Herding Cats: A Life in Politics

Over the last half century, few figures have played the game of American politics with the skill and zest of Trent Lott. As one of the chief architects of the modern conservative movement, he has been on the front lines of the Republican Party for more than thirty years, playing a key role in its ascension during the turbulent post-Watergate era. In this candid and compelling memoir, Lott recounts the formative events of his youth and the stories from his political life that have made him one of the most influential and respected lawmakers in the country. From his difficult decision to support Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan in the 1976 Republican primary to his fruitful working partnership with Democratic leader Tom Daschle during the Clinton impeachment and September 11, Lott traces the inner workings of congressional life, detailing the vital role that he has played in guiding the Republican Party and American forward. With clear-eyed candor, Lott also discusses his last days as Senate majority leader, describing his remarks at Strom Thurmond’s hundredth birthday party and the chaotic events that followed, which ended his tenure as the Senate’s most powerful Republican. At once riveting and poignant, Herding Cats is the story of political life unlike any other—a life marked by the rise of an individual and the triumph of a party.