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| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 101.1 | The History Cooperative
101.1  
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March, 2005
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Reviews

Gentlemen, It's Been My Pleasure
Four Decades in the Indiana Legislature

By Senator Lawrence Borst
(Cincinnati: Guild Press Emmis Books, 2003. Pp. 247. Illustrations. $24.99.)

In a book that provides all the benefits of an insider's account and contains all the disadvantages of being a personal recollection, former State Senator Lawrence M. Borst writes with three clear objectives in mind. First, he tells the story of the formation and early years of the Republican Action Committee of Marion County, an organization that emerged under the leadership of Keith Bulen as one of the very few urban political machines in the latter half of the 20th century. Borst describes the strategies used by Bulen and his allies to expand their power, and he provides valuable details about the methods used to construct a Republican machine that eventually won control of the city of Indianapolis. Next, he sets the record straight as to how Unigov was conceived, planned, and implemented. His account clarifies several points about the origins of Unigov, including who coined the name (Buert SerVaas) and the role that Keith Bulen played in designing the new government (very little). Finally, Borst writes to tell the story of a friend, Indianapolis attorney Ed Lewis, "a funny, shrewd man with all kinds of talents" (p. 8). To this third purpose, Borst provides some interesting vignettes, but his anecdotes fail to provide authoritative documentation of the many roles Lewis played behind the scenes in politics and government. . . .
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