Kerner: The Conflict of Intangible Rights

Kerner: The Conflict of Intangible Rights by Barnhart, Bill. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780252025044.

This first biography of Otto Kerner traces the heritage of a major figure in Illinois politics and explains his precipitous descent from public hero to public enemy. As a Cook County judge, Kerner reformed Illinois adoption procedure; as a two-term Democratic governor he promoted economic development, education, mental health services, and equal access to jobs and housing; as a federal appeals court judge he bucked the law-and-order tide and defended the rights of the accused. Kerner achieved national fame as chair of the National Commission of Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), which remains a milestone in Americas struggle for racial harmony.An eloquent prophet of the grave consequences of racism in Americas cities, Kerner articulated the commissions principal finding that our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequal. Kerners achievements, however, were eclipsed by his conviction on federal charges of mail fraud, bribery, perjury, and income tax evasion tied to his dealings in stock of an Illinois racetrack operator.Arguing that Kerners incarceration related less to his misdeeds than to the zeal of federal investigators in attacking corruption in Illinois, Bill Barnhart and Gene Schlickman reveal how the prosecution of the popular ex-governor deepened the penetration of the federal government into state and local politics and coarsened public attitudes toward public service. This broad-based study sets Kerners life against a background of pivotal events and issues in American politics over six decades. An absorbing biography of a prominent and arguably tragic public figure, "Kerner" presents a cautionary tale on the strengths and weaknesses of the American political character and the capriciousness of political acclaim and denigration.