Book excerpt: Publisher description: Slade Gorton's half century in politics began in 1956. Together with Dan Evans and Joel Pritchard, he was a key player in generating a new wave of progressive Republican politics in Washington State. He helped elect the youngest governor in state history; argued 14 cases bafore the U.S. Supreme Court as attorney general; upset a legend to win a seat in the U.S. Senate; saved baseball for Seattle; angered Indians and environmentalists; championed the plight of timber towns caught in the crossfire over the spotted owl; suffered a bitter defeat and made a comback, only to lose one of the closest Senate races in American history. Gorton went on to investigate British Petroleum's safety practices, forged consensus on the 9/11 Commission and served on the 2011 Redistricting Commission. This sweeping biography explores the eventful life of a resilient politican who remains in the arena in his 80s.