This is a former library book in hardcover with a heavy-duty protective plastic cover.
Written by Cecil D. Andrus and Joel Connelly
Cecil Andrus, the immensely popular four-term governor of Idaho and former US Secretary of the Interior, tells it like it is in this frank and perceptive memoir of his life as a Western politician. His is the story of a former gyppo logger in the forests of northern Idaho whose frustration with one issue – kindergarten classes for all, not just some, children – first prompted him to run for public office. In a remarkable career that took him all the way to President Jimmy Carter’s cabinet, Cecil Andrus has been knee-deep in the toughest issues facing the nation, the West, and the State of Idaho: preservation of wilderness, endangered species, abortion, nuclear war, and the arrival of high technology. Along the way, he has helped set the agenda for the “New West.”
In this thoughtful and feisty recounting of his public life – complete with occasional outbursts of irreverence – Andrus describes his style of governing like a normal guy. Also included are accounts of his confrontations with the likes of Ronald Reagan, at least half of the United States Congress, as well as the most prickly members of both the environmental movement and the Bureau of Reclamation. As a self-taught conservationist (and a lifelong hunter and angler), he explains what influenced his drive to help engineer some of the greatest acts of wilderness conservation, from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to the Birds of Prey Natural Area and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in Idaho.
Known as just “Cece” by many of the Idahoans who sent him to the Governor’s office four times over, Andrus still considers himself a political accident. With this memoir, he offers an insightful and humorous commentary on the art of getting things done, avoiding the big “screw-ups,” and acting with conscience. Whether he hangs his hat in Orofino, Boise, or Washington DC, Cecil Andrus stands for Western independence.
(248 pages)
