U.S. senator Tammy Duckworth's Every Day Is a Gift isn't the typical politician's memoir. She doesn't have an ax to grind, a campaign to hype, a decades-long career in politics to relive. She has a remarkable story to tell.
Born in Thailand in 1968 to an ethnically Chinese mother and an American serviceman father, Duckworth moved around Southeast Asia for her dad's communications work until it dried up. In 1984, the family relocated to Hawaii, where they relied on food stamps and income from odd jobs. Her father's patriotism rubbed off on her: after graduating from the University of Hawaii and while pursuing a master's degree, Duckworth joined ROTC and did basic training--"the best decision of my life." Although she believed it was a mistake for the United States to invade Iraq, she volunteered to go overseas, spending eight months as a helicopter pilot before her Black Hawk was shot down. Duckworth lost her legs but not the drive to serve ("Working hard was my superpower"). She won a House seat in 2012, a Senate seat in 2016, and the rest is literally history: Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while holding office.
Every Day Is a Gift is a compelling and deeply humane book. One needn't be a Democrat to admire Duckworth's efforts to improve the lives of veterans, nor to appreciate her sense of humor: during the victory party after she won her House seat, Duckworth had her staff play ZZ Top's "Legs." --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer