The outspoken Democratic congressman from Harlem--now the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee--tells about his early years on Lenox Avenue, being awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in a horrific Korean War battle (the last bad day of his life, he says), and his many years in Congress. Charles Rangel is one of a kind, and this is the story of how he became the celebrated person and politician he is today.--From publisher description.