New in paperback
Making Government Work
Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings
with Kirk Victor
“Performance is better than promise” has long been the motto of Ernest F. “Fritz”
Hollings, a former Governor of South Carolina and six-term U.S. Senator whose distinguished political career speaks volumes about the potential of the elected and the
electorate to use government for the good of all. Making Government Work serves
as equal parts political memoir and reform-minded call to action as Hollings shares
compelling—and often candidly colorful—accounts from his half century of public
service to illustrate the smart stewardship of resources and authority needed to enact
policies that can make positive differences in the lives of Americans.
Hollings lays out clearly his deep commitment to improving our system of government, strengthening regulations on free trade, countering dependence on campaign
contributions, and enhancing our communications and education programs to
compete better in an information-driven global marketplace. This prescriptive compendium of sound thinking seeks to reinvigorate a floundering system and to call good
people and good ideas back into the service of America’s bright future.
Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings has enjoyed a remarkable career in public service as a South
Carolina legislator (1949–1954), Lieutenant Governor (1955–1959), Governor (1959–
1963), U.S. Senator (1966–2005), and U.S. presidential candidate (1983–1984). A visionary workhorse, Hollings has focused throughout his career on putting government on
a sound financial basis and promoting economic development to create opportunities.
He is a widely respected policy expert on the budget, telecommunications, the environment, defense, trade, and space.
Kirk Victor covers the U.S. Senate for the National Journal and was part of a reporting
team that won a National Headliner Award in 2005 for coverage of Congress.
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July 2009, 256 pages, 16 illus.
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Praise for Making Government Work
“Fritz Hollings is working on a government reform project he can only conduct from the outside—getting the
money out of politics and the politics back into Congress. . . . He outlines his plans for getting Washington off the
money mill in Making Government Work.”—Bill Moyers Journal
“With razor-sharp wit and insight, former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Senator Ernest Hollings has produced
a rare species of political memoir that stresses deal-making, compromises, and genuine bipartisanship to produce effective leadership and legislation in government.”—G: The Magazine of Greenville (S.C.)
“Hollings had a reputation for speaking his mind during his many years in office, and he continues to be familiarly forthright in his political memoir.”—Charleston (S.C.) Post & Courier
“Hollings makes it clear in Making Government Work that he—perhaps more than any twentieth-century South
Carolina political figure—understands the power and possibility of government.”—Columbia (S.C.) State
“In a gripping examination of the severe crisis confronting the United States, Hollings taps his more than onehalf century of public service and presents this user’s guide to democracy.”—Living in South Carolina
“A thorough memoir of former U.S. Senator Hollings’s five decades of public service. . . . A sound account of a
half-century’s functioning of the legislature.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Making Government Work is an accurate accounting of the key role Fritz Hollings played in dealing with the
major legislative and political challenges of the day as a South Carolina Governor and U.S. Senator. While numerous comments in the book reflect Senator Hollings’s partisan view, it more importantly recounts his bipartisan
efforts on important issues such as hunger, the national budget, and defense. Only Fritz Hollings could make
such a compelling case on how to make government work. His straightforward style will appeal to all Americans
interested in the inner workings of politics and government.”—Bob Dole
“In the U.S. Senate Fritz Hollings was known for his candor. In this engaging memoir he demonstrates that he’s
still telling it like it is! In direct no-nonsense language, Hollings describes his remarkable political career of nearly
a half century of service to the people of South Carolina and the nation. His writing is colorful, humorous, and
occasionally caustic. Whether you agree or disagree with him on the issues, when you finish this lively book you’ll
agree that Fritz Hollings was an extraordinary Senator and public servant.”—George J. Mitchell