank Moss. A quixotic congressional campaign followed, and then a role in the Carter administration as a speechwriter. Matthews’s most influential government perch came as a top aide to House Speaker Tip O’Neill during the Reagan administration. After leaving public service, he reported for the San Francisco Examiner before landing his first TV show in 1993. Matthews sketches some of his journalistic regrets, including his outspoken support for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, and apologies for the sexist remarks that led to his departure from MSNBC in 2020, but he doesn’t fully reckon with today’s hot-button political issues or his contributions to the partisan media landscape. This breezy autobiography won’t win Matthews many new fans.
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