How Florida Happened: The Political Education of Buddy MacKay.

• Author: Torre, David N.

How Florida Happened: The Political Education of Buddy MacKay

By Buddy MacKay

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said that a politician campaigns in poetry, but governs in prose. Prime examples of both are abundant in former Florida Governor Buddy MacKay's recently published autobiography. However, this political tome has a unique flavor that only a career in Florida could provide.

MacKay begins his story with expected facts and figures regarding his family and its roots in Central Florida. MacKay, a Florida attorney, also discusses the outset of his political career. Yet what makes the book interesting is the recurring theme of change.

The reader is treated to details and insights from what is rapidly becoming a bygone era in Florida politics. From run-ins with entrenched Panhandle political interests during his time in the Florida Legislature to conflict faced while trying to kill the Cross Florida Barge Canal as a member of Congress, MacKay's stories are a treat for those interested in learning how dramatically a political landscape can change during the course of one politician's career.

Another valuable nugget of Florida politics encapsulated within the pages of MacKay's book are the descriptions, struggles, and triumphs of many of Florida's most celebrated elected leaders of the past 50 years.

This loose affiliation of elected officials is comprised of LeRoy Collins, Reuben Askew, Bob Graham, Jon Mills, and Sandy D'Alemberte, among many others. To describe this group as simply Florida Democrats leaves something to be desired. Perhaps Key lime liberals or some other such term should be used to more fully describe how this group both influenced and was influenced by the Sunshine State.

However, MacKay's relationship with former Governor Lawton Chiles truly dominates the prose of the book. MacKay describes Chiles...