The son of a Lithuanian blacksmith, Sidney R. Yates rose to the pinnacle of Washington power and influence. As chair of a House Appropriations Subcommittee, Yates was a preeminent national figure involved in issues that ranged from the environment and Native American rights to Israel and support for the arts. Speaker Tip O'Neill relied on the savvy Chicagoan in the trenches and advised anyone with controversial legislation to first "clear it with Sid!"

Michael C. Dorf and George Van Dusen draw on scores of interviews and unprecedented access to private papers to illuminate the life of an Illinois political icon. Wise, energetic, charismatic, petty, stubborn—Sid Yates presented a complicated character to constituents and colleagues alike. Yet his get-it-done approach to legislation allowed him to bridge partisan divides in the often-polarized House of Representatives. Following Yates from the campaign trail to the negotiating table to the House floor, Dorf and Van Dusen offer a rich portrait of a dealmaker extraordinaire and tireless patriot on a fifty-year journey through postwar American politics.|

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue 1

Part I. The Crusader, 1949–62

1 The Road to Capitol Hill 5

2 The Class of '49 15

3 "Here Comes This Nice, Good-Looking Guy" 41

4 "The Judgment of Admirals" 55

Part II. Defeat and Comeback, 1962–74

5 Yates for Senate 87

6 To the United Nations and Back 109

7 "This Precious Resource" 115

Part III. The Chairman, 1975–98

8 America's Committee 133

9 Three Years of the Culture Wars 143

10 "The Last Sanhedrin Met in 70 ce" 183

11 The Final Years 215

Epilogue 219

Notes 227

References 251

Index 259

Photographs follow page 69

|"A bracing and insightful read." —Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune
"Michael Dorf and George Van Dusen weave together the fascinating life of my friend, Sid Yates, an insight into the cutthroat Chicago party politics of Sid's career and the best analysis of the bare knuckles, behind-the-scene battle Sid waged to save the National Endowment for the Arts ever written. When you read this book you will learn of a day when one of Illinois' most principled and skillful public servants made history in the halls of Congress. Near the end of his life Sid joked with me about old age. He said: 'First the knees go. Then the nouns go. Then you go.' Sid is gone but for those who read this exceptional book he will not be forgotten." —Senator Dick Durbin
"With an electorate so polarized today, the life and political career of Sidney R. Yates reminds us of a time when being a congressman meant being willing to reach across the aisle and work toward bipartisan solutions." —Chicago Jewish News
|Michael C. Dorf is a practicing lawyer and an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was Congressman Yates's Special Counsel in Washington and remained his lawyer and campaign chairman until the congressman's death. George Van Dusen is Mayor of Skokie, Illinois, and an adjunct professor at Oakton Community College. He oversaw Yates's 9th District Operations for more than twenty-five years.