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The Right Answer

How We Can Unify Our Divided Nation

John K. Delaney

Henry Holt and Co.

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ISBN10: 1250294967
ISBN13: 9781250294968

Hardcover

240 Pages

$26.00

CA$34.00

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The son of a union electrician and grandson of an immigrant, John K. Delaney grew up believing that anything was possible in America. Before he was fifty, he founded, built and then sold two companies worth billions of dollars. Driven by a deep desire to serve, in 2012 he stepped away from his businesses, ran for Congress, and won. Now he has a new mission: unifying our terribly divided nation and guiding it to a brighter future.

As a boy, Delaney learned the importance of working hard, telling the truth and embracing compromise. As an entrepreneur, he succeeded because he understood the need to ensure opportunity for all, focus on the future, and think creatively about problem-solving. In these pages, he illustrates the potency of these principles with vivid stories from his childhood, his career in business, his family, and his new life as a politician. He also writes candidly about the often frustrating experience of working on Capitol Hill, where many of his colleagues care more about scoring political points than improving the lives of their fellow Americans. With a clear eye and an open heart, he explains that only by seeing both sides of anargument and releasing our inner entrepreneur can we get back to constructive, enlightened governing.

Seventy years ago, John F. Kennedy appealed to our best instincts when he said, “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer.” In this inspiring book, John K. Delaney asks all of us to cast aside destructive, partisan thinking and join him in an urgent endeavor: working together to forge a new era of American greatness.

Reviews

Praise for The Right Answer

“[John Delaney] tells the hard truth about our problems and stands for a rare (and brave) proposition—that political compromise is a good thing and is the key to growth and progress.”Katherine Bradley, President, CityBridge Foundation

“This book provides a roadmap to refocus government to deliver on a more promising future rather than accepting the divided and dysfunctional status quo.”Sonal Shah, executive director, Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, Georgetown University, and former director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation

“John Delaney is a rare breed of politician who understands that we get the best outcomes for our citizens when the government, the private sector, and the nonprofit world work together. This book shows how his understanding of all three spheres makes him a leader who can make progress against the challenges we face.”Jim Sorenson, founder and CEO, Sorenson Impact Foundation

Reviews from Goodreads

BOOK EXCERPTS

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Tell the Truth


The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

In the weeks following President Trump’s inauguration in January...

About the author

John K. Delaney

John K. Delaney, the United States Representative for Maryland's 6th congressional district, was one of America’s most innovative and successful entrepreneurs before he entered politics. The co-founder and CEO of two companies, HealthCare Financial and CapitalSource, both of which were ultimately sold for billions of dollars, he is an active philanthropist. A Democrat who is now in his third term in Congress, he was recently named by Fortune magazine as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. He and his wife April have four daughters and live in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Bill Morre