Description
Book SynopsisThis book tells the remarkable story of the Maine Democratic Party â how it suddenly rose from irrelevance in 1954 with the election of Governor Ed Muskie, successfully challenged the ruling Republican Party over the next two decades, and initiated a creative period of wide-ranging reforms. .
Trade ReviewThrough decades of writing, Doug Rooks has chronicled, with unparalleled insight and devotion, Maine’s politics – a state that’s produced from its 1.3 million people an outsized share of leaders with national and international significance. Now, Rooks tells where these leaders came from, and in the process tells Maine’s story: its sudden metamorphosis into a two-party state; the successes of reform; recent periods of strife; and the author’s prescriptions for future progress. Throughout the world, democracies are under stress. Rooks provides a case study for how to grapple with that stress, and meet the challenges citizens face in this continuing struggle. —Former State Senator Peter Mills -- Peter Mills, Former State Senator
Table of ContentsPreface Rise Chapter 1 Beginning: 1954 Chapter 2 Building: 1955-65 Chapter 3 Reform Governor: 1966-74 Decline Chapter 4 Prosperity: 1974-86 Chapter 5 Disaster: 1986-94 Chapter 6 The Long Decline: 1994-2010 Renewal Chapter 7 Recovery Chapter 8 A Different State Chapter 9 The Future Afterword Acknowledgements Sources Index
