Waltzing Matilda: The Life and Times of Nebraska Senator Robert Kerrey

A maverick among the early 1992 Democratic presidential candidates (he dropped out in March), the Nebraska senator and former governor receives a probing but enthusiastic treatment in this biography by a freelance journalist. Following a relatively carefree boyhood and college career, Harper states, Kerrey matured during his service as a Navy SEAL officer in Vietnam, from which he returned a disillusioned war hero missing a leg. Partnership in a successful restaurant chain made him a millionaire, and when his thoughts turned to politics he quickly mastered the art of campaigning. As a senator and member of the Appropriations Committee, Kerrey strongly supported farm interests and advocated national health insurance. He voted against the 1989 savings-and-loan bailout, and initially opposed the Gulf war and the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. It's ``more than likely,'' the author concludes, that Kerrey will one day run for the presidency again. ( Aug. )