Description: Warren Christopher is that rarest of Washington personalities, a warm and witty public servant, once described by The Washington Post as "the antithesis of the glitz-hungry, self-aggrandizing, corner-cutting political figures who dominate Washington today". In this memoir, the man whose wise counsel and sometimes parodied discretion brought him to the right hand of mayors, governors, and presidents, shares his personal recollections and impressions of leaders and events that shaped the second half of the twentieth century.

Writing in tightly crafted, often self-effacing prose, Christopher chronicles how he left the privacy of life at a premiere law firm to heed calls to public service from the likes of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, and California Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown -- as well as Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. In his career, Christopher faced challenges as diverse as advising a president on whether to dispatch federal troops to quell civil disturbances; leading negotiations to free American hostages in Iran; investigating a major city's police force gone awry; and coping with Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.

Each of the chapters is a compelling story on its own; collectively, they offer the first clear picture of the impact of this quiet North Dakotan on modern American history.

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