I was motivated to go into public life because of the great chasm that exists between justice and injustice in our country. Nowhere is that divide greater than in America's cities.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Public life is regarded as the crown of a career, and to young men it is the worthiest ambition. Politics is still the greatest and the most honorable adventure.
When I first ran for public office, it was with the passion and idealism of a young man who believed that government could help make our lives better, that public service was a calling and that citizenship demanded responsibilities. There was a greater good.
My experience of being on the public platform got more multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and my place in the public eye, I think, has always been a little more than just what is going on in that time in my life.
I was raised on the values of speaking up and making a positive difference in a very political family that believed in the importance of public service.
I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.
What motivated me to dedicate myself to public service for nearly two-thirds of my life was the chance to produce results for those people who entrusted me to be their voice and their champion.
I suppose being quite young and being thrust quite dramatically into a large public arena skewered my vision of what it means to live and be a part of something.
I didn't wake up and decide to become an activist. But you couldn't help notice the inequities, the injustices. It was all around you.
I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.
I have been a lifelong community activist and frankly did not dream of being in public office.