Both admiring and critical, this balanced portrait explains how a self-described "birthright Democrat" could decide to work for Richard Nixon, and how a man elected to the Senate as the darling of the neoconservatives came to oppose Ronald Reagan and fight for the goals of mainstream Democrats. It covers Moynihan's sometimes embattled tenure as our ambassador to India and to the United Nations. Above all, it is the history of a mind. portraying Moynihan as a prophet who again and again saw through the conventional wisdom of liberals and conservatives alike, and who expressed his insights with clarity, vigor, and not a little wit. From "benign neglect" to "defining deviancy down", his words and ideas are sure to remain part of our political discourse for years to come.

Among the many prominent people featured in these pages, some in fascinating behind-the-scenes encounters, are Presidents Johnson, Ford, and Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Indira Gandhi, and Elizabeth Moynihan, the senator's wife, a remarkable figure in her own right. This fine biography powerfully illuminates the life and ideas of a courageous, controversial, truly impressive American.