Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2006, Ohio’s Sherrod Brownish has sat over the Senate floor at a mahogany desk with a very pleased history. In Table 88, he tells the storyplot of eight from the Senators who were there before him.

Despite their flaws and frequent setbacks, each made a decisive contribution to the creation of a more just America. They range from Hugo Dark, who helped to lift an incredible number of American workers out of poverty, to Robert F. Kennedy, whose eyes were opened by an undernourished about Table 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America Mississippi kid and who after that spent the rest of his lifestyle afflicting the comfortable. Brown revives ignored figures such as for example Idaho’s Glen Taylor, a performing cowboy who taught himself economics and stood up to segregationists, and will be offering fresh insights into George McGovern, who fought to give food to the poor all over the world also amid personal and political calamities. He also writes about Herbert Lehman of NY, Al Gore Sr. of Tennessee, Theodore Francis Green of Rhode Island, and William Proxmire of Wisconsin.

Collectively, these eight portraits in political courage show a story about the triumphs and failures of the Progressive idea over the past century: in the 1930s and 1960s, and more intermittently since, politicians and the public have successfully fought against entrenched special interests and advanced the cause of economic or racial fairness. Today, these advances are in peril as employers shed their obligations to workers and communities, and a U.S. chief executive provides cover to bigotry. However the Progressive idea is not deceased.

Recalling his have career, Brown dramatizes the effort and high ideals required to renew the social contract and create a new era where Americans of most backgrounds can understand the “Dignity of Work.”