A Call to Service
My Vision for a Better America
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1.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In more than three decades of public service, from the battlefields of Vietnam to the floor of the U.S. Senate, John Kerry has proven himself to be one of our country’s great statesmen.
A leader noted as much for his independence as for his integrity, he has always been inspired by the principles of democracy to fight to hold the political system accountable, to make it a government that is truly of its people and for its people.
A Call to Service is Senator Kerry’s vision for America, reaching across partisan and ideological divides to identify the common ground of our ideals, values, and experiences, and in that common ground finding the inspiration to address the six critical challenges that face us all. Those challenges—a multilateral policy for defining a role for America on the world stage, a productive economy that benefits everyone, an education system that prepares our young for the future, a health-care system that is both affordable and of the highest quality, an energy plan that protects the environment and enables us to achieve energy independence, and the revival of committed citizenship—are united by the common element of service.
The call to service is nothing less than a call to rebuild the commonwealth, a call upon the greatest resource we have, our people, to fulfill its vast potential for achievement and to make our great country even greater.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Before Kerry lays out his positions on everything from education reform to health care, foreign policy and civil liberties, he discusses his candidacy in the context of his calling to public service, hitting on the themes of finding common ground and restoring America's promise. Kerry's belief in service strongly shapes the campaign platform, as in his suggestion that community service should become a requirement for high school graduation. The Massachusetts senator's biography is conspicuously muted, serving as "background music to the main theme of my life right now." Thus, you won't learn why Kerry enlisted to serve in Vietnam or why he later opposed the war. On the other hand, his military experience clearly influences his anger over the Bush administration's reduction of veteran's benefits in the midst of war: he charges that the president "does not understand his duty toward the troops." He's also moved by the need to wean ourselves from "the wrong energy sources controlled by the wrong people," a principle that influences not just his environmental views but his attacks on corporate subsidies and, perhaps, his goal of elevating Middle Eastern economies through trade in products other than petroleum. Should he secure the nomination, Kerry promises to run on a platform of ideas. This book shows that he has a lot of them to offer. (On sale Oct. 27)
