From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Shortly after the New Democratic Party formed its first government in
Ontario, a reporter asked Bob Rae, “Why don’t we know more about
your private life?” The fledgling premier replied, “Because if you
did, it wouldn’t be private any longer.” Even in a book subtitled
Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics, Rae’s privacy remains
intact. The ex-premier’s reflections are intelligent, self-effacing,
humorous, and occasionally pedantic, but at all times he keeps his guard
up and his gloves on. His harshest personal criticism is reserved for
federal MP John Nunziata (described as “particularly unpleasant”),
and he even admits to a personal liking (despite a political
detestation) for the greatly unloved Brian Mulroney. Rae made the
motions of nonconfidence that brought down both Joe Clark’s federal
government and Frank Miller’s provincial government. He displays
neither pleasure nor regret about either act.

This is an important clue to Rae’s personality. As the son of a
career diplomat, Rae says that he learned from early age to separate
people from the public posts they held, and he seems genuinely mystified
to find that most other people do not take a similar approach. The
result is a book that chronicles two decades of political trench warfare
without the partisan rage and personal attacks that the public has come
to expect in an ex-politician’s memoir. This consistently civilized
tone is both a relief and a disappointment. In his last chapter, Rae
confesses that he enjoys politics and recommends it to “anyone with a
thick skin, a good sense of humour, a love of people and the roar of the
arena.” This hypothetical person has an uncanny resemblance to Rae
himself. Perhaps this memoir will have a sequel.