It Takes a Family

Santorum criticizes alike laissez-faire conservatives and liberal proponents of social welfare for promoting a radical view of autonomy. In particular, he criticizes the "bigs": "big government, big media, big entertainment, big universities". He also says that radical feminists are responsible for undermining the traditional family.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/us/politics/santorum-faces-questions-on-women-in-work-force.html?ref=opinion|Santorum Faces Questions on Women in the Work Force] He explained his views in an interview with NPR:

They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do. Government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulation low and that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues, you know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can't go it alone, that there is no such society that I'm aware of where we've had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4784905|title = Rick Santorum, 'It Takes a Family'| website=NPR }}

Many sympathetic reviews came from politically and religiously conservative organizations and leaders who welcomed the book as refreshing and bold. The book was praised by conservative Christian media leaders James Dobson and Pat Robertson and promoted through their organizations, as well as by the conservative magazine National Review, which printed a series of excerpts from the book. The magazine's book service called the book's ideas "innovative" and "based on sound values — including the centrality of the family to all social and political life."{{cite web |url=http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c6692 |title=National Review Book Service: It Takes a Family by Rick Santorum |accessdate=2006-10-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060117194558/http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c6692 |archivedate=2006-01-17 }} National Review Book Service products page A review by Keith Fournier in Catholic Online likewise praises the book, saying, "The author's discussion of how to create a family friendly public policy which promotes fidelity and encourages motherhood, fatherhood and intact families is well thought out and practical."http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=2398 Review of It Takes a Family,Catholic Online, July 25, 2005

Many reviews were critical of Santorum's work. Arguing that Santorum's social vision was anything but innovative or refreshing, one reviewer for The Philadelphia Inquirer referred to Santorum as "one of the finest minds of the Thirteenth Century".{{Cite news|last=Worthen|first=Molly|date=February 9, 2012|title=The First Principles of Rick Santorum|work=The New York Times|url=https://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/the-first-principles-of-rick-santorum/|access-date=May 7, 2020}} Writing for American Prospect Online, reviewer Mark Schmitt argues that the book fails to present a unified case for how social conservatism is served by laissez-faire economic policies, yet urges readers to commit to both; he also asserts that the author offers several solutions already proposed by his opposition, while criticizing the opposition's failure to provide solutions.http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10054 "It Takes a Democrat" (review of It Takes a Family), American Prospect Online, July 29, 2005

Ruth Conniff, reviewing the book for The Progressive, comments that certain arguments and examples in the book are seemingly at odds. As an example, the reviewer observes that a success story cited by Santorum as an example of a single mother getting off welfare actually showcases a number of strategies the senator opposes — leaving the children's father, use of public shelters, and use of welfare to support the family while getting an education, rather than leaving school to take a job.http://www.progressive.org/mag_conniff1005 "Rick Santorum's America," The Progressive, October 2005

In 2005, when Santorum was on Capitol Hill, then-Senator Hillary Clinton teased him, "Remember, Rick, it takes a village!" Santorum took it in stride, telling Christian Science Monitor, "She was joking – but in every joke there's something. So was it a little dig? Yeah, it was both. But it was nicer. ... I took it in good spirit."{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2008/0416/p01s02-uspo.html |title=From mistakes, Clinton has learned, adjusted |author= Linda Feldmann |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=April 16, 2008 |access-date=January 5, 2025}} Passages from It Takes a Family also generated controversy during Santorum's 2006 reelection campaign, as well as during his 2012 presidential campaign.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/rick-santorum-was-warned-that-2005-book-could-become-fodder-for-political-attacks/|title=Rick Santorum Was Warned That 2005 Book Could Become Fodder For Political Attacks|publisher=ABC News|date=March 17, 2012|first=Michael|last=Falcone}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120609183757/http://www.isi.org/%28S%28skmzinuh5gm35545t2yr422l%29%29/books/bookdetail.aspx?id=8fc8674d-a075-4832-863e-267f2b5bb34e Official site of It Takes a Family]
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RickS After Words interview with Santorum on It Takes a Family, July 31, 2005]

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Category:2005 non-fiction books

Category:Books about politics of the United States

Category:Books critical of modern liberalism in the United States

Category:English-language non-fiction books

Category:Rick Santorum

Category:Books about families

Category:Books about conservatism