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A Full Life

Reflections at Ninety
Aug 25, 2015rpavlacic rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is fine on its own and is quite readable, but basically it's a condensation of some of his previous books, together with some new information. It is interesting to learn about life on the farm before and during the civil rights struggle, his time in the navy and being at the forefront of nuclear engineering, how his political career was almost destroyed at the very beginning by a corrupt political boss who voted dead people and did not believe in secret ballots, and his encounters with some of the world's most undesirable leaders during and after his time in the White House. I was surprised to learn that he proposed a sweeping reform of health care that surpassed 'Obamacare' in scope and had bi-partisan support but was killed by an intransigent Ted Kennedy who thought it didn't go far enough. I was also surprised that the moves towards deregulation of many industries started under him, not Reagan. Still ... I was expecting a bit more from one of the most important leaders of our time. His previous non-biographical books are certainly better than this one.