Who is Bernie Sanders? By Tag Powell - Brief Bio Pulls Together Basic Image of Presidential Candidate

I wanted to read this book for one reason--I had seen this candidate's ads on television and was intrigued with what he was saying. And compared to the other candidates, I didn't know much about Bernie Sanders...

Also, this author had done a number of books of this style, so it seemed a good choice for my purposes... a short bio... which could allow further research if desired.

The book begins with a basic overview of Mr. Sanders background. I was not surprised to learn of the tension of prejudice in the family's background.

The children absorbed a “sensitivity to class” in society, and an awareness of which ‘class’ they belonged to, with all the fibers of their soul. Larry Sanders, Bernie’s older brother would later have the following to say about an episode from their far past: “That created tensions for our parents, and that was an important part of our life.” Both boys did not lose optimism and set some life goals.  Tracing back the family story, Bernard explained his early interest in politics so: “A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932. He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6 million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.”  

The main information that was shown in this candidates ads was expanded upon in this book. It seemed to me that what he was saying at this time was based upon his background  and past actions.  That is, he's opposed to power-hungry corporations who use money to influence politics...

And that his campaign dollars came from citizens as opposed to such corporations.

This man's moral fiber went to work early... and his actions those that were important to moving the country forward...

Sanders was an organizer in the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He was also an activist for the Civil Rights Movement. Bernie was interested in history, psychology and sociology. He was familiar with the works of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. The young man openly demonstrated his opinion of the segregated housing that belonged to the college. He also touched on the topic of the city’s segregated schools. That protest caused his official arrest and he was fined $ 25 for resisting police. During a historically prominent March on Washington in 1963, student Sanders was among the crowd. Later, as an adult his explanation of his reasons was clear to everybody: “It was a question for me of just basic justice – the fact that it was not acceptable in America at that point that you had large numbers of African-Americans who couldn’t vote, who couldn’t eat in a restaurant, whose kids were going to segregated schools, who couldn’t get hotel accommodation and were living in segregated housing. That was clearly a major American injustice and something that had to be dealt with.”
Later, as an adult his explanation of his reasons was clear to everybody: “It was a question for me of just basic justice – the fact that it was not acceptable in America at that point that you had large numbers of African-Americans who couldn’t vote, who couldn’t eat in a restaurant, whose kids were going to segregated schools, who couldn’t get hotel accommodation and were living in segregated housing. That was clearly a major American injustice and something that had to be dealt with."

~~~

Moving to Burlington, Vermont seemed to set the stage for more...

Bernie Sanders started an active campaign and attracted public attention to his inspirational viewpoint. He did it through constant talking, talking and talking in many different places. He shared his vision at schools and churches, big plants and prisons. Sanders became stronger due to public attention and support.

And the fact that he shared with vision with the people was a characteristic to be admired, in my opinion.

Early Political Steps “I think the overwhelming majority of the American people know that we have got to stand together, that we’re going to grow together, that we’re going to survive together, and that if we start splintering, we’re not going to succeed in a highly competitive international economy. Bernie Sanders appeared in the political arena, in 1971, as an advocate for the poor, the old, the young and as the representative of ordinary men and women.



I was quite satisfied with this short book. With only 30 pages, the material was comprehensive enough for me to learn about a man...a man whose life has led to where he is today, in my opinion. The author provided exactly what I expected for the type of book he had written. Highly recommended.


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