In a vigorous defense of public life, Senator Joseph Lieberman, one of the most articulate and respected of our politicians, defines the duty, the honor and the privilege of public life in the face of Americans' perennial cynicism about it.

Americans have always been suspicious of government and have misunderstood and mistrusted those in public life. This attitude is even more prevalent as the boundaries that once separated public and private have fallen. Lieberman argues that some of the public's mistrust is based on a misconception of what public life is and why we need it. He then describes that life as he has lived it over the last three decades -- with all its purpose, privileges, pressures and pleasures.