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Courage to Stand: An American Story
Long before he was considered a top prospective presidential candidate for 2012—even before he landed on John McCain’s short list of potential running mates in 2008—Governor Tim Pawlenty had already earned legendary status in conservative circles. In his hard-left-leaning home state of Minnesota, the man known as “T-Paw” somehow erased a $4.8-billion budget deficit while simultaneously reforming health care, creating jobs, improving education, and supporting renewable energy reform--all without raising taxes.
In Courage to Stand , Pawlenty reveals, for the first time, how he found the resolve to get the job done, taking readers all the way back to the lessons he learned as a boy in the gritty meatpacking town of South St. Paul. From the devastating early death of his mother to the struggle to work his way through college and law school and his epic political battles as governor, Pawlenty opens up about his deepest beliefs and shares his vision for a better America.
In Courage to Stand , Pawlenty reveals, for the first time, how he found the resolve to get the job done, taking readers all the way back to the lessons he learned as a boy in the gritty meatpacking town of South St. Paul. From the devastating early death of his mother to the struggle to work his way through college and law school and his epic political battles as governor, Pawlenty opens up about his deepest beliefs and shares his vision for a better America.
- GenresPoliticsNonfictionMemoir
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Tim Pawlenty
3 books2 followersTimothy James "Tim" Pawlenty is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota (2003–2011). He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives (1993–2003) where he served two terms as majority leader.
Pawlenty was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and raised in nearby South St. Paul. He graduated from University of Minnesota with a B.A. in political science and earned a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. His early career included working as a labor law attorney and the vice president of a software company. After settling in the city of Eagan with his wife, Pawlenty was appointed to the city's Planning Commission and was elected to the Eagan City Council at the age of 28. He won a seat as a state representative in 1992, representing District 38B in suburban Dakota County. He was re-elected four times, and voted majority leader by House Republicans in 1998.
He won a narrow Republican primary in 2002 followed by a three-way election for Governor of Minnesota. His platform focused on balancing the budget without raising taxes. He was re-elected in 2006 by a margin of less than one percent. Pawlenty eliminated his state's budget deficit using spending cuts and borrowing heavily from earmarked funds. His administration advocated for numerous public works projects, including work on the Northstar Commuter Rail Line, and the construction of Target Field, a Major League Baseball stadium in Minneapolis. He signed a bill mandating 20% ethanol in gasoline by 2013. He cut health care spending to help balance the budget, and signed an executive order rejecting federal funds related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He led worldwide trips for business leaders and trade delegations to explore trade opportunities. In 2007 and 2008 he served as chairman of the National Governors Association.
Pawlenty was rumored as a contender for president as early as 2005, and was closely involved with U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008. Pawlenty began early steps toward a run in late 2009. He formally announced his presidential campaign in May 2011, running on a strongly conservative platform.
Pawlenty was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and raised in nearby South St. Paul. He graduated from University of Minnesota with a B.A. in political science and earned a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. His early career included working as a labor law attorney and the vice president of a software company. After settling in the city of Eagan with his wife, Pawlenty was appointed to the city's Planning Commission and was elected to the Eagan City Council at the age of 28. He won a seat as a state representative in 1992, representing District 38B in suburban Dakota County. He was re-elected four times, and voted majority leader by House Republicans in 1998.
He won a narrow Republican primary in 2002 followed by a three-way election for Governor of Minnesota. His platform focused on balancing the budget without raising taxes. He was re-elected in 2006 by a margin of less than one percent. Pawlenty eliminated his state's budget deficit using spending cuts and borrowing heavily from earmarked funds. His administration advocated for numerous public works projects, including work on the Northstar Commuter Rail Line, and the construction of Target Field, a Major League Baseball stadium in Minneapolis. He signed a bill mandating 20% ethanol in gasoline by 2013. He cut health care spending to help balance the budget, and signed an executive order rejecting federal funds related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He led worldwide trips for business leaders and trade delegations to explore trade opportunities. In 2007 and 2008 he served as chairman of the National Governors Association.
Pawlenty was rumored as a contender for president as early as 2005, and was closely involved with U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008. Pawlenty began early steps toward a run in late 2009. He formally announced his presidential campaign in May 2011, running on a strongly conservative platform.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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May 18, 2018Every time I make a joke about the ubiquitous self-bloviating political biographies that infest DC bookshelves, this is the one that first comes to mind. Its just so milquetoast generic that it crossed the line twice in my memory into fantastic ur-example.
Edit a year later to add my friends review of the book. Yes, we finally read it!
https://geotrickster.com/2024/02/01/c...
Edit a year later to add my friends review of the book. Yes, we finally read it!
https://geotrickster.com/2024/02/01/c...
February 16, 2011
This is your typical campaign book, laying out his story and his vision for the country. Generally he is likable and has some positive things to say. If you interested in what he is all about, I would recommend this book.
January 31, 2011
If you are interested in politics this was a good read.
This is basically about former governor's life and back story. He will likely run for President in the future.
This is basically about former governor's life and back story. He will likely run for President in the future.
May 17, 2011
find a compound sentence in this book. just try.
July 30, 2021
It was interesting. Maybe not the best written book, but still some interesting information. Always good to get someone else’s perspective.
May 26, 2013
After voting for Pawlenty twice, I thought I would be impressed by this book. I was not. This book cast Pawlenty in a particularly bad light. Although Pawlenty tried to portray himself as a moderate governor, and often had conservatives against him, that was all gone in this book. Indeed, this book read as a tea party make over to re-image himself for the current prevailing winds of the 2012 Republican presidential nomination contest. Of course, now we know that was all for not.
His book was full of all the current tea party talking points: he doesn't use teleprompters, 47% of Americans don't pay taxes (those mooching elderly bastards!). He repeated half truths (I only raised the budget 1.7% a year, compared to the historical average of 21%).
You could tell from his writing that he thought very highly of himself. He rarely made a wrong decision, and if he did it was usually the liberals fault, not his own.
As governor, he writes about how he tried to remake the state in his own image. He picked battles that he won small victories on, but ultimately lost, never his fault, no doubt. He stepped down as governor leaving the state with a 4.7 billion dollar budget deficit, and a dramatic but insignificant period of the Minnesota state history.
His book was full of all the current tea party talking points: he doesn't use teleprompters, 47% of Americans don't pay taxes (those mooching elderly bastards!). He repeated half truths (I only raised the budget 1.7% a year, compared to the historical average of 21%).
You could tell from his writing that he thought very highly of himself. He rarely made a wrong decision, and if he did it was usually the liberals fault, not his own.
As governor, he writes about how he tried to remake the state in his own image. He picked battles that he won small victories on, but ultimately lost, never his fault, no doubt. He stepped down as governor leaving the state with a 4.7 billion dollar budget deficit, and a dramatic but insignificant period of the Minnesota state history.
January 28, 2011
Gov. Tim Paw. definitely should be the next U.S. Pres.! Courage, integrity, humility, Christian values, experience in DOING and governing, not just political jawing.
I agree with his philosophy of getting the government out of the way and putting power and responsibility in the hands of he people. He showed as 8-year Minnesota governor that he could hold line on taxes while cutting frills and low priority items, as painful as it is. He implemebnted education reforms such as performance-based pay for teachers and market-based health care reforms.
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Disclaimer: I need to confess that Pawlenty lives couple blocks from my daughter's house in suburban Eagan MN and I've walked by his house, with the State Patrol shack in the driveway. And one day he stopped at my Granddaughter's Kool-Aid stand on the corner and hopped out and bought a cool one! :)
I agree with his philosophy of getting the government out of the way and putting power and responsibility in the hands of he people. He showed as 8-year Minnesota governor that he could hold line on taxes while cutting frills and low priority items, as painful as it is. He implemebnted education reforms such as performance-based pay for teachers and market-based health care reforms.
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Disclaimer: I need to confess that Pawlenty lives couple blocks from my daughter's house in suburban Eagan MN and I've walked by his house, with the State Patrol shack in the driveway. And one day he stopped at my Granddaughter's Kool-Aid stand on the corner and hopped out and bought a cool one! :)
April 5, 2011
This is a must read for anyone planning to vote in the 2012 Presidential election. It is time for find new blood to challenge our political aristocracy and Tim Pawlenty is that new face. Learn about his life, his journey, and his values in this book.
Want to Read
January 9, 2011Saw Tim Pawlenty interviewed. He resigned his political post; however, MIGHT have intentions to run for the Presidency in the next election.....
November 1, 2023
DISCLAIMER: I am a Minnesota voter who voted for the governor twice, and has known him personally throughout the years.
However, I will still rate his book three out of five stars. While Governor Pawlenty and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things from a policy perspective, and even a political perspective, that does not negate the fact that this was not a well written book.
The problems with this book include not using complex sentences, glossing over key details that we readers would like having explained (for instance, one does not spent a mere two pages on a decade-long legislative career that prepares you for serving as governor for eight years), and reads part autobiography and part campaign speech.
Additionally, the fact that Governor Pawlenty chooses to not include much dialogue or discussion about other characters makes this quite boring. Sure he tells us a few quips here and there, a hilarious encounter with his predecessor when he was Governor-elect; a couple of stories about John McCain when he was the GOP presidential nominee; a story about a couple of prominent Democrat legislators; but these are rare instances. He mentions "staff" without actually making "staff" a character in the book, yet staff plays key roles in a governor's administration.
Also, I find it comicly absurd that he was talking about not running for reelection in 2006, while the book was a hastily put together memoir in time for his own presidential campaign. How can you have doubts about whether you can lead the state for four more years, but then six years later you are trying to earn the trust of the voters for the highest office in the land. I guess this goes back to my "not well written" remark above.
I know that I have hacked away on the former governor, but I felt for the sake of his writing, I must. What he really needed to have done was have a professional ghost writer tackle his biography. The collaborator that he mentioned in the acknowlegement section didn't work out as well as he should have. A better ghost writer would have been able to ask leading questions and probe deeper into the stories. That ghost writer would have been able to get a better description on some of the other characters and provided more context for the readership. There are just a whole host of things that could have been done to have improved this book.
Instead, we are left with a meandering mushy word salad that really doesn't give us a sense of direction or the historical context of Pawlenty's years in office in how it ties in with events greater than himself. Herein lies the tragedy. It wasn't a bad read otherwise.
However, I will still rate his book three out of five stars. While Governor Pawlenty and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things from a policy perspective, and even a political perspective, that does not negate the fact that this was not a well written book.
The problems with this book include not using complex sentences, glossing over key details that we readers would like having explained (for instance, one does not spent a mere two pages on a decade-long legislative career that prepares you for serving as governor for eight years), and reads part autobiography and part campaign speech.
Additionally, the fact that Governor Pawlenty chooses to not include much dialogue or discussion about other characters makes this quite boring. Sure he tells us a few quips here and there, a hilarious encounter with his predecessor when he was Governor-elect; a couple of stories about John McCain when he was the GOP presidential nominee; a story about a couple of prominent Democrat legislators; but these are rare instances. He mentions "staff" without actually making "staff" a character in the book, yet staff plays key roles in a governor's administration.
Also, I find it comicly absurd that he was talking about not running for reelection in 2006, while the book was a hastily put together memoir in time for his own presidential campaign. How can you have doubts about whether you can lead the state for four more years, but then six years later you are trying to earn the trust of the voters for the highest office in the land. I guess this goes back to my "not well written" remark above.
I know that I have hacked away on the former governor, but I felt for the sake of his writing, I must. What he really needed to have done was have a professional ghost writer tackle his biography. The collaborator that he mentioned in the acknowlegement section didn't work out as well as he should have. A better ghost writer would have been able to ask leading questions and probe deeper into the stories. That ghost writer would have been able to get a better description on some of the other characters and provided more context for the readership. There are just a whole host of things that could have been done to have improved this book.
Instead, we are left with a meandering mushy word salad that really doesn't give us a sense of direction or the historical context of Pawlenty's years in office in how it ties in with events greater than himself. Herein lies the tragedy. It wasn't a bad read otherwise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2023
first thirty percent is his growing up, schooling, work, faith, law school, and marriage. he gets into mn legislature and then becomes the gov. at the half-way mark this shares some insightful tales of white house visits, politics, out of country military visits, and trade trips.
he is briefly considered as john mccain vp. this is a 2012 campaign book as he was briefly a candidate. color pix.
he is briefly considered as john mccain vp. this is a 2012 campaign book as he was briefly a candidate. color pix.
February 24, 2011
Not sure how much I'll enjoy this (since I didn't vote for him) but I'm interested to read the book so hopefully I'll be able to finish it.
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This was a slow read for me & I wasn't really into it when it was time to return it to the library so I didn't finish it. The first 125 pages are more about his early life & just barely breaking into politics by page 125.
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This was a slow read for me & I wasn't really into it when it was time to return it to the library so I didn't finish it. The first 125 pages are more about his early life & just barely breaking into politics by page 125.
January 20, 2011
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Tim Pawlenty is an excellent writer and I loved reading about his life and years as the governor of our great state.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews