Time Present, Time Past:; A Memoir
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. First Edition [stated]. Hardcover. 25 cm, xvi, 442 pages, index. Slight wear to DJ edges, slight soiling to rear DJ. Inscribed by the author. Time Present, Time Past, is an exceptional memoir about growing up in Missouri, going to Princeton, and, above all, serving in the Senate. It is a political book, but not a politician’s book. Rather, it is the work of a writer who happens to be a politician. Intelligent, surprisingly candid, and exceptionally well written, it is a love letter to America from someone who is aware of this country’s weaknesses and contradictions, but who is still optimistic about the future. When Bradley, at 52 a young man by Senate standards, announced he would not run for reelection. Married, with a college-age daughter, he has said that he never thought of himself as a Capitol Hill lifer, and that, while he liked being a senator, he was worn out by the need to spend so much time raising money. He was also underwhelmed by the idea of working as a member of a minority fighting the new conservatism. But he planned to remain in the public arena and was clearly thinking of the future and of a moment when it might yet be time for him to go tarmac to tarmac. More