Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right

Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right PDF Author: Justin P. Coffey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 144084142X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The narrative of Spiro Agnew's rise and fall has never been fully told. This compelling book tells the story of one of the most controversial, high-level politicians of recent American history and explains the importance of Agnew's life and career. Too often overlooked by students of modern conservatism, Spiro T. Agnew's political career mirrored the transformation of the Republicans from a "big tent" party to a narrower, more conservative, and ideologically purer one in the 1960s and 1970s. Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right traces Agnew's life and career and shows how Agnew was a key figure in American politics—and documents how a powerful politician who looked to be headed to the presidency ended up having to resign from the office of the vice president in shame and fade into the shadows of political history. This political biography examines how Spiro Agnew's ideological transformation from a moderate liberal to a conservative spearheaded the rise of the Republican Right. Author Justin P. Coffey, PhD, explores the political, social, and racial aspects of Agnew's career and how he both influenced and was himself shaped by each of these parameters. This book offers an unprecedented study of Agnew's legacy in the present-day context, providing information suited for any reader interested in history or politics and filling a void in the scholarship of the rise of the conservative movement.

Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right

Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right PDF Author: Justin P. Coffey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 144084142X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
The narrative of Spiro Agnew's rise and fall has never been fully told. This compelling book tells the story of one of the most controversial, high-level politicians of recent American history and explains the importance of Agnew's life and career. Too often overlooked by students of modern conservatism, Spiro T. Agnew's political career mirrored the transformation of the Republicans from a "big tent" party to a narrower, more conservative, and ideologically purer one in the 1960s and 1970s. Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right traces Agnew's life and career and shows how Agnew was a key figure in American politics—and documents how a powerful politician who looked to be headed to the presidency ended up having to resign from the office of the vice president in shame and fade into the shadows of political history. This political biography examines how Spiro Agnew's ideological transformation from a moderate liberal to a conservative spearheaded the rise of the Republican Right. Author Justin P. Coffey, PhD, explores the political, social, and racial aspects of Agnew's career and how he both influenced and was himself shaped by each of these parameters. This book offers an unprecedented study of Agnew's legacy in the present-day context, providing information suited for any reader interested in history or politics and filling a void in the scholarship of the rise of the conservative movement.

Republican Populist

Republican Populist PDF Author: Charles J. Holden
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813943272
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Typically a maligned figure in American political history, former vice president Spiro T. Agnew is often overlooked. Although he is largely remembered for his alliterative speeches, attacks on the media and East Coast intellectuals, and his resignation from office in 1973 in the wake of tax evasion charges, Agnew had a significant impact on the modern Republican Party that is underappreciated. It is impossible, in fact, to understand the current internal struggles of the Republican Party without understanding this populist "everyman" and prototypical middle-class striver who was one of the first proponents of what would become the ideology of Donald Trump’s GOP. Republican Populist examines Agnew’s efforts to make the Republican Party representative of the "silent majority." Under the tutelage of a group of talented speechwriters assigned to Agnew by President Richard Nixon including Pat Buchanan and William Safire, Agnew crafted the populist-tinged, anti-establishment rhetoric that helped turn the Republican Party into a powerful national electoral force that has come to define American politics into the current era. A fascinating political portrait of Agnew from his pre–vice presidential career through his scandal-driven fall from office and beyond, this book is a revelatory examination of Agnew’s role as one of the founding fathers of the modern Republican Party and of the link between Agnew’s "people’s party" and the fraught party of populists and businessmen today.

The Rise of the Republican Right

The Rise of the Republican Right PDF Author: Brian M. Conley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351067117
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Few scholars have paid close attention to the factors internal to the Republican Party that helped the Right to consolidate its power within the party between the 1960s and the 1980s. Plugging the gap in party literature, The Rise of the Republican Right: From Goldwater to Reagan provides a comprehensive account of the rise of the Republican Right in the years between Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential defeat and the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980. Specifically, it offers a historical-institutional analysis of the organizational factors internal to the Republican Party that helped the conservative Right maintain, and then expand its ascendant position within the GOP in the critical years between Goldwater and Reagan. Brian M. Conley demonstrates how the growth of the Right during this period was aided by a desire on the part of many Republican leaders to rebound from electoral defeat by rebuilding the party organizationally, rather than reforming it politically, through the introduction of a more "service" -oriented party structure. The Rise of the Republican Right will interest academics, party scholars, and researchers eager to gain a more nuanced understanding of the factors that helped the Right become a dominant force within the Republican Party.

Bag Man

Bag Man PDF Author: Rachel Maddow
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0593136683
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The knockdown, drag-out, untold story of the other scandal that rocked Nixon’s White House, and reset the rules for crooked presidents to come—with new reporting that expands on Rachel Maddow’s Peabody Award–nominated podcast “Both a thriller and a history book, Bag Man is a triumph of storytelling.”—Preet Bharara, New York Times bestselling author of Doing Justice and host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet Is it possible for a sitting vice president to direct a vast criminal enterprise within the halls of the White House? To have one of the most brazen corruption scandals in American history play out while nobody’s paying attention? And for that scandal to be all but forgotten decades later? The year was 1973, and Spiro T. Agnew, the former governor of Maryland, was Richard Nixon’s second-in-command. Long on firebrand rhetoric and short on political experience, Agnew had carried out a bribery and extortion ring in office for years, when—at the height of Watergate—three young federal prosecutors discovered his crimes and launched a mission to take him down before it was too late, before Nixon’s impending downfall elevated Agnew to the presidency. The self-described “counterpuncher” vice president did everything he could to bury their investigation: dismissing it as a “witch hunt,” riling up his partisan base, making the press the enemy, and, with a crumbling circle of loyalists, scheming to obstruct justice in order to survive. In this blockbuster account, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz detail the investigation that exposed Agnew’s crimes, the attempts at a cover-up—which involved future president George H. W. Bush—and the backroom bargain that forced Agnew’s resignation but also spared him years in federal prison. Based on the award-winning hit podcast, Bag Man expands and deepens the story of Spiro Agnew’s scandal and its lasting influence on our politics, our media, and our understanding of what it takes to confront a criminal in the White House.

The Right Side of the Sixties

The Right Side of the Sixties PDF Author: Laura Jane Gifford
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137014792
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
The 1960s were a transformative era for American politics, but much is still unknown about the growth of conservatism during the period when it was radically reshaped and became the national political force that it is today. In their efforts to chronicle the national politicians and organizations that led the movement, previous histories have often neglected local perspectives, the role of religion, transnational exchange, and other aspects that help to explain conservatism's enduring influence in American politics. Taken together, the contributions gathered here offer a cutting-edge synthesis that incorporates these overlooked developments and provides new insights into the way that the 1960s shaped the trajectory of postwar conservatism.

The Reagan Revolution and the Rise of the New Right

The Reagan Revolution and the Rise of the New Right PDF Author: Kenneth J. Heineman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
For students of U.S. history, The Reagan Revolution explores how a Hollywood upstart and eventual conservative leader became one of the most successful and influential presidents in U.S. history—one whose presidency helped to define the end of the Cold War. This book covers Ronald Reagan's long rise to the presidency and the conservative political revolution he brought about in the 1980s. Spurning the moderate values and policies Republicans had previously championed, Reagan's revolution continues to play an outsized role in America's political life. This important reference book gives browsers and readers alike an opportunity to focus on many of the intertwined issues of the 1980s: abortion, gay rights, law and order, the Cold War, tax cuts, de-industrialization, the Religious Right, and the political divisions that made Reagan's legislative victories possible. The book opens with a concise biography covering Reagan's rise from radio personality and actor to governor and president. Subsequent chapters cover politics and policy. Chapters also include an important review of Reagan's legendary public relations operations ("morning in America" and the perfection of the television photo op) and the ways in which 1980s popular culture influenced and was influenced by his presidency. This section portrays Reagan as a product of Hollywood who keenly understood the importance of public opinion and creating a positive image.

Scoundrels

Scoundrels PDF Author: J. Michael Martinez
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538130807
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
"American history buffs will savor this detailed yet accessible roundup of political imbroglios." —Publishers Weekly Political scandals have become an indelible feature of the American political system since the creation of the republic more than two centuries ago. In his previous book, Libertines: American Political Sex Scandals from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump, Michael Martinez explored why public figures sometimes take extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their sexual desires. In Scoundrels, Martinez examines thirteen of the most famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous political scandals of other sorts in American history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Combining riveting storytelling with insights into 200 years of American political corruption, Martinez has once again written a book that will enlighten all readers interested in human nature and political history.

A Progressive History of American Democracy Since 1945

A Progressive History of American Democracy Since 1945 PDF Author: Chris J. Magoc
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000513734
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
A Progressive History of American Democracy Since 1945: American Dreams, Hard Realities offers a social, political, and cultural history of the United States since World War II. Unpacking a period of profound transformation unprecedented in the national experience, this book takes a synthetic approach to the history of the 1940s to the present day. It examines how Americans descended from a mid-century apogee of boundless expectations to the unsettling premise that our contemporary historical moment is fraught with a sense of crisis and national failure. The book’s narrative explores the question of decline and more importantly, how the history of this transformation can point the way toward a recovery of shared national values. Chris J. Magoc also gives extensive treatments to the following: Grassroots movements that have expanded the meaning of American democracy, from the 1950s human rights struggle in the South to contemporary movements to confront systemic racism and the existential crisis of climate change. The resilience of American democracy in the face of antidemocratic forces. The impacts of a decades-long economic transformation. The consequences of America’s expanding global military footprint and national security state. Fracturing of a nation once held together by a post-war liberal consensus and broadly shared societal goals to an America facing an attack from within on empirical truth and democracy itself. This book will be of interest to students of modern U.S. history, social history, and American Studies, and general readers interested in recent U.S. history.

Nixonland

Nixonland PDF Author: Rick Perlstein
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451606265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 899

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Book Description
An exciting e-format containing 27 video clips taken directly from the CBS news archive of a brilliant, best-selling account of the Nixon era by one of America’s most talented young historians. Between 1965 and 1972 America experienced a second civil war. Out of its ashes, the political world we know today was born. Nixonland begins in the blood and fire of the Watts riots-one week after President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, and nine months after his historic landslide victory over Barry Goldwater seemed to have heralded a permanent liberal consensus. The next year scores of liberals were thrown out of Congress, America was more divided than ever-and a disgraced politician was on his way to a shocking comeback: Richard Nixon. Six years later, President Nixon, harvesting the bitterness and resentment borne of that blood and fire, was reelected in a landslide even bigger than Johnson's, and the outlines of today's politics of red-and-blue division became already distinct. Cataclysms tell the story of Nixonland: • Angry blacks burning down their neighborhoods, while suburbanites defend home and hearth with shotguns. • The civil war over Vietnam, the assassinations, the riot at the Democratic National Convention. • Richard Nixon acceding to the presidency pledging a new dawn of national unity--and governing more divisively than any before him. • The rise of twin cultures of left- and right-wing vigilantes, Americans literally bombing and cutting each other down in the streets over political differences. •And, finally, Watergate, the fruit of a president who rose by matching his own anxieties and dreads with those of an increasingly frightened electorate--but whose anxieties and dreads produced a criminal conspiracy in the Oval Office.

The Republican Right since 1945

The Republican Right since 1945 PDF Author: David W. Reinhard
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813164400
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
In 1981, a Right Wing Republican at long last resided in the White House, presiding over what may prove to be the most fundamental restructuring of American political life since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fortunately, The Republican Right since 1945 now provides us with the necessary historical understanding of conservative Republicans. David Reinhard's dispassionate yet lively book recounts the Republican Right's political struggles from the death of FDR in 1945 to the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Younger readers will discover that Right Wing Republicans are older than Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater and that some conservative Republicans once feared the overextension of American power abroad and the rise of the "garrison state" at home. Those old enough to remember when the Republican Right was called the "Old Guard" will rediscover the events and personalities of those earlier years, thanks to Reinhard's use of more than thirty five manuscript collections and the most recent historical writing. Not content to let this history end where traditional manuscript sources run thin, Reinhard has brought the story of the Republican Right Wing forward to President Ronald Reagan's inauguration, placing Right Wing Republican reaction to the Johnson and the Nixon-Ford years within the context of the earlier period and chronicling the electoral triumph of Ronald Reagan and the Republican Right. Students of the past and observers of the present will appreciate Reinhard's treatment of the always-troubled Nixon-Republican Right association; challenger Ronald Reagan's battle against President Gerald Ford in 1976; the decline of GOP moderation; and the rise of the New Right-Moral Majority forces and their relationship to the now ascendant Republican Right. Reinhard illuminates the conservative Republican past and thereby makes the current political scene more understandable. Thoroughly researched and brilliantly written, The Republican Right since 1945 will fascinate scholars and general readers alike.