Having previously worked as his secretary, Yao feels that from Peng's drafting of the "Manifesto to Save Taiwan" in the 1960s, through being blacklisted by the authorities and fleeing overseas, to his return home after the lifting of martial law, and finally to representing the Democratic Progressive Party in the first-ever popular-vote presidential election, Peng Ming-min's remarkable life experiences are a veritable microcosm of Taiwan's modern history.
擔任過彭明敏秘書的姚文智認為，從 1960 年代彭明敏擬定台灣自救宣言，被當局列入黑名單而逃亡海外，解嚴後回到國內，代表民進黨參選第一任民選總統，彭明敏波濤起伏的人生歷程，正是台灣近代歷史的縮影。