Description
Book SynopsisPresidential Politics after Woodstock: Exit Right to Hurd Road is a unique narrative on the American electorate''s move away from the New Deal and Great Society to the political right after the largest gathering of a new generation of young Americans at a farm in Bethel, New York. Perhaps the apex of the anti-Vietnam War movement, three days of peace, love and music ended in the early morning of August 18, 1969. These youngsters were trying to stop a war and change the norms of society for almost five years. But as they hopped into their vans and muddied cars that took them away from Yasgur's farm many would exit right onto Hurd Road and a slow march to the political right. This book looks back at the political politics that consumed the American electorate from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump.
Trade Review“Jeffrey J. Volle has written a masterful guide to the presidential politics of the last five decades. Students of the presidency will find themselves turning to this volume again and again for its insightful treatment of the major episodes that have defined the office over the last half century. Recounting the stories of this period could be a long, dry slog but Volle is too fine a storyteller to let his material suffer that fate. Instead, Volle gives us a narrative with all the color and intrigue this crucial period deserves. Volle’s writing is so engaging that he will leave no student, no matter how novice, behind; his research is so thorough that he will leave no scholar, no matter how accomplished, without food for thought.” —Neil Kinkopf, Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgia State University, and author (with Peter Shane and Harold Bruff) of
Separation of Powers Law (4th ed. 2018)
“In a time when voters have become both more dogmatic but less ideological, it is well that we look to the cultural touchstones that are increasingly impactful. Jeffrey J. Volle’s
Presidential Politics after Woodstock is a trenchant examination into the disparate forces that have brought us where we are today.” —David Cross, author of
Chasing History: One Man’s Roadtrip Through the Presidential LibrariesTable of ContentsList of Illustrations – Acknowledgments – List of Abbreviations – Introduction – Woodstock (Post-LBJ) – The Education of Ohio (Richard Nixon) – President Ford and Those Lonely Nights (Gerald Ford) – A New President in Town (Jimmy Carter) – Another Democrat Bit the Dust (Ronald Reagan) – Only Want to Be Like Bill (George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush & Barack Obama) – In the End, Are We All Not Just Everyday People? (Donald Trump) – Conclusions – Bibliography – Index.
