In this remarkable book -- the second and final volume of Bernard M. Baruch's memoirs -- America's Elder Statesman recalls the exciting role he played for nearly fifty years in national and international affairs. A magnificent successor to My Own Story, Baruch's first volume of memoirs, The Public Years is infused with the wisdom and warmth of one of the great personalities of our time. Mr. Baruch begins this book with his departure from Wall Street, after an astounding career in finance, to enter public life. He tells of the problems that confronted him as Chairman of thhe War Industries Board during World War One, and of his role as an adviser to Woodrow Wilson in the shaping of the Treaty of Versailles. He describes the political wars of the 1920s, and discusses with candor the prominent personalities of that time. Of particular interest are Mr. Baruch's observations on the stock market crash of 1929, the great depression, and the New Deal. With a perspective born of deep experience in social and economic affairs, he analyzes the changes in American life that have accompanied the decline of laissez faire. Here, as elsewhere in this book, he is concerned with mistakes as well as achievements, and with parallels between the present and the past. In the tumultuous years since Bernard Baruch first entered public life, he has been intimately involved with most of the crucial issues of our time. In the 1930s. as Germany's power grew, he was among the first to attempt to awaken America to the threat of war. During the Second World War he was instrumental in guiding our program for defense. After the war, as American representative on the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, he presented this nation's plan for atomic control. In discussing the momentous developments of this century, Mr. Baruch draws revealing portraits of many of the famous men he has known, men whose influence helped shape our world. Woodrow Wilson, Clemenceau, Lloyd George; Coolidge and Hoover; Winston Churchill and F.D.R.; Truman and Eisenhower -- these are but a few of the major figures who appear in The Public Years, a truly absorbing memoir that is rich in detail, candid, and profound. - Jacket flap.