Time Present, Time Past: A Memoir

By Bill Bradley

Book Overview

During his terms in the U.S. Senate, Bill Bradley won a national reputation for thoughtfulness, decency, and a willingness to take controversial positions on issues ranging from tax reform to the rights of Native Americans. All these qualities inform this best-selling memoir, in which Bradley assesses his political career and the experiences that shaped his convictions, and looks beyond them to consider the state of the American union on the eve of the 21st century. Time Present, Time Past offers an intimate portrait of the day-to-day working of the Senate: how legislation gets passed and sometimes thwarted; how money is raised and at what cost. But Bradley also writes about deeper questions: What does it means to be an American in an ago of dwindling opportunities and increasing inequality? How much can we expect from our public servants? What do we owe our fellow citizens? The result is a genuinely revelatory book, informed by intelligence, compassion, and unprecedented candor. "Strikingly reflects the realities of modern politics, what it looks like, feels like, from the inside."--New York Times Book Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679768157
• ISBN13: 9780679768159
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful and Depressing--American Does Not Elect the Smart Ones

Bill Bradley and John McCain may go down in history as the two smartest men who should have been President, but could not get elected. This is an extraordinarily thoughtful book, and it makes one almost cry out in despair. America has given up the idea of an informed democracy led by informed representatives of the people, and as the author concludes his book, given over all the power to two kinds of technocrats: political technocrats like Karl Rove who will do anything to get their man elected, including unethical misrepresentations against Republicans like John McCain, never mind Democrats; and corporate technocrats, who will kill off the middle class and increase the working poor in the name of corporate bottom lines that pass off the social and economic costs to the very taxpayers being disenfranchised. The current Congressional and Executive systems do not work as intended. Congress has become insular and corrupt, and the Executive--at the political level--has become ideological and corrupt. Bill Bradley's writing makes it clear that there are solutions, but men like Bill Bradley will not get elected--nor even heard--until sufficient catastrophe befalls America and the people rise up in desperation to reclaim their heritage. The index is helpful in looking up specific views of the author, e.g. on health care, national security, etcetera. The New American Story Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming

"The Senator, Statesman, Leader, and all around good man"

In this intelligent, thoughtful, witty,and captivating memoir Bill Bradley tells stories about America and indivdual Americans while espousing his beliefs about what the nation has become and what it should be. The book transcends the traditional memoir of a politician as it chooses to speak more about the effects of policy rather than what particular policy can benefit our society. The reader feels the former Senator's compassion for the human condition and understands why he would be a wonderful leader. It is a must read for anyone who believes the hardships that face the nation can be overcome.

What a nice surprise.

I expected "Time Present, Time Past" to be a typical political autobiography- a lame rehash of old battles with the author steadfastly skiewing events in his favor, and then lying out a few vauge ideas about "making America better". Instead, I was treated to a very intelligent book wherein the author talked about real people and real stories of his growing up. Bradley's candid frustration at being able to unlock the machinery of government and his lack of arrogance is a refreshing change. This book is altogether poignant and readable. Anyone who reads this is going to vote for Bill Bradley next year.

A book that pulses with authenticity

I hate to use the same word that everyone has been using, but this is indeed an extremely thoughtful book. Bradley takes us through his remarkable rise from small-town athlete to Princeton, Oxford, the NBA, and the U.S. Senate. More importantly, he fuses all that he has learned from his variegated experiences into a compelling philosophy of where we should go as a country and as a people.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Bill Bradley....

"Remedial English"? Forget that, Time Present, Time Past is exceptionally well-written, thoughtful, and straight from the heart. Extremely insightful, this book gives us a look into the frenzied political process of today and into the man who could, SHOULD, and very well may be our president someday.