Robert Reich: A Memoir of My America

Is American democracy doomed? Robert Reich doesn’t think so, even though he is more than capable of pointing out how it has fallen short and is being challenged by powerful anti-democratic forces. He says we can reclaim a sense of community and a democratic capitalism based on American ideals we still have the power to salvage.

To know where to go next, it helps to know how we got here, and in his new book Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, Reich tells us how he got here. Born just 9 months after World War II, Reich came into a united America with a bright future—which went unrealized for so many as, he says, big money took over our democracy. His encounter with school bullies on account of his height—4'11" as an adult—made him determined to spend his life fighting American bullies of every sort. He recounts the death of a friend in the Civil Rights Movement; his political coming of age witnessing the Berkeley free speech movement; working for Bobby Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy; experiencing a country torn apart by the Vietnam War; meeting Hillary Rodham in college, Bill Clinton at Oxford, and Clarence Thomas at Yale Law. He details his friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith during his time teaching at Harvard, and subsequent friendships with Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy; and his efforts as labor secretary for Clinton and economic advisor to Barack Obama.

He reflects on all that he has witnessed and asks: What did his generation accomplish? Did they make America better, more inclusive, more tolerant? Did they strengthen democracy? Or did they come up short?

Join us as Robert Reich returns to the Commonwealth Club World Affairs stage to hear him discuss the culture, politics, and economic choices that have landed us where we are today—with immensely rich and immensely powerful economic leaders and corporations, demagogues on the rise, and increasing inequality fueling anger and hatred across the country.

Notes

Attendees subject to search. No large bags or backpacks.

Photo by Perian Flaherty; courtesy of the speaker.

Speakers

Robert Reich, Retired Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley; Former U.S. Secretary of Labor; Co-founder, Inequality Media; Author, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America

Moderator: TBA

5:15 p.m. doors open & check-in
6–7 p.m. program
7 p.m. book signing
(all times Pacific Time)