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Robert J. Healey, Jr., widely referenced as The Cool Moose.
One evening as I drove in heavy traffic through Warren, Rhode Island, I took notice of a tall figure about a hundred yards ahead to the right. He wore a white shirt and black tie, framed by an oversized dark colored suit jacket. As I drove closer, I noticed the man stood on a slim strip of grass that had grown almost two feet high. That sliver of lawn served as the only separation between a yellow ranch to the man’s back and the busy main road to his front. As my vehicle drew nearer, I recognized the person on the side of the road as Robert J. Healey, Jr., the perennial third party candidate...
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SYNOPSIS
With the possible exception of Mayor Vincent Cianci, no political figure garnered more consistent attention throughout Rhode Island than Robert J. Healey, Jr., widely referenced as The Cool Moose. From 1982 to 2016, his unconventional appearance, head turning campaigns, and candid informative commentary drew inquiring looks, incited spontaneous laughter, and ultimately caused political and personal reflection. Though he lost almost every political contest he entered, he drew national attention and conveyed a core message that resonated with conservatives and liberals. Robert Healey made people think, and challenged them to act.
Robert J. Healey Jr. ascended to the forefront of Rhode Island politics. From his earliest days as an elementary school-yard loner to his years as a celebrated statewide individualist, the work revisits Healey’s shock value antics, deep reasoning, and life’s purpose. The story offers an in-depth account of his hilarious and entertaining campaigns, but ultimately focuses on his private struggles, professional record, and political reckoning. No other work has taken on this complex, fascinating, and often misrepresented political third-party entity.