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Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now
In this timely and urgent book, Rohatyn re-creates some of the most dramatic events in our history to show how strong and imaginative political leadership built America and demonstrates that such leadership is essential today to reverse the catastrophic degeneration of America’s infrastructure, bridges, tunnels, roads and rails, flood levees and gates. Readers of David McCullough and Stephen Ambrose will revel in his narrative. Although the private sector has been the mainstay of America’s economy, Felix Rohatyn argues the country could not have grown into its full destiny without the vision and determination of political leaders who imagined the future and acted to achieve it.
He begins with the Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Jefferson in 1805, which doubled the size of the country, and the construction of the Erie Canal in 1817-1825, which opened a water route to the West. The chartering of the Trans-Continental railroad, the Land Grant Colleges, and the Homestead Act in 1863, led by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, together opened the continent. The Panama Canal, which joined the east and West coasts by sea, was driven by Theodore Roosevelt. FDR’s Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway program modernized America, and the GI Bill of rights, which came after World War II, remains the greatest investment in intellectual capital and housing in our history.
Rohatyn describes these enterprises as examples of the imagination and decisive leadership that the country is in desperate need of, and, in a final chapter, he predicts the multiple benefits of similarly bold undertakings to secure our nation’s future and offers a blueprint for setting priorities and financing them.
He begins with the Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Jefferson in 1805, which doubled the size of the country, and the construction of the Erie Canal in 1817-1825, which opened a water route to the West. The chartering of the Trans-Continental railroad, the Land Grant Colleges, and the Homestead Act in 1863, led by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, together opened the continent. The Panama Canal, which joined the east and West coasts by sea, was driven by Theodore Roosevelt. FDR’s Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway program modernized America, and the GI Bill of rights, which came after World War II, remains the greatest investment in intellectual capital and housing in our history.
Rohatyn describes these enterprises as examples of the imagination and decisive leadership that the country is in desperate need of, and, in a final chapter, he predicts the multiple benefits of similarly bold undertakings to secure our nation’s future and offers a blueprint for setting priorities and financing them.
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 13, 2023
An inspirational as to what government can do. After 50 years of hearing that government is the problem. This is a timely counter to that argument.
April 21, 2012
Overall I agree with the author's thesis, that government planning and spending has saved us from financial stagnation more than once, and that we wouldn't have reached the level of development we have reached without those bold moves, at times against great opposition and skepticism.
Certain chapters seemed almost prophetic. The debacle over the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the Hoover-FDR era was entirely too familiar to somebody paying attention to the economic situation and stimulus efforts during the current administration. If anything, it serves as a reminder that we must look to our past as well as to the future. That the federal government has a purpose, and we should be able to benefit from it rather than always trying to cripple it.
Certain chapters seemed almost prophetic. The debacle over the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the Hoover-FDR era was entirely too familiar to somebody paying attention to the economic situation and stimulus efforts during the current administration. If anything, it serves as a reminder that we must look to our past as well as to the future. That the federal government has a purpose, and we should be able to benefit from it rather than always trying to cripple it.
May 13, 2009
Too many anecdotes and patriotic nonsense. It offers a good history overview, but lacks the concrete citations I was hoping for.
July 12, 2011
If you believe the federal government has a role to play in shaping the progress of society, this book will give you plenty of validation. A very interesting set of historical stories.
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August 19, 2011A very good history lesson.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews