November 2007 seemed a good time for my Uncle Ramsey to slow down, reflect, and write a memoir. About to turn 80, he'd racked up an amazing number of stories that told of a life lived on the front lines and had recently topped his own list of controversial actions by joining Saddam Hussein's defense team. Why not step out of the limelight, relax, and share his tales? To me as a historian, it seemed important that he do so.

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"Why would I want to do that? That would be the most boring book in the world." And instead of listening to reason, Ramsey flew to Egypt where the hope of the Arab Spring was melting into the chaos of revolution. 

 

His response left me to do the job, and with tape recorder in hand, I began driving between my home in Virginia and his Manhattan apartment to record his stories. Ramsey's life stories opened my eyes to a world far from my own. I learned much, not only about my uncle and 20th-century politics, but about myself.

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I want everyone to know Ramsey Clark as I do. As the Southern gentleman who greets people with a smile and a two-handed shake. As the Texan with a wry sense of humor containing enough sarcasm to be funny but not so much as to insult. His character and philosophies embrace an unusual combination of reason, respect, and compassion, things many of us wish were more present in today's political dialogue.

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Based on oral history interviews, personal papers of the family, and historic research, Softspoken, Outspoken: Ramsey Clark, the Sixties, and Lessons for a Hot Political World takes an inside look at the life of Ramsey Clark, Attorney General of the United States, legal rabble rouser, and my uncle. It's a journey through time and place that relates lessons for today, reminding us that democracy is not a spectator sport. It's up to all of us to make the world a better place.  more

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