Courage to Stand

The former governor of Minnesota, takes readers into his heart, history and rise to power as a Republican governor in a traditionally blue state.

The fifth child of Gene and Ginny Pawlenty, the governor was raised in meat-packing mecca South St. Paul, where he regularly attended church and learned the value of hard work. His mother died when he was 16, but Pawlenty forged ahead to attend college and law school, marrying along the way.

He became governor in 2002, leading his state through crushing finance wars to a balanced budget, losing Minnesota’s soldiers in war, missing out on a possible vice-presidential bid with Sen. John McCain in 2008 and seeing the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis.

In Courage to Stand: An American Story, Pawlenty shows himself to be unrelentingly honest and optimistic, presenting a chatty, cheerful look at his past and his years in the governor’s chair, along with glimpses of national and international politics.

He speaks openly of his faith, which will interest readers who are seeing Pawlenty’s name bandied about as the 2012 elections loom.

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