New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne: The Man Who Couldnt Be Bought [Hardcover]

Known by mobsters as the man who couldnt be bought, Brendan Byrne led New Jersey into a new era when he won the states gubernatorial election by a landslide in the wake of political corruption scandals. A former prosecutor and judge, Byrne was soon condemned as one-term Byrne, the inept politician who few thought would risk the humiliation of standing for a second term. Yet Byrne surprised both friend and foe alike by pulling off the states most remarkable political comeback, winning re-election and leaving a legacy of preserving the vast resources of the Pinelands, enacting the states first income tax and comprehensive school financing reform, developing the Meadowlands, approving casino gambling in Atlantic City, and initiating strong environmental controls to combat pollution.Donald Linky served as counsel to the governor and director of the Governor's office of policy and planning in the administration of Governor Brendan Byrne. He has practiced law with major law firms, is a former visiting professor at Rutgers University, and is coeditor of The Governors of New Jersey: Biographical Essays.

Reviewing Brendan Byrnes tumultuous governorship through the lens Donald Linky provides, one is reminded that contemporary and historical judgments do not necessarily mesh. Byrne emerges from these pages not as a dilettante in politics, nor merely a good governor, but as a courageous, visionary leader, who made tough choices, took the hits that came with them, and persisted in finding ways to reach his objective. . . . [I]n making his case for Byrne as an admirable chief executive, Linky draws on compelling evidence that he was in fact that. . . .[The book is] above and beyond a valentine to the grand old man of New Jersey politics, a significant contribution to New Jersey political history. New Jersey Studies

With his unique combination of vision and toughness, his trademark sense of humor, and no small dose of political courage, he worked as l£J