The Republic of Conscience

New York, NY: Blue Rider Press, 2015. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. xx, [2]. 215, [3] pages. Inscribed by the author on the title page. The inscription reads: For David, Best Wishes, Gary Hart. Contains Preface: The Corruption of the American Republic and the Renewal of First Principles. Also includes Introduction; The Republic of Our Founders; The Republic We Did Not Keep; The Republic of Conscience: A Manifesto. Also includes Reflections and Afterwords, Final Thoughts, and Acknowledgments. Small scuff and small piece missing on rear dust jacket. Gary Warren Hart (born Gary Warren Hartpence; November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987. Hart co-chaired the Hart-Rudman Task Force on Homeland Security and was the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. This is a passionate and powerful plea for Americans to recover the democratic-republican principles of the founders, a plea that is made all the more effective by the book's clear and forceful prose. The idealism that runs through the book is not utopian; it is firmly grounded in the extensive civil experience of the author and in his clear-eyed appreciation of the realities of our twenty-first-century world. Derived from a Kirkus review: A former presidential candidate and senator explores America's mounting discontent with the nation's political landscape. In this loyalist manifesto, prolific author and American diplomat Hart writes that our nation's republic has become a "vast and cancerous network" of corruptive lobbyists and policymakers uniformly entwining special interest groups with partisan legislation. The author amply demonstrates personal disillusionment with America's exclusionary national leadership network and how we have strayed from the original ideals and intentions set forth by the Founding Fathers. The author intelligently appraises government first from a historical context, referencing the Constitution, the ideals of past presidents, Federalists, and even foreign theorists like Machiavelli. He contrasts this with an astute discussion on the decline in moral authority of 21st-century governmental policy and procedure, and he places blame on the country's foreign entanglements, deteriorating social justice, and an imbalance of security and liberty-none of which our pragmatic forebears ever intended. Hart is insistent that the only way to improve our governmental track record is to restrategize with progressive thinking, the reconciliation of current political policies, and a divergence from the concentrated economic powers that have such an undue influence on members of Congress and other politicians. While his recommendations may read as easier said than done, and he doesn't provide many detailed plans, the book is written with aggressive advocacy and hopeful intentions. Hart's impassioned plea for reform seeks to empower political compatriots to rethink the direction of U.S. governance, thus closing "the gap between promise and performance." A proactive appeal to restore confidence in the American republic.