Catalogue

Big-city machine politics, which made Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley such a dominant force in the Democratic party, had ossified by 1990, helping to destroy the career of his prot‚g‚, Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski, chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee from 1981 to 1994. Cohen (Washington at Work), an award-winning correspondent for the National Journal, sympathetically portrays Rostenkowski's long career in the House of Representatives, 1959-94, as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the Democratic control of the lower house. Rosty's Chicago political education, which taught him that there are "no permanent friends, no permanent enemies," served him well as chair of Ways and Means by allowing him to maneuver such important pieces of legislation as the 1986 Tax Reform Bill through Congress. Unfortunately, when political ethics became an important public concern, Rostenkowksi could not change with the times. He was forced to resign from the House in 1994 because he padded his staff with ghost employees, a once-common machine practice. Cohen writes movingly of Rostenkowski's failings. Most of the book, however, is a highly detailed appraisal of Rostenkowski's legislative proceedings and is therefore recommended for larger public and academic collections and congressional policy specialists.ÄKarl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Cohen, long-time reporter for the National Journal, chronicles the rise and fall of Dan Rostenkowsky, one of the most respected yet maligned legislators of the 20th century. Of greater significance than the account of Rosty's career, however, is Cohen's use of the story to examine the transformation of Congress over the last 50 years. A product of Chicago's machine politics, Rostenkowsky was unwilling or unable to adapt to the dramatic changes that occurred during his tenure. As chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, he was the consummate "wheeler dealer." But with time, his means, subjected to internal reform and greater public scrutiny, could no longer justify the ends. His indictment and eventual guilty plea were thus heralded as the death of the old way of doing business in Congress. Cohen warns that this pronouncement may be premature and argues that recent events tend to vindicate Rostenkowsky, pointing to the "chaotic disarray" among House Republicans and Clinton's victory in the impeachment affair. This authoritative, entertaining volume updates classics on congressional power such as Richard Bolling's Power in the House (CH, Dec'68), Richard Fenno's Congressmen in Committees (CH, Jan'74), John Manley's Politics of Finance (CH, Oct'70) and Randall Strahan's New Ways and Means (CH, Dec'90). General readers; all students.. A. C. Titus; University of Nevada, Las Vegas