James Rogan

Look Mom-I'm a Congressman Takes you behind the scenes on what really happens after a guy wins election to the Big Show. Unlike most of his fellow conservative Republican colleagues, Rogan didn't spring from trust funds, prep schools, and inherited connections. He was the illegitimate son of a convicted felon--single mother who raised her four kids on welfare and food stamps; our future congressman grew up hanging out with street toughs: he hot-wired cars, smoked pot, was expelled from high school-and never graduated. Later, he scrapped his way through college and law school by working as a bartender in Hollywood strip clubs and a Hells Angels biker dive, and as a bouncer in a Los Angeles porn theater. How's that for a congressional pedigree? If you want to indulge your political curiosity with an entertaining and refreshing insight into life under the dome, then fasten your safety belt, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and get ready for an outrageously fun crash-car ride behind the veil of power. Rogan will show you how a high school dropout from a badass neighborhood adapted to the Congress of the United States, and how he made Congress adapt to him. Enough said-go buy this book

Look Mom-I'm a Congressman takes you behind the scenes on what really happens after a guy wins election to the Big Show. Unlike most of his fellow conservative Republican colleagues, James Rogan didn't spring from trust funds, prep schools, and inherited connections. He was the illegitimate son of a convicted felon--single mother who raised her four kids on welfare and food stamps; our future congressman grew up hanging out with street toughs who hot-wired cars and smoked pot; Rogan was expelled from high school-and never graduated. Later, he scrapped his way through college and law school by working as a bartender in Hollywood strip clubs and a Hells Angels biker dive, and as a bouncer in a Los Angeles porn theater. How's that for a congressional pedigree? If you want to indulge your political curiosity with an entertaining and refreshing insight into life under the dome, then fasten your safety belt, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and get ready for an outrageously fun crash-car ride behind the veil of power. Rogan will show you how a high school dropout from a badass neighborhood adapted to the Congress of the United States, and how he made Congress adapt to him. Enough said-go buy this book

On to Chicago: Rediscovering Robert F. Kennedy and the Lost Campaign of 1968 told the story (through historical fiction) of what likely would have happened in the 1968 presidential election had Senator Robert Kennedy survived his assassination and then went on to finish his campaign. The author, former Congressman James Rogan, followed his instincts as a lawyer and judge and tracked the evidence as he researched and wrote On to Chicago. To validate the narrative, On to Chicago (a 500-page work of "nonfiction fiction") had 1,000 fully sourced endnotes (over 400 additional pages). It was too much to fit into one volume. To preserve the immense research of On to Chicago, this stand-alone volume contains the complete collection of On to Chicago's sourced references. It is the official companion volume to On to Chicago. The Notes tells the complete saga of the key players and major incidents of the 1968 presidential campaign. It can be read in isolation, but to enjoy the full experience of that epic race, place this volume on a nearby table as you read On to Chicago.Bring along your imagination while reading On to Chicago in combination with The Notes, and all three will transport you back to what was-and what would have been-the most epic battle in modern political history.

On to Chicago: Rediscovering Robert F. Kennedy and the Lost Campaign of 1968 told the story (through historical fiction) of what likely would have happened in the 1968 presidential election had Senator Robert Kennedy survived his assassination and then went on to finish his campaign. The author, former Congressman James Rogan, followed his instincts as a lawyer and judge and tracked the evidence as he researched and wrote On to Chicago. To validate the narrative, On to Chicago (a 500-page work of "nonfiction fiction") had 1,000 fully sourced endnotes (over 400 additional pages). It was too much to fit into one volume. To preserve the immense research of On to Chicago, this stand-alone volume contains the complete collection of On to Chicago's sourced references. It is the official companion volume to On to Chicago. The Notes tells the complete saga of the key players and major incidents of the 1968 presidential campaign. It can be read in isolation, but to enjoy the full experience of that epic race, place this volume on a nearby table as you read On to Chicago.Bring along your imagination while reading On to Chicago in combination with The Notes, and all three will transport you back to what was-and what would have been-the most epic battle in modern political history.

Bedlam erupted among 1,500 ecstatic supporters when Bobby and Ethel Kennedy appeared. Looking tanned and rested, he stepped to the rostrum and pulled from his breast pocket an envelope on which he had jotted some notes. Giving a brief speech intentionally so he could wrap up the evening and get to the party, he congratulated his vanquished primary opponent, Eugene McCarthy, called for Party unity, and expressed hope that his campaign might end the divisions in America. . . . Bobby finished his remarks extemporaneously: "We are a great country, an unselfish country, and a compassionate country. And I intend to make that my basis for running." Pausing until the cheers died down, he added, "So my thanks to all of you, and now it's on to Chicago-and let's win there."The 1968 election was-and remains- spellbinding. Unlike modern presidential campaigns, where a dozen or more unknowns vie for debate stage sound bites, that year nine titans battled for the presidency. Fifty years later, most people are unaware that in a single race former Vice President Richard Nixon, California Governor Ronald Reagan, President Lyndon Johnson, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Eugene McCarthy, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, former Alabama Governor George Wallace, and Michigan Governor George Romney all squared off for the White House. The shocking assassination of Robert Kennedy on the night of his California primary victory left a gaping hole in history. and for five decades left this unanswered question: What if?On to Chicago answers for history-based on facts, not on idealized or romantic notions-what likely would have happened if RFK had lived to go on to Chicago, the city that hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention. On to Chicago is a heavily researched and sourced work that twists the arc of history with facts that will appeal both to fiction lovers as well as pure history aficionados, because so much of it is true. With nearly one thousand endnotes online that confirm how much of this story mirrors reality, many revelations will surprise even the most dedicated history buffs.

Bedlam erupted among 1,500 ecstatic supporters when Bobby and Ethel Kennedy appeared. Looking tanned and rested, he stepped to the rostrum and pulled from his breast pocket an envelope on which he had jotted some notes. Giving a brief speech intentionally so he could wrap up the evening and get to the party, he congratulated his vanquished primary opponent, Eugene McCarthy, called for Party unity, and expressed hope that his campaign might end the divisions in America. . . . Bobby finished his remarks extemporaneously: "We are a great country, an unselfish country, and a compassionate country. And I intend to make that my basis for running." Pausing until the cheers died down, he added, "So my thanks to all of you, and now it's on to Chicago-and let's win there."The 1968 election was-and remains- spellbinding. Unlike modern presidential campaigns, where a dozen or more unknowns vie for debate stage sound bites, that year nine titans battled for the presidency. Fifty years later, most people are unaware that in a single race former Vice President Richard Nixon, California Governor Ronald Reagan, President Lyndon Johnson, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Eugene McCarthy, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, former Alabama Governor George Wallace, and Michigan Governor George Romney all squared off for the White House. The shocking assassination of Robert Kennedy on the night of his California primary victory left a gaping hole in history. and for five decades left this unanswered question: What if?On to Chicago answers for history-based on facts, not on idealized or romantic notions-what likely would have happened if RFK had lived to go on to Chicago, the city that hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention. On to Chicago is a heavily researched and sourced work that twists the arc of history with facts that will appeal both to fiction lovers as well as pure history aficionados, because so much of it is true. With nearly one thousand endnotes online that confirm how much of this story mirrors reality, many revelations will surprise even the most dedicated history buffs.

"And Then I Met..." is a collection of humorous, adventurous, and sometimes poignant boyhood stories told by former Congressman James Rogan of doing everything possible, short of getting arrested, to meet and get advice from many famous politicians, sports stars, and entertainment legends he met as a boy growing up in San Francisco. Through Rogan's diaries and photos, you'll meet and get rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of people like Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Hubert Humphrey, Barry Goldwater, Cary Grant, Willie Mays, and dozens more. Rogan met everyone-from the last surviving witness of the massacre of General Custer, to stars of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. The stories and photographs brim over in this delightful compilation.

During the scandal of the 1990s, the media force-fed America and the world a steady diet of Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, a wagging presidential finger, and parsing phrases like the meaning of is. Now, Congressman James Rogan has opened his private diaries for both modern readers and for history by penning the ultimate insider's story on what led a very reluctant House of Representatives to impeach a then-very popular American president. From his first day on the House Judiciary Committee, Rogan knew if the scandal ever led to impeachment proceedings, future accounts would suffer from faulty memories or faulty motives. To combat the threat of factual or historical error, he kept diary notes during every significant impeachment behind-the-scenes meeting from the first day the Lewinsky scandal broke. He did this so there would be a complete and accurate historical chronicle - the best evidence - of what really happened in the unfolding drama. This historically important archive is unmatched in its thoroughness and integrity.

During the scandal of the 1990s, the media force-fed America and the world a steady diet of Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, a wagging presidential finger, and parsing phrases like the meaning of is. Now, Congressman James Rogan has opened his private diaries for both modern readers and for history by penning the ultimate insider's story on what led a very reluctant House of Representatives to impeach a then-very popular American president. From his first day on the House Judiciary Committee, Rogan knew if the scandal ever led to impeachment proceedings, future accounts would suffer from faulty memories or faulty motives. To combat the threat of factual or historical error, he kept diary notes during every significant impeachment behind-the-scenes meeting from the first day the Lewinsky scandal broke. He did this so there would be a complete and accurate historical chronicle - the best evidence - of what really happened in the unfolding drama. This historically important archive is unmatched in its thoroughness and integrity.

James Rogan was born to a single mother cocktail waitress who later raised her four children on welfare and food stamps, and who ended up as a convicted felon. His bartender father abandoned his mother and him before his birth. Despite growing up in San Francisco's hardscrabble Mission District, he became a political and history aficionado as a young boy, and he once convinced former President Harry S Truman to help him with his homework. But Rogan traveled in a tough circle of friends, and after years of borderline delinquency, he ended up expelled from high school. After that, he worked at a variety of low-end jobs, from porn theater bouncer to bartender at both a Hollywood Sunset Strip female mud wrestling bar and a Hell's Angels hangout. Along the way, a young Arkansas lawyer with whom he had a chance 1978 meeting urged him to continue his education, study law, and consider entering politics in the future. In time, Rogan scrapped his way through college and law school, and then he worked as a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney prosecuting killers in the elite Hardcore Gang Murder Unit. Later, he became a state court judge, the majority leader of the California State Assembly, and a United States congressman from Southern California. In 1998, as a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, his colleagues selected him to help lead the impeachment and prosecution of President Bill Clinton-the same Arkansas lawyer who advised him to go into law and politics two decades earlier.Rough Edges is a rarity among Washington tales. It is full of outrageous stories, wild humor, pull-no-punches candor, and downright fun. Told in Rogan's engaging and frank voice, his story is certainly the most freewheeling-and the most honest-political memoir ever written.

Imagine discovering the locked diary of a long-ago prominent official who recorded in it his unvarnished stories of behind-the-scenes encounters with some of the most famous people of his generation: world leaders, explorers, iconic movie and sport stars-even two canonized saints. How badly would you want to locate that key? How hard would you look for it? Your search is over. In this, his fifth book, former Congressman James Rogan reminiscences about the greats, the near-greats, and the once great but now forgotten people he has known. In Shaking Hands with History, he again throws open the covers of his private journals and photo albums to share with you more of his stories of private celebrity encounters. Each page pulls names from the headlines and the history books: boxing legend Muhammad Ali, President Ronald Reagan, first man on the Moon Neil Armstrong, Senator Ted Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn, baseball icon Hank Aaron, and many more. You'll experience everything from the firsthand accounts of people Rogan knew that rode with John F. Kennedy in his fatal 1963 Dallas motorcade to recollections from the heroes and villains of America's greatest political scandal-Watergate. If you like your history straight and with no chaser as revealed through the intimate recollections of a participant, you've come to the right place.

Imagine discovering the locked diary of a long-ago prominent official who recorded in it his unvarnished stories of behind-the-scenes encounters with some of the most famous people of his generation: world leaders, explorers, iconic movie and sport stars-even two canonized saints. How badly would you want to locate that key? How hard would you look for it? Your search is over. In this, his fifth book, former Congressman James Rogan reminiscences about the greats, the near-greats, and the once great but now forgotten people he has known. In Shaking Hands with History, he again throws open the covers of his private journals and photo albums to share with you more of his stories of private celebrity encounters. Each page pulls names from the headlines and the history books: boxing legend Muhammad Ali, President Ronald Reagan, first man on the Moon Neil Armstrong, Senator Ted Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn, baseball icon Hank Aaron, and many more. You'll experience everything from the firsthand accounts of people Rogan knew that rode with John F. Kennedy in his fatal 1963 Dallas motorcade to recollections from the heroes and villains of America's greatest political scandal-Watergate. If you like your history straight and with no chaser as revealed through the intimate recollections of a participant, you've come to the right place.