Frankly Speaking

BONNIE LAUTENBERG is a photographer and conceptual artist whose work hangs in eight museums including the Library of Congress, the African American Museum of History and Culture, and the New York Historical Society. She spent 25 years with Senator Frank Lautenberg and was so proud to be married to him.     DIRK OLIN is a writer and editor, focusing on law, politics, and business. The  co-author of Rebuilding Justice: Civil Courts in Jeopardy, he is formerly the editor and publisher of Corporate Responsibility magazine, director of the Institute for Judicial Studies, and national editor of The American Lawyer. JOSEPH R. BIDEN is the 46th President of the United States of America.  HILLARY CLINTON served as the 67th United States secretary of state from 2009 to 2013; as a U.S. senator representing New York State from 2001 to 2009; and as the first lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. 

Foreword: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s
Eulogy for Frank Lautenberg 
Acknowledgments 
Introduction: Frank and Me 
How we met, how we courted, how we married.
A Capitalist to the Capitol 
Frank’s rags-to-riches story backdrops an improbable entry into politics and a second-term Senatevictory that at first appeared hopeless.
The Formative Years
From Paterson to the frontlines of World War to the helm of a Fortune 500 company.
Alcohol
Prevailing against entrenched corporate powers, Frank becomes one of the greatest lifesavers in Senate history.
Tobacco
Again facing powerful special interests and another lion of the Senate, Frank pioneers a norm that today would create zero controversy.
Firearms 
One of the few successful champions of gun safety laws during the past generation, Frank wins restrictions on perpetrators of domestic violence.
The Humanitarian 
The senator helps refuseniks to escape the USSR, South African womento dig a trench, and a father to reunite with his abducted son.
“Chickenhawks!” 
Frank returns from a premature retirement in such a fullthroated cry against the Iraq War that his colleagues are sure he won’t run for reelection. Wrong.
An Honorary Woman 
Overcoming preconceptions as few of his generation did, Frank becomes one of the Senate’s champions of rights for both women and the LGBTQ community.
Toxic Politics
Frank’s greatest passion, next to transportation and infrastructure, was toxins generally and carcinogens specifically. After forging consensus on a toxic right-to-know bill, he would end up legislating from the great beyond.
Sick Transit 
The legacy of Frank’s passion for infrastructure lives on.
Afterword: Vice President Joe Biden’s Eulogy for Frank Lautenberg 
Coda: Joe Biden, the Senator from South Jersey, by Dan Katz 
Notes 
Index
Photo Gallery