Admiring, sometimes cloyingly worshipful bio of New Jersey's
governor. Trentonian reporter McClure tries to depict Christine
Todd Whitman's trip from her silver-spoon upbringing in solidly
Republican Somerset County to the New Jersey governor's mansion as
a triumph against odds. But McClure's account tends to show instead
that Whitman's political career and her economic conservatism grew
naturally out of the privileged and politically active milieu from
which she emerged. McClure's snapshots of Whitman's social life may
make it hard for the more proletarian reader to relate ("Christie
returned home to fox hunt," one anecdote begins, "and had an
amusing encounter with Jackie Onassis"). After staffing posts in
Nelson Rockefeller's 1968 presidential campaign, the Republican
National Committee, and the 1972 Nixon campaign, she married John
Whitman, a New York financial consultant "with the proper
credentials," in 1974, and settled down to eight years as a
full-time wife and mother. McClure covers in detail Whitman's
unsuccessful 1990 run for the Senate against the popular Bill
Bradley and her 1993 defeat of hated incumbent governor Jim Florio;
the author manages to treat both races, lost and won by razor-thin
margins, as triumphs for Whitman. Briskly reviewing her record as
governor, McClure shows that Whitman's inoffensive blend of fiscal
conservatism and with-it social positions (pro-choice, pro-gay
rights) seemed to go down well with voters. Although McClure
indicates that Whitman's social views may have alienated the
Republican party's right wing, she tantalizingly suggests that
Whitman may be a front-runner for the 1996 vice-presidential
nomination. Christie fans will enjoy; others may wonder what the
fuss is about. (Kirkus Reviews)
Christine Todd Whitman came from nowhere in 1993 to defeat Democrat
Jim Florio and become the first woman governor of New Jersey. Her
meteoric rise to power has left many people wondering who she is,
where she came from, and what motivates her. This engrossing
political biography traces her background of old money tempered
with social conscience and details its impact on her difficult but
successful journey to the New Jersey governor's mansion...and
perhaps beyond. Though an aristocrat from a moderate Republican
family, Christie Whitman waged a grass-roots campaign to cut the
heavy burden of New Jersey's taxes. At first, a skeptical public,
reacting negatively to her plan, sent her public-opinion rating so
low that even her own supporters felt she had lost the race for the
governorship. But in the final, dramatic days of the campaign for
the statehouse, Whitman proved to be the campaign's strongest
asset. Undaunted by the polls, she donned a pair of blue jeans and
took her campaign directly to New Jersey voters in farmers'
markets, shopping centers, and businesses. She convinced people of
her sincerity, dispelled the "out-to-lunch" image Democrats had
painted of her, and fought on to capture one of the most powerful
governorships in the nation. Taking office in January 1994, she
surprised everyone by making good on her promise to cut income
taxes for most New Jersey residents by 30 percent. As a result, she
stands as a major player in national Republican politics with
pundits speculating on her role in upcoming presidential elections.
A voice of caution to the conservative wing of the party, she has
shied away from dramatic cuts in government and takes a moderate
position on socialissues. Author Sandy McClure traces Whitman's
roots back to the days when she was a young tomboy plotting pranks
at her parents' rural estate in northwestern New Jersey. She
provides an inside look at Whitman's family heritage: the impact of
her politically active grandparents, her role as the daughter of
Republican party movers and shakers, her early years at the
Republican National Committee, her marriage to the grandson of a
New York governor, and her devotion to her role as a mother. The
story includes the controversies of Whitman's early years in local
and state politics and tells how her near defeat of U.S. Sen. Bill
Bradley, the state's most popular politician, launched her bid for
the statehouse.
General
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