June 26, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Living, Leading, and the American Dream
by John W. Gardner
This book pulls together writings by John W. Gardner, edited by his daughter, Francesca Gardner. Mr. Gardner, who served as president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Johnson, died last year at the age of 89.
The collection covers subjects such as leadership, philanthropy, and what Mr. Gardner calls “renewal”—the need for individuals and organizations to continue to learn and grow.
Mr. Gardner describes his experiences helping to found several nonprofit organizations. In creating Common Cause, he says, his goal was to make government, through “the long tradition of citizen action” and professional lobbying, more accountable for its actions.
“Effectiveness, access, responsiveness, accountability—these are the attributes we have a right to expect of our instruments of self-government,” he writes.
In 1980 Mr. Gardner helped establish Independent Sector, a national coalition of charities and grant makers. In writing about his work with nonprofit organizations, he expresses his appreciation for the “extraordinary richness and variety” of charitable institutions. He praises tax policies that “have fostered our tradition of giving,” the creativity and initiative of those who work for nonprofit groups, and the large number of people who contribute to charities rather than relying on government to solve all of society’s problems. “The sector,” he writes, “enhances our creativity, enlivens our communities, nurtures individual responsibility, stirs life at the grass roots, and reminds us that we were born free.”
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (317) 572-3986 or (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 244 pages; $25.95; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-6678-9.
