Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture

Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture PDF Author: Benjamin Leontief Alpers
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807854167
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Focusing on portrayals of Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, and Stalin's Russia in U.S. films, magazine and newspaper articles, books, plays, speeches, and other texts, Benjamin Alpers traces changing American understandings of dictatorship from the la

Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture

Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture PDF Author: Benjamin Leontief Alpers
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807854167
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Focusing on portrayals of Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, and Stalin's Russia in U.S. films, magazine and newspaper articles, books, plays, speeches, and other texts, Benjamin Alpers traces changing American understandings of dictatorship from the la

The First American Dictator

The First American Dictator PDF Author: John Mulder
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
ISBN: 1612042120
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
A multi-billionaire Senator has believed for years that the United States is slowly disintegrating, due to politicians caring more about getting re-elected than about their country. Wisconsin Senator Stevens feels that political correctness has run amok and that people have swallowed the lie that government can solve all problems. American stature worldwide has shrunk to the extent that the country is no longer considered a military threat or a reliable partner. The very existence of the once mighty and respected country is being threatened. The senator uses his vast wealth and powerful friends to get others sympathetic to his ideals elected into office. Due to the tremendous upheaval caused by the threat of Muslim extremism, Senator Stevens uses the threat to become president. When the Muslims actually do start a reign of terror, he cancels all elections and becomes The First American Dictator.

American Dictator

American Dictator PDF Author: Rick Ainsworth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780977037629
Category : Intelligence service
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Could it possibly happen?After a polarizing and scandal-plagued presidency, a new American president is swept into office by a large majority. M. Spencer Howell, a popular governor of impeccable character and credentials, assumes the presidency with party majorities in Congress, and proceeds to transform America back to his vision of the founders' ideal.Howell's vision drives his administration to dramatic changes in law and policy, addressing crime, immigration, education, and other issues in a forthright assault on his predecessor's record. With enormous popularity among the American people, supermajorities in both houses of Congress, and new appointees to the Supreme Court, President Howell has a free hand to repair a broken American culture and society.Voices inside and outside the government have vague misgivings about the speed and direction of Howell's policies, and the creation of a new Militia answerable to the President's team. This large, well-trained force appears benign and quickly wins over the American public with courtesy and aplomb.But who can argue with a president who is so obviously sincere? Howell is a military veteran, a married man about whom his election opponents could not find the slightest flaw in judgment or character. If anyone can be trusted with the near absolute power created by his presidency, it's M. Spencer Howell.About his administration, however, some questions arise and, stubbornly, refuse to go away, at least in the minds of some of Howell's most loyal staffers. His vice president appears to head a cadre of ex-military men and spies, and there are whispers that not everything he does is being communicated to the President. And then there is the new and terrifying weapon, perfected at the beginning of Howell's term. The new president sees it as the ultimate deterrent, a force for good, but others see the potential for the most devastating first strike weapon the world has ever seen. This story chronicles the rise to power of a man beyond reproach, and serves as a cautionary tale to all who believe power cannot corrupt.

American Dictators

American Dictators PDF Author: Steven Hart
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813562147
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
One man was tongue-tied and awkward around women, in many ways a mama's boy at heart, although his reputation for thuggery was well earned. The other was a playboy, full of easy charm and ready jokes, his appetite for high living a matter of public record. One man tolerated gangsters and bootleggers as long as they paid their dues to his organization. The other was effectively a gangster himself, so crooked that he hosted a national gathering of America's most ruthless killers. One man never drank alcohol. The other, from all evidence, seldom drank anything else. American Dictators is the dual biography of two of America’s greatest political bosses: Frank Hague and Enoch “Nucky” Johnson. Packed with compelling information and written in an informal, sometimes humorous style, the book shows Hague and Johnson at the peak of their power and the strength of their political machines during the years of Prohibition and the Great Depression. Steven Hart compares how both men used their influence to benefit and punish the local citizenry, amass huge personal fortunes, and sometimes collaborate to trounce their enemies. Similar in their ruthlessness, both men were very different in appearance and temperament. Hague, the mayor of Jersey City, intimidated presidents and wielded unchallenged power for three decades. He never drank and was happily married to his wife for decades. He also allowed gangsters to run bootlegging and illegal gambling operations as long as they paid protection money. Johnson, the political boss of Atlantic City, and the inspiration for the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire, presided over corruption as well, but for a shorter period of time. He was notorious for his decadent lifestyle. Essentially a gangster himself, Johnson hosted the infamous Atlantic City conference that fostered the growth of organized crime. Both Hague and Johnson shrewdly integrated otherwise disenfranchised groups into their machines and gave them a stake in political power. Yet each failed to adapt to changing demographics and circumstances. In American Dictators, Hart paints a balanced portrait of their accomplishments and their failures.

The Dictator's Handbook

The Dictator's Handbook PDF Author: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
Publisher: Public Affairs
ISBN: 161039044X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Explains the theory of political survival, particularly in cases of dictators and despotic governments, arguing that political leaders seek to stay in power using any means necessary, most commonly by attending to the interests of certain coalitions.

Dictator's Dreamscape

Dictator's Dreamscape PDF Author: Joseph R. Hartman
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822986493
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Joseph Hartman focuses on the public works campaign of Cuban president, and later dictator, Gerardo Machado. Political histories often condemn Machado as a US-puppet dictator, overthrown in a labor revolt and popular revolution in 1933. Architectural histories tend to catalogue his regime’s public works as derivatives of US and European models. Dictator’s Dreamscape reassesses the regime’s public works program as a highly nuanced visual project embedded in centuries-old representations of Cuba alongside wider debates on the nature of art and architecture in general, especially in regards to globalization and the spread of US-style consumerism. The cultural production overseen by Machado gives a fresh and greatly broadened perspective on his regime’s accomplishments, failures, and crimes. The book addresses the regime’s architectural program as a visual and architectonic response to debates over Cuban national identity, US imperialism, and Machado’s own cult of personality.

Latin American Dictators of the 20th Century

Latin American Dictators of the 20th Century PDF Author: Javier A. Galván
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600163
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
Throughout the 20th century, the emergence of authoritarian dictatorships in Latin America coincided with periods of social convulsion and economic uncertainty. This book covers 15 dictators representing every decade of the century and geographically from the Caribbean and North and Central and South America. Each chapter covers their personal information (childhood, education, marriage, family...), assumption of power, relationship with the United States, oppression of civilians, and collapse of their regimes. The book also investigates inherent contradictions in U.S. foreign policy: promoting democracy abroad while supporting brutal dictatorships in Latin America. Such analysis requires multiple perspectives and this work embraces an evaluation of the influence of military dictatorships on cultural elements such as art, literature, journalism, music and cinema, while drawing on data from documentary archives, court case files, investigative reports, international treaties, witness testimonies, and personal letters from survivors. The dramatic experiences of courageous individuals who challenged these 15 oppressors are also recounted.

The First American Dictator

The First American Dictator PDF Author: John Mulder
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781448600892
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
The continuing terrorist problems in the United States had finally spurred Senator Joe Stevens into action. The United States needed a strong leader, and a strong Congress.The senator's plan to restore America to its preeminent position in the world would depend on getting the right people elected. This would of course take time. He had spent the last few years putting together a staff that shared his belief in what was needed to be done.The past few elections had gone well and Stevens party was now substantially in control. After his election as president the first orders of business were to bring the American Muslim community under control, track down the terrorist leaders all over the world, stop illegal immigration, and strengthen the military. Some of the harsh measures needed would be forgiven once the worldwide terrorist threat had been eliminated. The US had finally recovered from its economic follies, and the people were ready for a strong leader.

Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America

Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America PDF Author: Scott Mainwaring
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107433630
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
This book presents a new theory for why political regimes emerge, and why they subsequently survive or break down. It then analyzes the emergence, survival and fall of democracies and dictatorships in Latin America since 1900. Scott Mainwaring and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán argue for a theoretical approach situated between long-term structural and cultural explanations and short-term explanations that look at the decisions of specific leaders. They focus on the political preferences of powerful actors - the degree to which they embrace democracy as an intrinsically desirable end and their policy radicalism - to explain regime outcomes. They also demonstrate that transnational forces and influences are crucial to understand regional waves of democratization. Based on extensive research into the political histories of all twenty Latin American countries, this book offers the first extended analysis of regime emergence, survival and failure for all of Latin America over a long period of time.

Doing Business with the Dictators

Doing Business with the Dictators PDF Author: Paul J. Dosal
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 0585120900
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
The United Fruit Company (UFCO) developed an unprecedented relationship with Guatemala in the first half of this century. By 1944, UFCO owned 566,000 acres, employed 20,000 people, and operated 96% of Guatemala's 719 miles of railroad, making the multinational corporation Guatemala's largest private landowner and biggest employer. In Doing Business with the Dictators, Paul J. Dosal shows how UFCO built up a profitable corporation in a country whose political system was known to be corrupt. His work is based largely on research of company documents recently acquired from the Justice Department under the Freedom of Information Act-no other historian researching this topic has looked at these sources. As a result, Dr. Dosal is able to offer the first documentary evidence of how UFCO acquired, defended, and exploited its Guatemalan properties by collaborating with successive authoritarian regimes.