The Courage of Our Convictions A Manifesto for Democrats

A rallying cry "for Democrats who dream about governing and are eager to get their party back on track."CBS News In this powerful and provocative manifesto, former senator Gary Hart offers a call to action for Democrats to embrace moral principles and progressive leadership and not to fall back into a pattern of caution and calculation. He urges a return to the principles bequeathed to the party by its great twentieth-century presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt's commitment to a single national community; Harry S. Truman's security through internationalism; John F. Kennedy's ideal of civic duty and service to the nation; and Lyndon B. Johnson's insistence on equality for all citizens. With the Democrats now in control of Congress, Hart speaks directly and passionately to those who seek to transform this political opportunity into a robust progressive program. As the 2008 presidential election approaches, it is the wake-up call so many Americans have been waiting for.

Gary Hart represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 1975 to 1987. He is the author of seventeen books and holds a doctorate of philosophy in politics from Oxford University. A lifelong Democratic reformer, he is currently a professor at the University of Colorado, a distinguished fellow at the New America Foundation, and chairman of the American Security Project and of the Council for a Livable World. He resides with his family in Kittredge, Colorado.