Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

"In 1989 he became the first Westerner to serve as Speaker of the House, the most powerful position in Congress. He retained that position until defeated in the Republican landslide election of 1994. President Bill Clinton then appointed him Ambassador to Japan."--BOOK JACKET.

Franz Leichter’s Reminiscences: An Autobiography begins when he is smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Austria as his caretaker's son. Escaping the Holocaust, he arrived in the United States as a refugee at age ten with his father and older brother. His mother was murdered by the Nazis. The family had no means of support and spoke no English. Embracing his new country, Franz worked his way through Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School. He became politically active and was elected to the New York State Legislature with the backing of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Governor Herbert Lehman. As a Senator, Franz exposed the reemergence of sweatshops and sought their closure. He disclosed real estate moguls’ large contributions to New York City’s elected officials who voted on their projects. He sponsored New York’s groundbreaking abortion rights law in 1969 and fought for its passage in 1970, which was followed three years later by the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. Franz earned a reputation as a maverick and the conscience of the Legislature. During this time, he maintained an active law practice that took him to Europe, Asia, and South America. Later he was chosen by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to be a Director of the Federal Housing Finance Board. Franz has lived in New York City since 1940. He has two children and four grandchildren.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. loved the fried catfish and lemon icebox pie at Memphis's Four Way restaurant. Beloved nonagenarian chef Leah Chase introduced George W. Bush to baked cheese grits and scolded Barack Obama for putting Tabasco sauce on her gumbo at New Orleans's Dooky Chase's. When SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael asked Ben's Chili Bowl owners Ben and Virginia Ali to keep the restaurant open during the 1968 Washington, DC, riots, they obliged, feeding police, firefighters, and student activists as they worked together to quell the violence. Celebrated former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dave Hoekstra unearths these stories and hundreds more as he travels, tastes, and talks his way through twenty of America's best, liveliest, and most historically significant soul food restau­rants. Following the "soul food corridor" from the South through northern industrial cities, The People's Place gives voice to the remarkable chefs, workers, and small business owners (often women) who provided sustenance and a safe haven for civil rights pioneers, not to mention presidents and politicians; music, film, and sports legends; and countless everyday, working-class people. Featuring lush photos, mouth-watering recipes, and ruminations from notable regulars such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, Little Rock Nine member Minnijean Brown, and many others, The People's Place is an unprecedented celebration of soul food, community, and oral history.

This extraordinary success story of a humble young French pastry chef embodies the great American dream. After working at the Savoy in London, the George V in Paris, the Princess in Bermuda, and the Homestead in Virginia, Roland Mesnier took on the job of a lifetime as pastry chef to the White House. He provides behind-the-scenes insight into the characters, tastes, and obsessions of the five presidents and first ladies he served during his 25 years in Washington. Having witnessed major world events from the hub of the world's superpower, Mesnier has a unique perspective on both crises and celebrations. He recounts stories such as Carter's incessant battle for the return of American hostages in Tehran, the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Reagan, reveals George H. W. Bush's concerns about Iraq, reports on Clinton's indiscretions, and conveys the shock and sorrow of 9/11. He uncovers the everyday secrets of the White House and recounts such intimate details such as Mrs. Reagan's perfectionism and Prince Charles's bewilderment the first time he was confronted with a teabag. Fiercely loyal to each of the first families that he served, Mesnier's message is positive and inspirational. Seventeen easy-to-follow recipes include the favorite desserts of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

From Barack Obama's former communications director comes a colourful account of how politics, the media, and the internet changed during the Obama presidency and how Democrats can fight back in the Trump era. The 'Decade of Obama' (2007—2017) was one of massive change that rewrote the rules of politics in ways that are only now beginning to be understood. Which is why all pundits got the 2016 presidential election wrong). Yes We (Still) Can looks at how Obama navigated the forces that allowed Trump to win the White House, becoming one of the most consequential presidents in American history, why Trump surprised everyone, and how Democrats can come out on top in the long run. Part political memoir, part blueprint for progressives in the Trump era, Yes We (Still) Can is an insider's take on the crazy politics of our time. Pfeiffer, one of Barack Obama's longest-serving advisors, reveals never-before-told stories ranging from Obama's presidential campaigns to his time in the White House, providing readers with an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at life on the front line of politics.

Born into slavery on a Louisiana plantation, John Roy Lynch (1847–1939) came to adulthood during the Reconstruction Era and lived a public-spirited life for over three decades. His political career began in 1869 with his appointment as justice of the peace. Within the year, he was elected to the Mississippi legislature and was later elected Speaker of the House. At age twenty-five, Lynch became the first African American from Mississippi to be elected to the United States Congress. He led the fight to secure passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1875. In 1884, he was elected temporary chairman of the Eighth Republican National Convention and was the first black American to deliver the keynote address. His autobiography, Reminiscences of an Active Life, reflects Lynch's thoughtful and nuanced understanding of the past and of his own experience. The book, written when he was ninety, challenges a number of traditional arguments about Reconstruction. In his experience, African Americans in the South competed on an equal basis with whites; the state governments were responsive to the needs of the people; and race was not always a decisive factor in the politics of Reconstruction. The autobiography, which would not be published until 1970, provides rich material for the study of American politics and race relations during Reconstruction. It sheds light on presidential patronage, congressional deals, and personality conflicts among national political figures. Lynch's childhood reflections reveal new dimensions to our understanding of black experience during slavery and beyond. An introduction by John Hope Franklin puts Lynch's public and private lives in the context of his times and provides an overview of how Reminiscences of an Active Life came to be written.

General Halbert Eleazer Paine, commanding officer of the 4th Wisconsin Regiment of Volunteers, took part in most of the significant military actions in the lower Mississippi Valley during the Civil War. Nearly forty years after the conflict's end, Paine -- a former schoolteacher and attorney who would become a three-term congressman -- penned recollections of his wartime exploits, including his involvement in the Vicksburg campaign, the operations that resulted in the capture of New Orleans, the Battle of Baton Rouge, the Bayou Teche offensive, and the siege of Port Hudson. Now available for the first time, A Wisconsin Yankee in Confederate Bayou Country provides Paine's reflections and offer his excellent eyewitness account of the complexities of war. Paine describes in detail the antiguerrilla operations he coordinated in southern Louisiana and Mississippi and his role in the defense of Washington, D.C., where he commanded a portion of the line during Confederate General Jubal Early's 1864 movement against the city. His experiences shed light on the daily struggle of the common solider and on the political and legal debates that dominated the times. In one striking episode, he describes his arrest for refusing to return to their masters fugitive slaves who entered his lines. He discusses the occupation of New Orleans and the relations between Federal soldiers and local slaves and provides definitive commentary on dramatic incidents such as the burning of Baton Rouge and the destruction of the ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas. A departure from most accounts by Union army veterans, Paine's story includes less celebration of the grand cause and greater analysis of the motives for his actions -- and their inherent contradictions. He sympathized with the many "contrabands" he encountered, for example, yet he callously dismissed a reliable servant for suggesting that the rebels fought well. Despite expressing kind feelings toward certain southern families, Paine all but condoned his troops' "excessive looting" of local homes and businesses, which he viewed as acceptable retribution for those who resisted Federal authority. After the war, Paine also served as commissioner of patents, championing innovations such as the introduction of typewriters into the Federal bureaucracy. With a useful introduction and annotations by noted historian Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., A Wisconsin Yankee in Confederate Bayou Country reveals many of the subtle advantages enjoyed by the troops in blue, as well as the attitudes that led to behavior that left a violent legacy for generations.