Pawlenty's Courage to Stand Review

Written by Derek Thomas Saturday, 09 April 2011 09:12

Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota governor, is on a book tour promoting his new autobiographical and advice book "Courage to Stand" and is expected to make an statement that he in fact will be making a bid for the president of the United States in 2012. All signs are pointing to yes and even the governor himself said he is leaning yes. The book itself focuses on promoting strong leadership in government by stressing the importance for leaders to be able to say no to pet projects and government spending. Moreover he stresses that a strong leader is able to make the right moral decisions that face them by reflecting on life's lessons.

Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota governor, is on a book tour promoting his new autobiographical and advice book "Courage to Stand" and is expected to make an statement that he in fact will be making a bid for the president of the United States in 2012. All signs are pointing to yes and even the governor himself said he is leaning yes. The book itself focuses on promoting strong leadership in government by stressing the importance for leaders to be able to say no to pet projects and government spending. Moreover he stresses that a strong leader is able to make the right moral decisions that face them by reflecting on life's lessons.

Calling himself a 'Sam's Club Republican' Pawlenty describes himself as a mainstream conservative, who doesn't just reach out to the richest folks in America. He thinks the Republican Party's tent is a large one and should include less well-off social conservatives who are trying to make a living in this great nation.

A major contention Pawlenty makes is that there is just too much spending in Washington and in his book he describes how he had the courage to say no to spending as governor of Minnesota. He addresses some major budget crises that the state was facing and a few showdowns with state legislators over cuts. As governor he managed to fix a 4.8 billion dollars budget, but it didn't go without a few showdowns with state legislators. In 2005, Pawlenty shutdown the government for ten days because the democrats wouldn't agree to his budget cuts which caused a major outcry from liberals in the state. Pawlenty did this because he knew it was the right thing to do to fix the lingering crisis and had the courage to stand up for Minnesota and he beliefs.

In 2008 Pawlenty was on the top of McCain's list of potential vice presidential candidates; however he was ultimately looked over and the McCain campaign chose Sarah Palin. Pawlenty states his fondness for Sarah Palin and her ability to rally conservatives in a meaningful way and admires her passion for conservative ideas.

Raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota Pawlenty learned life's lesson the hard way at times. When he was only fifteen years old his mother died of cancer and he spend his later teenage years being brought up by his father who was a truck driver. Pawlenty mentions how good leadership is obtained by those that have good morals and judgment. He gained this insight throughout the valuable lessons he learned making his own way through college and law school.