The Freshmen : What Happened to the Republican Revolution?

By Linda Killian

Book Overview

In November 1994 the Republicans won control of both Houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years in a victory they immediately dubbed the Republican Revolution. Swept into office in that election were 73 Republican freshmen, the storm troopers in Newt Gingrich's army. The Freshmen is the inside story of those men and women and of the tumultuous 104th Congress, one of the most historic and eventful congresses in recent history.The freshmen were at the heart of the Republican revolution. Journalist Linda Killian presents a revealing portrait of their maneuvering and intrigues, their successes and failures. Were they committed idealists or wild-eyed zealots?Killian reveals how Congress really works through amazingly candid conversations with the freshmen. She offers a probing and intimate character study of the colorful and always unpredictable freshmen who shared their private thoughts with her.In early 1995 the Republicans were riding high but they were sent crashing by the government shutdown. Killian explains how they rebounded from that disastrous political maneuver to maintain control of Congress despite Bill Clinton's re-election to the presidency, and also explains how the Republican revolution never really existed.Despite being labeled Gingrich clones when they arrived in Washington, in 1997 the freshmen attempted to overthrow Newt Gingrich as speaker of the House. Killian tells the real story of that failed coup.This book is the first detailed, behind the scenes account of the entire 104th Congress and is based on two years of extensive reporting and hundreds of interviews. Killian goes beyond the headlines to show us the power struggles through the eyes of the freshmen.She takes us to the House floor, the committee rooms and private offices of Congress and follows the freshmen back to their districts in small town America in places like Crossville, Tennessee; Wamego, Kansas and Janesville, Wisconsin. We meet class everyman Van Hilleary of Tennessee; firebrand and troublemaker Mark Neumann; former entertainer Sonny Bono; Enid Greene Waldholtz who is forced to leave Congress in disgrace and Sam Brownback who uses his freshman notoriety to win Bob Dole's seat in the U.S. Senate. The Freshmen is a fascinating look at who the freshmen are and why they are different from other politicians. What did they actually accomplish and how did they change American politics? Much more than just the story of the Republican freshmen, this is the story of power and democracy, a vivid portrait of our times and of the issues facing our nation as we head into the 21st century.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813399513
• ISBN13: 9780813399515
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.8" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Interesting on many levels....

This will, in fact, be a very short review. But, I wanted to write it for one reason. This book has been very interesting for me on a different level. I actually currently work for one of the political figures in the book. However, I am on board following the "Class of 94". To read the excerpts from the book about the election and first year in congress and now looking at my "boss" now, it's an interesting and unique view inside Washington and the process. Always remember these men and women are just like you and me and are trying to do the best they can for our country. Pick this one out for your own VIP pass.

A very well written, insightful rendition of real politics

I found this book extremely well written, insightful, and fair, as best I could tell. I had no sense of a polemical viewpoint clouding Ms. Killian's view of this special and timely group of politicians. Ms. Killian also helped me to be clearer about what I had wanted and did not want to have happen politically when the freshmen were brought to Washington. I agree with her that these young, arrogant politicians were not given a mandate to foment a true revolution and destroy government as we knew it. But they were asked to challenge old ways of getting things done. Misunderstanding this has been the historical fate of many a self-appointed revolutionary. This book is a very important piece of writing for Americans of any party or persuasion to understand our modern political, economic, and social dilemmas.