With his trademark cigar, Brooks’ no-nonsense, bipartisan approach to creating change, influenced the direction of Congress and improved government standards. Saving the International Space Station with a single vote, one of the few Southern politicians who refused to sign the infamous ‘Southern Manifesto’, and effectively helping to shape the computer industry as we know it today, also, as a member of the Nixon impeachment committee Brooks and his excellent staff drafted the original Articles of Impeachment. Jack Brooks’ impact was so institutionally renowned that many describe him as one the most influential men Americans need to know.

Brooks understood compromise in lawmaking as one of the most critical functions for effective governing and essential for the long-term health of the country. For this very reason, presidents such as Johnson, Carter, and Clinton sought his counsel and assistance to pass transformational legislation such as the Great Society programs, sweeping governmental cost reduction, and gun reform that still shape our society.

Brooks was a tireless defender of the rights and interests of both his constituents and the American people at large. He was a Democrat, but not a demagogue and he didn’t abuse his position for personal gain; temptations which seem to perpetually plague many of our current representatives. Brooks represents the best of The Greatest Generation. Following WWII, the U.S. enjoyed 40 years of steady and sustainable economic growth, which ended in 1994, the same year Jack Brooks lost re-election. America has never regained the confidence and strength it had during those post-war years under rational Democratic leadership. This Biography is the story of one man’s unique political journey, but it may also serve as a guide back to a time of common purpose in the hopes of inspiring the current and future leaders of America.