About the Author

Hamilton Jordan (1944 - 2008) spearheaded Jimmy Carter's successful campaign for the presidency and served as the chief of staff in the Carter administration. He is the author of the bestselling Crisis, which recounted Carter's secret negotiations to free the American hostages in Iran. After leaving Washington, DC, he became an investor, adviser, and board member for a variety of successful companies and start-ups

Reviews

Library Journal Sound, upbeat advice...[Jordan] offers cancer sufferers and their families ways to combat the disease by...being positive and proactive.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Titles come and go, and White House chiefs of staff can exit faster than they entered. But Jordan, at fifty-five, would have you believe he has larger fish to fry than congressmen and Cabinet secretaries wanting fifteen minutes with the president of the United States, not to mention the door-pounding Washington media....The architect of Jimmy Carter's improbable nomination for the presidency tells how quickly power and position fade to irrelevance and how one's sense of proportion can change.

The Huntsville Times (AL) An inspiring journey of a man who feels lucky to be alive...a story worth hearing and a story worth reading.

The Wall Street Journal Anyone with half a mind or soul will cry, laugh, and learn.

The Wall Street Journal Jordan serves up wise counsel, instructive insights, and important hope to the millions of American families afflicted with this dreaded disease. Along the way, he offers delicious, sometimes biting, political perspectives.

Vanity Fair Wise and touching.

Library Journal Sound, upbeat advice...[Jordan] offers cancer sufferers and their families ways to combat the disease by...being positive and proactive.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Titles come and go, and White House chiefs of staff can exit faster than they entered. But Jordan, at fifty-five, would have you believe he has larger fish to fry than congressmen and Cabinet secretaries wanting fifteen minutes with the president of the United States, not to mention the door-pounding Washington media....The architect of Jimmy Carter's improbable nomination for the presidency tells how quickly power and position fade to irrelevance and how one's sense of proportion can change.
The Huntsville Times (AL) An inspiring journey of a man who feels lucky to be alive...a story worth hearing and a story worth reading.
The Wall Street Journal Anyone with half a mind or soul will cry, laugh, and learn.
The Wall Street Journal Jordan serves up wise counsel, instructive insights, and important hope to the millions of American families afflicted with this dreaded disease. Along the way, he offers delicious, sometimes biting, political perspectives.
Vanity Fair Wise and touching.

Political reflections mingle with cancer war stories in this memoir by former presidential aide Jordan. In the last two decades of the 20th century, after serving as Jimmy Carter's chief of staff, Jordan (who caused a scandal in the Carter White House when it was reported that he'd used cocaine and insulted the wife of the Egyptian ambassador at a state dinner--charges he unequivocally denies) was diagnosed with cancer--three times. A strong advocate for aggressive treatments--he chose chemotherapy for his lymphoma and surgical removal of his prostate for his prostate cancer (his third bout of cancer involved a skin lesion, which was removed)--Jordan reflects on the lessons he's learned while surviving cancer. He gives his "ten top tips for cancer patients"; advises others to research their prognosis and treatment and to find experienced physicians; and advocates investigating the mind/body connection (studies have shown, he notes, that patients with strong relationships and a positive attitude survive longer). Along the way, he emphasizes his belief that his treatments were successful because he took responsibility for his medical care. But he also reflects on his life more generally: convinced that his cancers were caused by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Jordan takes some time to discuss the war as well as his southern Georgia childhood and his political career. He thoughtfully contrasts his beloved, but racist, father with a cousin who was a civil rights activist, and he also settles some old scores in a somewhat mean-spirited fashion--including one with President Clinton, whom he clearly dislikes. Although artlessly written and at times randomly assembled, this book is a quirky, feisty addition to the growing stack of memoirs by late-20th-century presidential aides. 100,000 first printing; 6-city author tour. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.