I Never Had It Made: The
Autobiography of Jackie Robinson
by Alfred Duckett
Achievement And Bitterness Of A Champion
I Never Had It Made celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson
breaking into the major leagues. A disturbing and enlightening self-portrait
by one of Americas genuine heroes.--Publishers Weekly (starred review).
photo insert.
Personal Review: I Never Had It Made: The Autobiography of
Jackie Robinson by Alfred Duckett
I enjoyed "I Never Had It Made," and I can recommend it as a pretty
complete picture of Dodger great Jackie Robinson's life, in that he died
shortly after its publication in 1972. It is possible Jackie expanded more on
various topics in other publications, but I emphasize his heavy discussion
here of events from the 1960s to the early 1970s.

Any man who broke baseball's color line would have been an historical
figure and would have had to show a lot of toughness. However, he would
not necessarily have had Jackie's leadership qualities and penchant for
remaining in the limelight due to involvement in political and social causes.
Jackie Robinson had that extra dimension, and that is why I was interested
in what he had to say, on baseball and everything else.
Jackie had many triumphs. He was a star athlete at UCLA and resisted
segregation in the military. He broke baseball's color line, overcoming
merciless verbal abuse, threatened strikes, hate mail, and teammates who
did not support him at first. In connection with baseball he would react to
things, speak up, and then sometimes be singled out for controversy
beyond what he wanted. This happened, for example, when Jackie stated
that in his view the New York Yankee players were not bigoted, but that
the Yankee front office discriminated against blacks. Jackie was attacked
in various circles but graciously acknowledges here the support of
Commissioner Ford Frick.
Outside of baseball, Jackie spoke up too. A good quality he had was not
only to make his own views clear, but to stick up for someone he thought
was being treated unfairly. This can be seen in Jackie's desire, speaking
before the House Un-American Activities Committee, to strike a proper
balance on black singer and activist Paul Robeson: He had the right to
have communist sympathies but not the right to declare himself a
spokesman for all negroes. Jackie also attacked Malcolm X and Adam
Clayton Powell for unfairly criticizing UN Undersecretary Dr. Ralph Bunche
as an "Uncle Tom."
Eventually, Jackie was caught up in the fading of idealism that developed
as blacks and whites clashed following the passage of the main Civil
Rights laws. Jackie tells how he worked in support of Nelson Rockefeller
for President in 1964, but then went over to Lyndon Johnson when Barry
Goldwater got the Republican nomination. Corresponding to this, Jackie's
discusses his political evolution in supporting Richard Nixon before the
mid-1960s but then seeing the light later. This is one of the most
interesting aspects of the book. As for the business world, Jackie goes
into his time as head of personnel for Chock full o' Nuts and his
involvement with the African-American owned Freedom Bank.
Unfortunately, controversies existed, and he faced many tense moments.
Jackie became embittered with events. On top of this was the personal
tragedy of his son Jackie Jr., who became addicted to drugs in Vietnam
and later died in an auto accident. Jackie continued to speak out about
failure to hire blacks in managerial and front office positions in baseball as
well as general discrimination against blacks in employment. He grew to
mistrust the white establishment more.
Jackie Robinson was a commanding presence who always stood up for
what he believed. The reader of "I Never Had It Made" will feel his

sadness and bitterness. As someone who gave so much of himself,
Jackie should have received more in return, and what he wanted he did
not want for himself.
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