Barney Frank, trailblazing Democratic congressman and champion of underdogs, dies at 86
By
The Economist
Has the shape of a bagel but none of the steam.
Summary
An obituary for Barney Frank, the trailblazing Democratic congressman who died on May 19th at age 86. The article highlights how Frank was always in the minority — left-handed, Jewish, and from a working-class background — and how this shaped his political career representing the underdog. It notes his New Jersey roots and his long tenure as congressman for Massachusetts's Fourth District.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledHe had never known what being in a majority was like, and Barney Frank enjoyed that.
First, he was left-handed, which accounted perhaps for the mess of spills and crumbs he left on himself after lunch, and for the cuts on his face because he tried to read while shaving.
Second, he was Jewish, which was hardly a career-favouring fact when he started out in politics, and not a great one as he was growing up in the heavily Catholic and Mafia-ridden city of Bayonne, New Jersey.
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