The hard years

the long version

In Part 1, McCarthy takes a look at the presidency, vice-presidency, courts, Congress, the military, the political parties, the CIA and at some major forces in contemporary American life that have assumed the status of institutions--the corporations and universities. In Part 2, he examines the system of primary elections and finds them sadly wanting. In Part 3, he writes of innocence in politics, of Watergate and "the Enemies List," of the use and abuse of language as it applies to politics. In Part 4, he singles out eleven Americans who he feels have fulfilled the highest expectations not only as politicans but as human beings.