Cory Anthony Booker (born in 1969) is a United States Senator representing New Jersey, in office since 2013. Previously he was Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013. Raised in northern New Jersey, Cory Booker went to Stanford University on a football scholarship, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University and graduated from Yale Law School. He served as a Newark, New Jersey city councilor from 1998 to 2002. He became mayor of Newark in 2006. During his tenure as mayor, his priorities were reducing crime and encouraging economic development projects. He gained a national reputation for his personal involvement in public service, particularly through his use of social media tools such as Twitter to connect with constituents. In 2013 he became the first black U.S. Senator from New Jersey. In February 2016, The New York Times identified him as a potential Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. This is his account of his own political education, the moments - some entertaining, some heartbreaking, all of them enlightening - that have shaped his civic vision. Here are the lessons Booker learned from the remarkable people who inspired him to serve, men and women whose example fueled his desire to create opportunities for others. Here also are his observations on the issues he cares about most deeply, from race and crime and the crisis of mass incarceration to economic and environmental justice. In United, Cory Booker draws on personal experience to issue a stirring call to reorient our nation and our politics around the principles of compassion and solidarity. He speaks of rising above despair to engage with hope, pursuing our shared mission, and embracing our common destiny.