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Summary
Summary
The New York Times Bestseller
How did a disheveled, intellectually combative gay Jew with a thick accent become one of the most effective (and funniest) politicians of our time?
Growing up in Bayonne, New Jersey, the fourteen-year-old Barney Frank made two vital discoveries about himself: he was attracted to government, and to men. He resolved to make a career out of the first attraction and to keep the second a secret. Now, sixty years later, his sexual orientation is widely accepted, while his belief in government is embattled.
Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage is one man's account of the country's transformation--and the tale of a truly momentous career. Many Americans recall Frank's lacerating wit, whether it was directed at the Clinton impeachment ("What did the president touch, and when did he touch it?") or the pro-life movement (some people believe "life begins at conception and ends at birth"). But the contours of his private and public lives are less well-known. For more than four decades, he was at the center of the struggle for personalfreedom and economic fairness. From the battle over AIDS funding in the 1980s to the debates over "big government" during the Clinton years to the 2008 financial crisis, the congressman from Massachusetts played a key role. In 2010, he coauthored the most far-reaching and controversial Wall Street reform bill since the era of the Great Depression, and helped bring about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
In this feisty and often moving memoir, Frank candidly discusses the satisfactions, fears, and grudges that come with elected office. He recalls the emotional toll of living in the closet and how his public crusade against homophobia conflicted with his private accommodation of it. He discusses his painful quarrels with allies; his friendships with public figures, from Tip O'Neill to Sonny Bono; and how he found love with his husband, Jim Ready, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage. He also demonstrates how he used his rhetorical skills to expose his opponents' hypocrisies and delusions. Through it all, he expertly analyzes the gifts a successful politician must bring to the job, and how even Congress can be made to work.
Frank is the story of an extraordinary political life, an original argument for how to rebuild trust in government, and a guide to how political change really happens--composed by a master of the art.
Author Notes
Barney Frank represented the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts for nearly five decades, and chaired the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2013. He is the first member of congress to enter a same-sex marriage while serving in office. He is a regular commentator on MSNBC. He has written several books including Speaking Frankly: What's Wrong with the Democrats and How to Fix It and Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Frank-who recently retired after four decades in Congress-chronicles his rise to political power as his homosexuality became increasingly more compatible with his political career, while at the same time his core liberal principles surrounding the virtue of activist government fell more and more out of favor. Frank confesses that elocution and diction have never been his strong suits, but he has played on his quick wit and masterful debating skills during his time in the public spotlight. His performance demonstrates the matter-of-fact authenticity that over the years has helped him score points with allies and adversaries alike. The expository portions of the narrative may not always flow smoothly, but Frank's gift for reciting memorable barbs offers pure entertainment. He delivers his critique of the unruly aspects of the 1993 gay-rights march on Washington in the manner of a somewhat gruff sage figure who shares wisdom from his own experiences. A Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Since adolescence, Frank grew up with a love of public policy but an assumption he could never be elected to office because he was gay. Through serendipity and determination, he was able to have a career as an elected official (five decades as a congressman from Massachusetts) but, ironically, during a period when public confidence in the government substantially eroded. In this memoir written with his characteristic wit and sharpness, he ponders how politics has evolved, offering a long view of liberal politics and the need to balance realities against ideals. Early on, through his involvement with the voting rights campaigns in the South and antibusing demonstrations in Boston, he learned that emotionally driven ideological tactics were less effective than political action. He won a bid for the state legislature, picking up more gritty political lessons while supporting progressive causes, including gay rights. He was on the brink of coming out when a congressional seat opened. As he grew in stature and power in Congress, a major player in the financial reforms in the aftermath of the crisis of 2008, Frank became the first member of Congress to come out of the closet. This is an illuminating look at behind-the-scenes politics and larger societal changes and one man's struggle with sexual politics and identity.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2015 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
BARNEY FRANK'S CAREER in Congress spanned enough time and elevated him to enough prominence that most of the significant American political figures from the last four decades flitted through it, playing some part. And many make cameos, at the least, in his autobiography, "Frank." But my favorite bit belongs to Tip O'Neill, who was the speaker of the House during Frank's first six years there, in the 1980s, when Democrats held the majority. Toward the end of that stretch, Frank decided to acknowledge publicly that he was gay. Just before doing so, he gave O'Neill a heads-up. "He looked stricken," Frank writes, hastening to add that O'Neill wasn't upset about his sexual orientation but about the limits that it would place on his political future. O'Neill then relayed Frank's revelation to Representative Pat Schroeder in such a heartsick fashion, asking her if she'd heard "the sad news about Barney," that she assumed Frank was seriously ill and was relieved to be assured otherwise. And O'Neill clued in his press secretary at the time, Chris Matthews, with a comically mangled metaphor, according to the book: "Chris, we might have an issue to deal with. I think Barney Frank is going to come out of the room." Back then, almost four decades ago, an openly gay American politician was exotic and audacious, and our leaders were infinitely less fluent in a gay vocabulary. Now there's an openly lesbian senator from Wisconsin, six openly gay or bisexual representatives in the House and an openly bisexual governor of Oregon. In a sense, we've all come out of the room - er, closet. One of the chief distinctions and rewards of "Frank" is the way the author's odyssey to honesty perfectly tracks America's journey to a more open-eyed, healthier, better place. Both he and the country travel through the wake-up call of the AIDS crisis; the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military; the Defense of Marriage Act; and the rapid rise of same-sex marriage. Frank was there for all of it, not just an observer but in many instances a key actor and in all cases someone with a special interest and stake in what was going on. Few politicians have a vantage point and story quite like his. But he tells it in a sometimes dry manner at odds with his public personality, and the O'Neill anecdote stands out because you wish there were more like it. If you've seen much of Frank on television or if, like me, you've crossed paths with him, you know him as acerbic, pugnacious, saucy and ferociously, intimidatingly smart. Only the last quality comes through consistently in his autobiography. The others flicker one moment and fade the next, and they're in especially short supply for the first quarter of the book, which covers his road to Congress. He frames his story, explicitly and at the outset, as that of someone forced to live with the tension between his sexual orientation and his desire to serve in government. He also promises to chronicle "two seismic shifts in American life: the sharp drop in prejudice against L.G.B.T. people and the equally sharp increase in anti-government opinion." And he indeed does that, but with a resistance to intimate detail and an apparent allergy to sentiment that are often frustrating. As he zooms through his youth in New Jersey, his college and law-school years at Harvard and his work as a mayoral aide in Boston and then a lawmaker in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, he makes reference to his hidden gayness, but says almost nothing of met or unmet romantic longings, of whether he's dating or having sex, of how badly (or not) he wants to. When his father dies, it's presented as a financial predicament. John F. Kennedy and then Martin Luther King are fatally shot, and although each was a vessel for some of Frank's hopes, neither gets much more emotion than his account of "the fight for better spending practices in the transit system." He acknowledges that the 1989 news stories about - and the formal House reprimand for - his friendship and dealings with a former male prostitute "devastated me," but he doesn't provide anything close to a full account of the relationship, instead referring readers to the Congressional committee report that rebuts, as he puts it, "the more sensational, inaccurate accusations." Even frivolous matters that cry out for color don't get it. He notes that he and one of his longtime romantic partners become quite friendly with Sonny Bono and his wife, Mary, when Bono is in Congress, and that the four of them dine with John Waters, who gave Bono a part in "Hairspray." But that's the extent of that. The meal doesn't become a scene. Bono and Waters exit as quickly as they entered. Frank brings more energy to his discussion of the dynamics and quirks of the political process and government. He's an astute and sometimes provocative analyst of where his fellow liberals go wrong. He writes that while the National Rifle Association wisely has its supporters flood lawmakers' offices with letters and calls, gay rights advocates and other liberal leaders give foolishly short shrift to grassroots organizing and are "more inclined to hold public demonstrations, in which like-minded people gather to reassure each other of their beliefs." "If you care deeply about an issue and are engaged in group activity on its behalf that is fun and inspiring and heightens your sense of solidarity with others," he adds, "you are most certainly not doing your cause any good." He questions the belief among Democrats that Republicans' focus on "God, guns and gays" and the stoking of racism are chiefly responsible for drawing white male voters their way, and he dismisses the notion that such voters have soured on activist government. "The chief political problem for Democrats is not anger at integration but the belief that the Democratic focus on 'pleasing minorities' extends to giving them preference for scarce jobs," he writes. "White working-class and middle-class men have not lost faith in government in general; they have lost faith in the willingness of Democrats to use the power of government to protect them from hurtful economic trends." In late 2006 Democrats regained the House majority and Frank became chairman of the powerful Financial Services Committee just as the housing bubble burst. Then Lehman Brothers collapsed, and the country descended into economic crisis. Much of the last quarter of the book charts this scary landscape, providing a cogent primer on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, A.I.G. and TARP and a persuasive defense against conservatives' convenient charges that Frank bore some blame for the crisis. It also explains the genesis, importance and passage of the financial reform bill, Dodd-Frank, that bears his name. Like everything before it, this section is written clearly and with striking erudition, and is populated by heavyweights like Nancy Pelosi (a politician of her word, in Frank's experience) and Dick Cheney (an unabashed bender of truth, he writes). Dedicated students of government and trivia-obsessed political geeks shouldn't miss it. But as a narrative it doesn't have all the juice that it could or the immediacy that it should. There's something impersonal about "Frank," whose title lives up to its meaning as a proper noun only. The book rummages exhaustively through its author's résumé. It's a less thorough and satisfying investigation of his heart. FRANK BRUNI, an Op-Ed columnist for The Times, is the author of "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania," published this month.
Kirkus Review
Now that the fiery, occasionally dyspeptic congressman has left office, he lets the air out in a memoir that feels like it's just the thing the long-serving politician has wanted to publish.Frank tracks the nuances of two intriguing movements during his more than four decades in public life. When he was a novice politician in the late 1960s, the author had to hide his homosexuality, although nowadaysin a trend that owes some of its success to Frank's becoming the first member of Congress to come out of the closet in 1987same-sex marriage is increasingly prevalent. But while some personal freedoms are more possible now than when Frank entered politics, the concept that government can actually help citizens is decidedly on the wane. Nonetheless, the author has never stopped fighting the battle to pillory the idea that big government is inherently problematic. He writes movingly about issues of public housing and fairness that he has espoused throughout his career, but he also proves to be a barbed, exacting, witty thinker. On the topic of the "competent, uncharismatic" George Bush's now infamous "read my lips: no new taxes" mishap, Frank writes, "[s]emantically, the phrase bothered me because it is illogicalyou tell people to read your lips when they cannot hear you, and this does not apply when you are speaking to them through a microphone." In addition to his personal story, parts of the book read like a manual for young politicians: "I think it is both legitimate and politically helpful to make my ideological opponents look not just wrong but also foolish, especially if I can use humor to do it." Much more entertaining than most political memoirs, Frank's story isn't just revealing; it may be the most fun you can have reading about the United States Congress. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In every generation there are congressmen and women who stand out for their leadership and legislative accomplishments. In the last 40 years, none has left a greater mark on the House of Representatives, and by extension the United States, than Barney Frank of Massachusetts. This is his political memoir, beginning with his working-class origins outside New York City and covering his journey to becoming a distinguished congressman. Frank eventually took the position as point person for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) topics as the first member of Congress to come out voluntarily and he, of course, played a large role in repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as well as in many other LGBT issues. He was also instrumental in defending and promoting liberal causes across the board as a visible member of Congress. These included a wide variety of civil rights, social justice, and economic subjects, from affordable housing to financial regulation. While Frank has a reputation for being pugnacious, it is clear from this book that he takes integrity and collegiality very seriously. VERDICT Anyone interested in contemporary history or politics will definitely want to read this highly accessible memoir. [See Prepub Alert, 9/21/14.]-David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| 1 From Bayonne To Boston | p. 3 |
| 2 City Hall | p. 30 |
| 3 Beacon Hill | p. 59 |
| 4 The Congressman | p. 90 |
| 5 Coming Out | p. 122 |
| 6 The True Story Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell | p. 141 |
| 7 Welcome To An Earmark | p. 170 |
| 8 Defending Clinton | p. 210 |
| 9 The Unnecessary Crisis | p. 245 |
| 10 Reforming Wall Street | p. 283 |
| 11 Triumphs, Setbacks, And Love | p. 319 |
| Appendix 1 Who Did What on Subprime Lending and Regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac | p. 355 |
| Appendix 2 Conservative Support for Subprime Loans to Minority and Very Low-Income People Before the Economic Crisis | p. 359 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 363 |
| Index | p. 365 |