Power and the Public Interest: The Memoirs of Joseph C. Swidler Book

Joseph Swidler (1907-1997) was one of the last New Dealers, part of a generation of talented professionals - including Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, and Wilbur Cohen - who devoted their energies to serving public, not private interests. In a career spanning six decades, he helped craft and administer the nation's energy policy while witnessing most of the signal events of the modern age: the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and America's emergence as a superpower. Swidler's memoir is filled with insights on this transformative period of U.S. history and includes anecdotes about key historical figures, among them David E. Lilienthal, Harold Ickes, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Rockefeller.

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Swidler (1907-1997) was one of the New Deal administrators of the 1930s and 1940s and played an important role in developing the Tennessee Valley Authority. Paring down the material from the original 700-page memoir, Henderson (education, Furman U.) has excised text he felt was "overly technical and redundant." The narrative begins with Swidler's education in Chicago, and follows his career as general counsel for the TVA, his return to private practice, time as Chairman of the Federal Power Commission, and his stint as Chairman of the New York State Public Service Commission. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)