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AUTOBIOGRAPHY / POLITICS / WISCONSIN & MIDWEST
“Direct, sarcastic, savage, jutting his powerful jaw at its most defiant angle,
banging home his points until his fist sometimes trickled blood, ‘Fighting
Bob’ was something to behold. The essential qualities of the man are all in
this blunt, belligerent, rousing autobiography.”
—Eric F. Goldman,
New York
Times Book Review
Written in lucid, vigorous prose,
La Follette’s Autobiography
is the famous Wis-
consin senator’s own account of his political life and philosophy. Both memoir
and a history of the Progressive cause in the United States, it charts La Follette’s
formative years in politics, his attempts to abolish entrenched, ruthless state and
corporate influences, and his embattled efforts to advance Progressive policies as
Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator.
With a new foreword by Matthew Rothschild, editor of
The Progressive
—the
magazine that La Follette himself founded—the
Autobiography
remains a power-
ful reminder of the legacies of Progressivism and reform and the enduring voice
of the man who fought for them.
Robert M. La Follette
(1855–1925) was a member of the U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives, served as governor of Wisconsin, and was elected to the U.S. Senate, a
position he held from 1906 to 1925. He was a founding father of American Pro-
gressivism and ran as the U.S. Progressive Party’s presidential candidate in 1924,
winning one-sixth of the total national vote.
NOVEMBER
LC: 60–050989 E
370 PP. 5 ½ × 8 ½
E-BOOK $15.95 T ISBN 978-0-299-29713-8
• 1913 PAPER, ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE CO.
• 1960 CLOTH, UWP, ISBN 978-0-299-02190-0
• 1960 PAPER, UWP, ISBN 978-0-299-02194-8
“A political testament of great worth.
. . . It was, and remains, a testimonial
to democracy by one of its great
champions.”
—John C. Colson,
Wisconsin Historical Society
Of re l at ed int e re s t
Edited by Matthew Rothschild
“For a century,
The Progressive
has drawn
on great thinkers and writers to envision a
better world.
Democracy in Print
reminds
us of the wrongs that have been righted
and the challenges that remain.”
—U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
PUBLISHED MAY 2009
LC: 2008046312 JK 390 PP. 7 × 9 ½
E-BOOK $14.95 T ISBN 978-0-299-23223-8
