A major force in the American labor movement, Lane Kirkland rose through the ranks of the AFL-CIO to become the union's president in 1979, a position he held until his retirement in 1995.
During his tenure, Kirkland presided over some of the thorniest issues faced by American labor and worked closely with Lech Walesa and Solidarity in their struggles against Poland's communist regime. Drawing on primary sources, including Kirkland's own unfinished history of the labor movement, this biography tells the fascinating story of a man born into the segregationist, anti-union deep South who went on to become one of the most eloquent and effective spokesmen for workers worldwide.
