New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne: The Man Who Couldn't Be Bought

by Donald Linky

Overview

Known by mobsters as “the man who couldn’t be bought,” Brendan Byrne led New Jersey into a new era when he won the state’s gubernatorial election by a landslide in the wake of political corruption scandals. A former prosecutor and judge, Byrne was soon condemned as “one-term Byrne,” the inept politician who few thought would risk the humiliation of standing for a second term. Yet Byrne surprised both friend and foe alike by pulling off the state’s most remarkable political comeback, winning re-election and leaving a legacy of preserving the vast resources of the Pinelands, enacting the state’s first income tax and comprehensive school financing reform, developing the Meadowlands, approving casino gambling in Atlantic City, and initiating strong environmental controls to combat pollution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611477436
Publisher:	University Press Copublishing Division
Publication date:	10/13/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	404
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Donald Linky served as counsel to the governor and director of the Governor's office of policy and planning in the administration of Governor Brendan Byrne. He has practiced law with major law firms, is a former visiting professor at Rutgers University, and is coeditor of The Governors of New Jersey: Biographical Essays.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Byrnes and the Brennans of Essex County: Beginnings
Chapter 2: The War: “I was lucky.”
Chapter 3: Returning Home: “I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer.”
Chapter 4: The Public Career Begins
Chapter 5: The 1973 Election: “The Man Who Couldn’t Be Bought.”
Chapter 6: 1973 Transition: “It will all be uphill from here.”
Chapter 7: The First Term: “If you win one, you’re great. If you don’t, you’re not.”
Chapter 8: The Income Tax: “I’m going to burn in hell—but not for the income tax.”
Chapter 9: Atlantic City: “Keep your filthy hands out of Atlantic City.”
Chapter 10: The Re-election: “One-term Byrne.”
Chapter 11: The Second Term
Chapter 12: The Pinelands: “It was on no political party's agenda.”
Chapter 13: Public Transportation and the Creation of New Jersey Transit
Chapter 14: The 1981 Election and Leaving Office: “A sense of what’s important.”
Chapter 15: Return to Private Life: “The Elder Statesman of New Jersey.”
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Jacksonian in governing, Seinfeldian in holding an audience, Damon and Pythianesue in friendship, and no 90-pound weakling in standing up to any bully out to develop the Pines or build an access ramp to the New Jersey Turnpike through lovely Koming Township. … Brendan Byrne … is his own man when it comes to integrity, kindness, wisdom, wit, a stingless sense of humor, and speaking softly with not a trace of carrying a big stick.

Jim Lebenthal

In all of his work as Governor of New Jersey, Brendan Byrne demonstrated through his actions what it means to be a public servant: a public official willing to make the tough choices for the good of the State, no matter what the personal consequences. His story is truly a profile in political courage leavened by clear expression and a sense of humor that unfortunately cannot be
replicated.

Paul Volcker

Brendan Byrne was a personal friend, a good governor, and one of the finest men I have ever known.

Jimmy Carter

Reviewing Brendan Byrne’s tumultuous governorship through the lens Donald Linky provides, one is reminded that contemporary and historical judgments do not necessarily mesh. Byrne emerges from these pages not as a dilettante in politics, nor merely a ‘good’ governor, but as a courageous, visionary leader, who made tough choices, took the hits that came with them, and persisted in finding ways to reach his objective.. .. [I]n making his case for Byrne as an admirable chief executive, Linky draws on compelling evidence that he was in fact that.. . .[The book is] above and beyond a valentine to the grand old man of New Jersey politics, a significant contribution to New Jersey political history.

New Jersey Studies

With his unique combination of vision and toughness, his trademark sense of humor, and no small dose of political courage, he worked as Governor with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to enact meaningful reforms that benefit New Jersey to this day.

Bill Clinton

In all of his work as Governor of New Jersey, Brendan Byrne demonstrated through his actions what it means to be a public servant: a public official willing to make the tough choices for the good of the State, no matter what the personal consequences. His story is truly a profile in political courage leavened by clear expression and a sense of humor that unfortunately cannot be replicated.

Paul Volker

Brendan Byrne was a personal friend, a good governor, and of the finest men I have ever known.

former president Jimmy Carter