Legacy of a Governor carries Frank O'Bannon's story from a far corner of Indiana, in tiny Corydon, to the governor's mansion in Indianapolis. Years before securing his own legacy, OBannon was challenged to fulfill his family legacy. O'Bannon's grandfather, Lewis M. O'Bannon, an active Indiana Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1924. O'Bannon's father, Robert P. O'Bannon, perpetuated the family legacy, serving in the Indiana State Senate from 1950 to 1970. Growing up in Corydon, O'Bannon developed qualities of the quintessential Hoosier-honest, hardworking, amicable. The skill of listening, of taking everything in, would serve him well in politics. Finally, Legacy provides an inside view of September 8, 2003, the day O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke, as stunned officials in Indianapolis make arrangements to transfer power of Lt. Governor Joe Kernan while mourning a friend.

After the Americans withdrew from the Vietnam War, their Indochinese allies faced imprisonment, torture and death under communist regimes. The Tai Dam, an ethnic group from northern Vietnam, campaigned for sanctuary, writing letters to 30 U.S. governors in 1975. Only Robert D. Ray of Iowa agreed to help. Ray created an agency to relocate the Tai Dam, advocated for the greater admission of "boat people" fleeing Vietnam, launched a Cambodian relief program that generated $540,000, and lobbied for the Refugee Act of 1980. Interviews with 30+ refugees and officials inform this study, which also chronicles how the Tai Dam adapted to life in the Midwest and the Iowans' divided response.

In Governor Reagan, Lou Cannon offers -- through recent interviews and research drawn from his unique access to the cabinet minutes of Reagan's first years as governor of California -- a fresh look at the development of a master politician. At first, Reagan suffered from political amateurism, an inexperienced staff, and ideological blind spots. But he quickly learned to take the measure of the Democrats who controlled the State Legislature and surprised friends and foes alike by agreeing to a huge tax increase, which made it possible for him to govern for eight years without additional tax hikes. He developed an environmental policy that preserved the state 's scenic valleys and wild rivers, and he signed into law what was then the nation's most progressive declaration on abortion rights. His quixotic 1968 presidential campaign revealed his higher ambitions to the world and taught him how much he had to learn about big-league politics. Written by the definitive biographer of Ronald Reagan, this new biography is a classic study of a fascinating individual's evolution from a conservative hero to a national figure whose call for renewal stirred Republicans, working-class Democrats, and independents alike.

Examines the Chickasaw constitutional republic between 1855 and 1892, a period that saw the Indian Removal, the Civil War, and the Dawes Act, and how three Indian governors led their nation through uninvited changes brought on by white colonizers.

With limited authority over state lawmaking, but ultimate responsibility for the performance of government, how effective are governors in moving their programs through the legislature? This book advances a new theory about what makes chief executives most successful and explores this theory through original data. Thad Kousser and Justin H. Phillips argue that negotiations over the budget, on the one hand, and policy bills on the other are driven by fundamentally different dynamics. They capture these dynamics in models informed by interviews with gubernatorial advisors, cabinet members, press secretaries and governors themselves. Through a series of novel empirical analyses and rich case studies, the authors demonstrate that governors can be powerful actors in the lawmaking process, but that what they're bargaining over – the budget or policy – shapes both how they play the game and how often they can win it.

The history of contacts between India and Europe tends to be dominated by the British, but Denmark also played a role on the subcontinent in the colonial era. This book offers insight into that history via a close look at one very specific part of it: the house in which the Danish colonial governor lived in Tranquebar, on the Coromandel Coast. We meet the governors and their Indian staffs and see their interactions with traders, temple priests, and princely delegates. With the help of hundreds of illustrations from the period, the resulting book is a fascinating portrait of the vibrantly multicultural life of a small colonial outpost in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

"An unparalleled two-hundred-year history of Florida's highest office, this volume provides the first in-depth examination of all of Florida's chief executives from the acquisition of Spanish Florida by the United States and the appointment of Andrew Jackson as the territory's first governor in 1821 to the end of Rick Scott's tenure in 2019"--

A memoir of growing up in mob-run Sin City from a casino heir-turned-governor who's seen two sides of every coin When Bob Miller arrived in Las Vegas as a boy, it was a small, dusty city, a far cry from the glamorous, exciting place it is today. Driving the family car was his father Ross Miller, a tough guy—though a good family man—who had operated on both sides of the law on some of the meaner streets of industrial Chicago. The Miller family was as close and as warm as "Ozzie and Harriet," as long as you knew that Ozzie was a bookmaker and a business acquaintance of some very dubious criminal types. As Bob grew up, so did Vegas, now a "town" of some two million. Ross Miller became a respectable businessman and partner in a major casino, though he was still capable of settling a score with his fists. And Bob went on to law school, entering law enforcement and eventually becoming a popular governor of Nevada, holding office longer than anybody in the state's history. And the Miller family's legacy continues. Bob's own son is presently serving as Secretary of State. A warm family memoir, the story of a city heir, with just a little bit of The Godfather and Casino thrown in for spice, Son of a Gambling Man is a unique and thoroughly memorable story.

"Over a long and successful career in politics, Tom Kean has shown himself a highly successful political leader. Through his ability to work with the opposition party while retaining the loyalty of his own, Kean was able to achieve extraordinary results in multiple roles. From his election to the New Jersey state assembly in 1967 through his guidance of the 9-11 Commission more than three decades later, Kean has displayed political dexterity as well as an uncanny knack for bipartisan leadership at times of deep partisan divisions." "In this first political biography of one of the nation's most popular and successful governors, Alvin S. Felzenberg tells the story of a remarkable career that culminated in an unexpected and crucial contribution to the country - chairmanship of the 9-11 Commission. Felzenberg describes how, early in his political career, Kean worked to transform New Jersey's legislature in the aftermath of court rulings that mandated redistricting in accordance with the "one man, one vote" principle. He relates how Kean was able to use the New Jersey governorship - purportedly the strongest in the country - to transform a so-called "rust belt" state into a leader in education, environmental responsibility, and economic growth. Kean's story serves as an uncommon case of how a Republican loyal to the historic roots and principles of his party can not only win election in a "blue state" but also effectively govern it." "Drawing on interviews with Kean as well as with state and national leaders, including former presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton and former New York City mayor Ed Koch, Felzenberg provides a unique look at American politics during the last four decades of the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET.

Known by mobsters as “the man who couldn’t be bought,” Brendan Byrne led New Jersey into a new era when he won the state’s gubernatorial election by a landslide in the wake of political corruption scandals. A former prosecutor and judge, Byrne was soon condemned as “one-term Byrne,” the inept politician who few thought would risk the humiliation of standing for a second term. Yet Byrne surprised both friend and foe alike by pulling off the state’s most remarkable political comeback, winning re-election and leaving a legacy of preserving the vast resources of the Pinelands, enacting the state’s first income tax and comprehensive school financing reform, developing the Meadowlands, approving casino gambling in Atlantic City, and initiating strong environmental controls to combat pollution.