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Tom McCall: Maverick
Book by McCall, Tom, Neal, Steve
- GenresNonfiction
296 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2016
Where are the Tom McCalls of today? We need them more than ever.
This very readable book (even with the political details of 1960s/70s Oregon) is both inspirational and and sadly prescient of what should have been....
This very readable book (even with the political details of 1960s/70s Oregon) is both inspirational and and sadly prescient of what should have been....
September 26, 2020
Tom McCall served as Oregon's 30th Governor (1967-1975). He is best known for the Beach Bill and the Bottle Bill. He could certainly serve as inspiration for today's politicians.
McCall offers a no holds-barred and forthright commentary about such things as Nixon's Supreme Court nominations, as well as various Oregon and National politicians. Here are two examples. Former Governor and Senator Mark Hatfield, was surprisingly (to me at least) not a fan of transparency when he was Governor. He must have mellowed in his age, because I have more positive associations with him and what he did for the state. Nationally, Spiro Agnew, who went from a moderate Republican to "WIN AT ALL COSTS". This is familiar to me as a modern voter - I feel like both Dems and Rep's have more of these types nowadays. McCall also calls out Agnew's rhetoric for having set the stage for the violence at Kent State.
The book also offers an interesting picture of how the Republican party was taken over by the conservatives, who pushed out moderates and progressives from the party. (This answers my question about where all the moderates went...they became Dem's or indies.)
Sadly, we are still dealing with several issues that McCall attempted to work on during his time as Governor. Our tax system, school funding and energy issues. This book offers interesting hindsight and parallels between the 1960s and today. Everything from the difference between the US and totalitarianist regimes (p. 161), freedom of news media (also p. 161-163), the role of government (p. 169), and "unlimited and unregulated growth leads inexorably to a lowered quality of life" (p. 200).
Chapter 9 covers how McCall took action to prevent violence during the National American Legion Convention. There was a threat of real violence at the time. A group called the People's Army Jamboree was planning to descend on Portland at the same time. The group members openly welcomed a riot and confrontation. McCall asked them to reschedule their gathering, which was rejected. Learning from Chicago (the 1968 Dem. National Convention) and Kent State, McCall and others began working on ways to avoid confrontations. One of these was the Vortex Rock Festival, held 20 miles outside Portland. He also addressed the citizens of Oregon, Legionnaires, and young people with an appeal for peace and cool-headedness. He laid out the whole story from beginning to end. Oregon prepared to deal with violence in many ways. The National Guard was called out but would be unarmed. Another idea is just out-of-the-box brilliant: they had a helicopter for crowd dispersal filled a helicopter with rose petals (a nod to Portland's City of Roses). "If a crowd had persisted, the tear gas would have been utilized." These methods were successful (if only they'd work today). It was a violent week nationally (p. 143) but in Portland, we had only 1 broken window.
We could really use a leader like McCall today. Someone who values transparency, forthrightness, cooperation, NON-PARTISANSHIP, independence and CREATIVITY. Register me for the Third Force (Chapter 18).
McCall offers a no holds-barred and forthright commentary about such things as Nixon's Supreme Court nominations, as well as various Oregon and National politicians. Here are two examples. Former Governor and Senator Mark Hatfield, was surprisingly (to me at least) not a fan of transparency when he was Governor. He must have mellowed in his age, because I have more positive associations with him and what he did for the state. Nationally, Spiro Agnew, who went from a moderate Republican to "WIN AT ALL COSTS". This is familiar to me as a modern voter - I feel like both Dems and Rep's have more of these types nowadays. McCall also calls out Agnew's rhetoric for having set the stage for the violence at Kent State.
The book also offers an interesting picture of how the Republican party was taken over by the conservatives, who pushed out moderates and progressives from the party. (This answers my question about where all the moderates went...they became Dem's or indies.)
Sadly, we are still dealing with several issues that McCall attempted to work on during his time as Governor. Our tax system, school funding and energy issues. This book offers interesting hindsight and parallels between the 1960s and today. Everything from the difference between the US and totalitarianist regimes (p. 161), freedom of news media (also p. 161-163), the role of government (p. 169), and "unlimited and unregulated growth leads inexorably to a lowered quality of life" (p. 200).
Chapter 9 covers how McCall took action to prevent violence during the National American Legion Convention. There was a threat of real violence at the time. A group called the People's Army Jamboree was planning to descend on Portland at the same time. The group members openly welcomed a riot and confrontation. McCall asked them to reschedule their gathering, which was rejected. Learning from Chicago (the 1968 Dem. National Convention) and Kent State, McCall and others began working on ways to avoid confrontations. One of these was the Vortex Rock Festival, held 20 miles outside Portland. He also addressed the citizens of Oregon, Legionnaires, and young people with an appeal for peace and cool-headedness. He laid out the whole story from beginning to end. Oregon prepared to deal with violence in many ways. The National Guard was called out but would be unarmed. Another idea is just out-of-the-box brilliant: they had a helicopter for crowd dispersal filled a helicopter with rose petals (a nod to Portland's City of Roses). "If a crowd had persisted, the tear gas would have been utilized." These methods were successful (if only they'd work today). It was a violent week nationally (p. 143) but in Portland, we had only 1 broken window.
We could really use a leader like McCall today. Someone who values transparency, forthrightness, cooperation, NON-PARTISANSHIP, independence and CREATIVITY. Register me for the Third Force (Chapter 18).
April 5, 2013
Badly, but enthusiastically and frankly written account of Tom McCall's political career. Chock-full of inside baseball about Oregon politics back in the day, plus plenty of priceless accounts of the perfidies of Nixon, Agnew, Reagan, and the dynamics of the GOP. Tom McCall called himself a progressive republican, and seemed to realize, at least by the time of the Reagan era, of which he profoundly disapproved, that he was one of the last of a dying breed. This guy was the real deal, as far as mavericks go.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews