“I can’t think of any member of Congress who did more for America’s space program than Jack Brooks. As the book points out, Brooks strengthened NASA during its formative years and later saved the International Space Station (ISS) in the post-Cold War era when Congress sought to cancel Big Science program. Today, a quarter of a century later, the ISS still circles high above Earth as a symbol of America’s ability to bring the nations of the world together in peaceful exploration of space.”

— Daniel S. Goldin
9th NASA Administrator, 1992–2001

“From the Great Society to Watergate to the Iran-Contra scandal to the Clinton crime bill, Congressman Jack Brooks was a larger-than-life figure in our nation’s political history. His dedication to vigorous congressional oversight of the executive branch should stand as a role model for today’s legislators. The Meanest Man in Congress tells his remarkable story.”

— Terry McAuliffe
Former Virginia Governor

“This is a book of nostalgia for the days of good governance represented by a crafty, persistent, and honorable congressman who put country above party to pass monumental legislation. Reading this biography—a Herculean task of research I much admired—can make you weep over the passing of those times, when skillful legislators could navigate through partisan politics to higher ground.”

— David K. Shipler
Former New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author

“From his youth in a rough corner of Texas to his service in the Marines in World War II and on to Congress to help build Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, Jack Brooks’s story is full of lessons for lawmakers, for voters, for Americans searching for meaning in confusing times. The McNultys have created a highly readable account of a fascinating, important man’s life and times.”

— Charles Madigan
author, reporter, professor

“Tim and Brendan McNulty provide us with a much-needed biography of Congressman Jack Brooks, who was a leading figure among two generations of Lone Star political legends that included Sam Rayburn, Lyndon Johnson, and many others. Any student of national politics in the mid-twentieth century will relish looking again at those turbulent times through the squinting, purposeful eyes of Beaumont’s Congressman Jack Brooks.”

— Cal Jillson
professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, author of The American Dream: In History, Politics, and Fiction

“Cigar-chomping, irascible, and fiercely dedicated to his beliefs, Brooks shaped Texas and national politics for four decades. A fascinating window into the political history of the post-World War II era and a darn fun read

— Brandon Rottinghaus
professor of political science, University of Houston

“Finely reported and illuminated by exquisite detail, Timothy and Brendan McNulty’s work hurtles readers back through time to the challenges of a tumultuous twentieth century. This comprehensive work on the improbable life of Jack Brooks is a reminder of a time when our nation was not governed by a zero-sum, winner-take-all ethos that divides Americans and the world into us and them.”

— George de Lama
President of the Eisenhower Fellowships, former managing editor of the Chicago Tribune

“Right when we all seem to have forgotten what public service and political compromise ought to look like, along comes The Meanest Man in Congress to remind us. Jack Brooks—crusty, colorful, and yes, mean—leaps off the pages into our collective consciousness in this timely biography.”

— Jay Root
Texas Tribune investigative reporter and author of Oops! A Diary from the 2012 Campaign Trail

“An eminently readable biography of one of our nation’s longest-serving Congress-men that also chronicles the era when the words ‘bipartisan’ and ‘compromise’ were not anathema. This book provides a reminder of how government can work when patriotism supersedes partisanship, and how a politician’s relatives can use their status for greater good as opposed to personal enrichment.”

— Kerry Luft
former Washington bureau chief, Tribune Co., former news editor, Bloomberg Politics

“The McNultys do a superb job documenting Brooks’s fascinating personality and career. But this father-and-son writing team goes beyond Brooks himself to chronicle how a villainous turn in our politics made us the divided nation we are today. A thorough account and enjoyable read.”

— James O’Shea
author and former editor of the Los Angeles Times and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune