Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / by Joe Biden -- A political life -- Against the grain -- Oakington -- A plan for life -- Reform and independence -- Against the legislative tide -- Regulating savings and loan associations -- Kennedy Man -- A prosecutor the organization didn't want -- A thirty-two-month learning experience -- A tangle of savings and loan scams -- Kidnapping, murder, and assassination -- Challenging the Democratic machine -- A break with the past -- A freshman senator's voice -- Defending the great Warren Court decisions -- "A voteless people is a hopeless people" -- Fairness in federal court -- Congress and the City of Washington -- The hardest fights -- Vietnam and the political costs of war -- The environment and overpopulation -- Gun control -- One progressive position too many -- Citizen public service -- Epilogue: An open letter to my grandchildren (and their generation).