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More Than Words: The Speeches of Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo once said of Abraham Lincoln, "He was a man of ideas, grand and soaring ones," but the description could be used just as easily to describe Cuomo. Here, in More than Words, the Governor of New York is seen and heard as a man of vision, a politician of poignancy and passion, and a leader whose achievements he puts behind himself as he stays riveted on the great burden of "unfinished work" that still lies ahead.
More than Words is an extraordinary book. Stirring, provocative, lyrical, these twenty-nine speeches - among the finest of hundreds of talks given by Cuomo in three decades of public service - not only define the meaning of leadership in late-twentieth-century America but provide an insightful and personal portrait of the man himself. It is a son's tale of an immigrant father who "dug ditches until he could save enough to buy the small grocery store and the rooms above it" where Cuomo was born. And a mother who arrived alone in America with "little more than a suitcase and the address of her laborer husband who had preceded her."
The powerful love that bound the family together, their belief in the dignity of work and their willingness to sacrifice, the respect for God's creations, for themselves and for their responsibilities, are the values they passed on to all their children, including their third son, Mario Cuomo, and they are the values that are found woven through virtually all of his speeches. More than Words reflects the ideals of a man who has made it his task to point out the massive inequities that divide our nation into two camps - one prospering, the other suffering - and how this gulf was never bridged in the time of Reagan and Bush. Set in a historical context, Mom than Words can easily be read as a counterpoint - not so much Democratic counterpoint but a passionately expressed human counterpoint - to a generation of limousine executives who led America from 1980 through 1992.
Mario Cuomo's vision of America was nowhere more eloquently conveyed than in his keynote address to the Democratic Convention in San Francisco on the evening of July 16, 1984. Attacking the Reagan administration for its "New Federalism" while describing America as "a tale of two cities," Cuomo took the country by storm with his command of the language and his ability to portray what Virgil once described as "the tears of things" (lacrimae rerum). After this speech his role as one of the nation's leading orators was secured.
Along with this memorable keynote speech from 1984 are dozens of other addresses, some quite well known, others less so, that serve as the ideological and philosophical ledger that is Mario Cuomo. Included in More than Words are the Notre Dame speech on abortion, the American Bar Association speech of 1986 outlining the proper and improper ways by which a Supreme Court justice is nominated, the Springfield, Illinois, address on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, and the Democratic nominating speech of 1992, as well as Cuomo's views on such subjects as freedom of the press, Israel, the death penalty, and the function of labor unions.
More than Words is a book that, through its language and cadence, soars. A work that can be read, like Winston Churchill's The Sinews of Peace, as not only a book of speeches but also as a record of history, it is a towering achievement of a prodigiously gifted American leader. In the end it is a book that forces us to examine our future, for "the achievements of our past impose upon us the obligation to do as much for those who come after us."
More than Words is an extraordinary book. Stirring, provocative, lyrical, these twenty-nine speeches - among the finest of hundreds of talks given by Cuomo in three decades of public service - not only define the meaning of leadership in late-twentieth-century America but provide an insightful and personal portrait of the man himself. It is a son's tale of an immigrant father who "dug ditches until he could save enough to buy the small grocery store and the rooms above it" where Cuomo was born. And a mother who arrived alone in America with "little more than a suitcase and the address of her laborer husband who had preceded her."
The powerful love that bound the family together, their belief in the dignity of work and their willingness to sacrifice, the respect for God's creations, for themselves and for their responsibilities, are the values they passed on to all their children, including their third son, Mario Cuomo, and they are the values that are found woven through virtually all of his speeches. More than Words reflects the ideals of a man who has made it his task to point out the massive inequities that divide our nation into two camps - one prospering, the other suffering - and how this gulf was never bridged in the time of Reagan and Bush. Set in a historical context, Mom than Words can easily be read as a counterpoint - not so much Democratic counterpoint but a passionately expressed human counterpoint - to a generation of limousine executives who led America from 1980 through 1992.
Mario Cuomo's vision of America was nowhere more eloquently conveyed than in his keynote address to the Democratic Convention in San Francisco on the evening of July 16, 1984. Attacking the Reagan administration for its "New Federalism" while describing America as "a tale of two cities," Cuomo took the country by storm with his command of the language and his ability to portray what Virgil once described as "the tears of things" (lacrimae rerum). After this speech his role as one of the nation's leading orators was secured.
Along with this memorable keynote speech from 1984 are dozens of other addresses, some quite well known, others less so, that serve as the ideological and philosophical ledger that is Mario Cuomo. Included in More than Words are the Notre Dame speech on abortion, the American Bar Association speech of 1986 outlining the proper and improper ways by which a Supreme Court justice is nominated, the Springfield, Illinois, address on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, and the Democratic nominating speech of 1992, as well as Cuomo's views on such subjects as freedom of the press, Israel, the death penalty, and the function of labor unions.
More than Words is a book that, through its language and cadence, soars. A work that can be read, like Winston Churchill's The Sinews of Peace, as not only a book of speeches but also as a record of history, it is a towering achievement of a prodigiously gifted American leader. In the end it is a book that forces us to examine our future, for "the achievements of our past impose upon us the obligation to do as much for those who come after us."
300 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
60 people want to read
About the author
Mario Cuomo
35 books8 followersMario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. Cuomo became nationally known for his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention and the subsequent speculation over the next decade that he might run for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 9, 2010
Gov. Cuomo was the most eloquent progressive voice during the "Age of Reagan." It is a shame we were never given an opportunity to hear that voice from the Oval Office...I wish they would make audio and video versions of this, but given the time elapsed since the publishing of this book and Cuomo's low profile these days, sadly, the best we can do is his words. Of course, they are more than just mere words.
October 14, 2007
Five stars to "A Tale of Two Cities," Gov. Cuomo's renowned keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, his response to President Reagan's "Shining City on a Hill" speech. The power and message of this speech still resonates today; in fact, in reread, it's shocking how little has changed in the 20+ years since he gave this speech.
February 20, 2014
Sometimes the politian behind the speeches was too much for me, but mostly the repitition of themes showed what Cuomo believed was important. An honest politian? His father didn't think that was possible! He was a good one!
January 2, 2015
No public figure had a greater impact on the formation of my beliefs. This book shows a stunning consistency of progressive viewpoints regardless of whether he was speaking to the Democratic National Convention or at Notre Dame.
December 19, 2023
There will never be another Mario Cuomo in American government. I loved him when he was governor and even more now that he has passed away.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews