Reading Rick: The Preface

Keep in mind these are my opinions of It Takes a Family by Rick Santorum and I encourage everyone to read it themselves to form their own.

Traditionally the preface sets the tone for the book and lets the reader know what to expect. Sen. Santorum’s preface is divided into two parts, about three pages describing the book and his qualifications and the reasons he is writing it. Another three pages are acknowledgements.

The first part, the description had, in my view, two themes – liberals are bad, conservatives have not staked out a good position on poverty and social problems. It struck me as extremely divisive, to start out with the liberal and conservative labels without explaining what is meant by each, and there is not description in the preface. The second theme is on Santorum’s qualifications. It is a good thing to point out why you as an author know something about your subject but it is best done with a touch of humility and the senator is somewhat lacking here. In one 15-line paragraph we read:

I was trying to help ...
I was assigned ...
I led a team ...
I was elected ...
We [he and Dan Coats] became the heart of ... (p. x)

It’s just a bit much.

Now, the second part, the acknowledgements, is interesting. He does the requisite thanking of the spouse. Publish a book without this and things could get chilly at home. Ditto with any children old enough to read.

A few interesting comments:

Our hours are long, the pace intense, and the stress high, but she not only helps hold me together, she is often single-handedly the steady guiding light for our six children, ages 3 to 14, too. (p. xi)

I wonder if this will jibe with everything late in the book. We shall see. And

In fact, our lives were incomplete until we had each and every one of our children. (p. xii)

I’m not sure what this means. Did he feel his life was incomplete when he only had one child? Is he saying that the family is complete now? If he has other children later, is his life incomplete at the moment? And

My prayer is that the time I poured into this book will result in a somewhat better America in which they may grow and serve their fellow citizens.(p. xii)

No hubris there. One interesting contrast – he thanks his parents but does not mention them by name, not even first names, but gives the full names of his in-laws. He also says he would not have had the opportunity to write the book if he were not elected to the Senate. There are very few things in life I feel certain of. People who feel absolute certainty on a number of things sort of amaze me. How do they do that? How is Santorum certain he would not have been able to write this book if he weren’t elected? Maybe he’s right. Maybe he wouldn't have written it if he had been in private legal practice. But maybe he would. How does he know?

Next: Section 1