The Courage to Survive, by Dennis Kucinich, November, 2007


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is an odd campaign book -- it's a personal biography focusing on Kucinich's early life. How this applies to the presidential race is unclear here to us at OnTheIssues. We assume this book is written for Kucinich's hard-core fans, known as Kucitizens, who just want to know more about his upbringing and personal background. Certainly that's an appropriate audience, and Kucitizens will presumably enjoy this book.

For the rest of us, the book is thin on policy prescriptions. That's what makes it an odd campaign book, since normally minor candidates put out books heavy on policy in the middle of a campaign. But Kucinich had already done that, in his 2004 book A Prayer for America, which is a collection of what Kucinich considers his most important policy speeches. Kucinich could have published a "sequel" of his speeches of the last 4 years, or maybe an update, as many candidates have done. We would have found more useful excerpts if he had chosen that route.

There are only a few excerpts here because we found so little that impacts Kucinich's presidential policies. We focus on the later chapters of the book, after Kucinich began his career in politics by running for Cleveland City Council. The first 200 pages of the book focus on his childhood. That IS relevant to his presidential campaign's "narrative," that is, his personal story that qualifies him to be president. Kucinich's narrative is: "I was raised poor; so I can relate to the working-class. I was a sickly child; so I can relate to people who need healthcare. I worked hard to get ahead, so I can relate to providing opportunities to all." That narrative is well-documented here, in great detail.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, December 2007

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Drugs     Joined temperance group after 10-Martini binge drinking bet.

Government Reform     1967: Argued “not a job agency”; reduce size of City Council.

Homeland Security     Heart murmur made him ineligible for Marines.

Principles & Values     Planned as teenager to become Mayor of Cleveland.     Paid his own way through high school & college.     Teenage elopement failed due to car breakdown.     Took on machine politician for Cleveland City Council.     Entered public life on Page One at age 20.     1967 campaign lesson: You are alive when you reach out.     RFK assassination persuaded him to fight to change the world.     1968: required surgery for Crohn's disease.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Dennis Kucinich