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เนื้อหาย่อ : Author's Note and Acknowledgments This book describes, as completely and honestly as possible, an un- usual man who identifies with and seeks to lead the people of the United States. It is not a conventional, chronological biography about a man who has been a pharmacist, teacher, Mayor, and Sen- ator, and is now Vice President of the United States. It is about the personal and political development of Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Much of the material in this book has never been published. Most has been drawn from my observation of Humphrey, from interviews with individuals who have watched him closely from some valuable perspective, and from such prime sources as the Congressional Record. I worked as an assistant to Humphrey in his Senate office in Washington from January 1g6o to February 1964. That experience was valuable for my understanding of the man and the preparation of this book. With day-to-day contact for four years, I learned to interpret his words and actions on the basis of knowledge about his habits and ambitions. With direct involvement in his offce opera- tions, I knew which statements were written or dictated by him and which were "ghosted" by others. That distinction is important in judging a man's ideas and intellectual capacity. Many of his com- ments quoted in this book were made informally, in the privacy of his office or in conversation with the author and others. Initially I was concerned about the ethical problem of using material which had come to me through my privileged position on Humphrey's staft. Before I began to write this book I had made a basic decision not to use anything from a private situation which would embarrass him or others. But I was surprised and relieved to realize that Humphrey rarely restricts the expression of ideas, facts, or phrases to the privacy of his office; at one time or another he places them in the public domain through candid conversations with reporters or speeches in open meetings. The period covered by this book emphasizes the years 1g6o