Summary

After his public announcement that he was leaving politics, Tom started to become interested in the lieutenant governor position. For weeks, he talked to his wife, Madolyn, about the race, trying to answer the question: “How does a man who has publicly bowed out of politics gracefully climb back onstage?” (97). On September 6, 1969, Tom announced his candidacy, saying that he was “in the fight for good…for honesty and integrity” (98). His platform was focused on the education and the economy, and he differed drastically from his opponents on the subject of civil rights. Tom was a clearly a strong supporter of civil rights, and this made him less-than-popular in a state where “a legislator had proposed closing the public schools instead of integrating them” (99). Tom ended up losing the race, a consequence of his progressive ideals in...