Step By Step: A Memoir of Hope, Friendship, Perserverance and Living the American Dream
Written by Bertie Bowman
Narrated by Bob Stewart
4/5
()
About this audiobook
From sharecropper's son in Depression-era South Carolina to hearing coordinator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bowman shares his inspiring life story.
Born in Summerton, S.C., in 1931, young Bertie was raised by his stepmother and strict father to do his share of the farm work, in the spirit of molding a man's character by "hard work, determination, and keeping your word," as taught by Booker T. Washington.
After meeting South Carolina Senator Burnet Maybank at a rally, Bowman ran away at age 13 to Washington, D.C., and got a job with the kindly senator. He swept the Capitol steps, shined shoes and started a taxi service, before being drafted into the newly integrated Army in 1951. Things changed with the election of Strom Thurmond in 1954, but the dedicated segregationist also professed to be a personal friend of all blacks.
He writes candidly and without irony of the typical Southern politician's accepted "personal versus political" views. As an "invisible" on the downstairs African-American staff, Bowman overheard a great deal, and he shares some delicious gossip about Lyndon Johnson and others. Eventually he landed a plum position under William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who remained his friend and ally until the senator's death. Bowman also gushes over fellow Southerners Jesse Helms and Bill Clinton.
©2008 Bertie Bowman; (P)2008 Oasis Audio
Related to Step By Step
Related audiobooks
March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTomlinson Hill: The Remarkable Story of Two Families Who Share the Tomlinson Name - One White, One Black Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Faith and Politics: How the Moral Values Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, Part II - 1963-64 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry Louis Gates: Many Rivers to Cross Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Michael Beschloss: Taking Charge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarching Through Georgia: My Walk With Sherman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harry Truman: A Biography of an American President Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last 100 Days: FDR at War and at Peace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life and Win the 1960 Election Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exiles of Florida Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Against All Odds: A Life of Beating the Odds Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Driven West: Andrew Jackson's Trail of Tears to the Civil War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Debacle: Obama's War on Jobs and Growth and What We Can Do Now to Regain Our Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParting the Waters: America in the King Years, Part I - 1954-63 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Accountable: Making America As Good As Its Promise Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The History of Asian Immigrants in the United States during the 20th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFranklin D. Roosevelt: A Biography of an American President Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daughter of the Heartland: My Ode to the Country that Raised Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWestmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Death to the Dictator!: A Young Man Casts a Vote in Iran's 2009 Election and Pays a Devastating Price Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putting the Most Into Life: Simple advise that has stood the test of time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mornings on Horseback Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Infidel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5V Is For Victory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Step By Step
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Grandmother gave me this book for Christmas and I wound up really liking it. The author has experienced so much, met so many people and has such a positive outlook that I was really inspired. I recommend it to anyone interested in politics, history and the late 20th century.