Description
Book SynopsisNo segment of the American electorate is more reliably Democratic than African Americans. The GOP, meanwhile, remains nearly an all-white party. Timothy Thurber illuminates the deep roots of this gulf by exploring the relationship between African Americans and the Republican Party from the end of World War II to Richard Nixon’s presidency.
Trade Review"A monumental work. For decades to come, this will be the definitive study of the Republican Party and race in the years following World War II. It is exhaustively researched, meticulously written, and slays a bucketful of myths on the subject."—David Nichols, author of A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution
"A fresh examination, full of new insights and great nuance. Readers will learn that many of the stereotypes about the Republican Party and race just are not accurate."—Donald T. Critchlow, author of The Conservative Ascendancy
"Rich in detail, incident, and insight, Thurber’s splendid work explains the misperceptions and missed opportunities that led to the widening gulf between the Party of Lincoln and the nation’s minorities. A judicious and essential history, full of contemporary resonance."—Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party from Eisenhower to the Tea Party
"The most deeply researched and nuanced history to date of how the GOP’s national leadership dealt with, or failed to deal with, the African American freedom struggle in the three decades following World War II. Thurber moves far beyond the impressionistic histories of the Republican southern strategy to show how liberal, moderate, and conservative Republicans were arguing over what was to become of Lincoln’s legacy. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the history behind the common perception today of the GOP as a superannuated party of white folks."—Joseph Crespino, author of Strom Thurmond’s America
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Fair Employment Practices Commission, Voting Rights, and Racial Violence
- 2. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Reform of the Federal Government
- 3. “At Sea on This”: Eisenhower and Black Protest
- 4. Republicans and Civil Rights Legislation, 1952-1960s
- 5. Five: The GOP, Direct Action, and Racial Policy, 1960-1963
- 6. The 1964 Civil Rights Act
- 7. Race and Republican Politics, 1961-1964
- 8. Civil Rights Policy, 1965-1968
- 9. The Nixon Synthesis
- 10. Schools, Voting Rights, and the Supreme Court, 1969-1970s
- 11. Integration Revisited
- 12. Economic Policy: Nixon’s First Term
- 13. A New Republican Majority?
- 14. Denouement: The GOP and Race, 1973-1974
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Index
- A photo section appears following page 204
