Description
Book SynopsisHope and Fear in Margaret Chase Smith's America: A Continuous Tangle provides a fresh interpretation of the life, career, and legacy of former United States Senator Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman elected to both houses of the U.S. Congress.
Trade ReviewDr. Gallant has skillfully integrated 20th century social and political history by placing Margaret Chase Smith’s sometimes difficult life and career in the context of strong personalities and critical events. A fascinating look at how Washington worked and how Smith, collaborated with, and alternately opposed, the great egos of the capitol city. -- James S. Henderson, former Director of the Maine State Archives
Very few people have had the opportunity to spend so much of their professional career in the study of Margaret Chase Smith as has Gregory Gallant. His depth of knowledge comes through in his new autobiography of "The Red Rose of Skowhegan". His research is painstakingly thorough, and offers a remarkably candid view of this trailblazing senator. Smith is a more complex figure than some realize, and Gallant's work illustrates this well. The book is also notable and useful for its discussion of Cold War American politics and of the notable Senate Class of 1948. -- Jim Melcher, University of Maine at Farmington
Hope and Fear in Margaret Chase Smith’s America tells a thorough and highly informative story about Margaret Chase Smith and her centrality in twentieth-century U.S. politics. Gallant does an impressive job placing her in the context of many of the most seminal moments of the early Cold War, and is particularly adept at weaving the local history of her home state into the story. -- David Hecht, Bowdoin College
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Chapter OnePersevering in the Face of Betrayal 14 Chapter TwoConnecting with the Good Men 57 Chapter ThreeThe Election of 1948 100 Chapter FourForging Cold War Consensus 142 Chapter FiveAnti-Communism and Civil Defense in the Fifties 211 Chapter SixEfforts to Open a Closed Society 277 Chapter SevenAll Politics, Even the Impolitic, Is Local 322 Chapter EightThe Canopy and the Mushroom Cloud 341 Chapter NineLiving With Death and Dying To Live 401 Conclusion 447 Acknowledgments 458 Bibliography 459
