Michael Bowen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813036847
- eISBN:
- 9780813043999
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813036847.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter rejects the “white backlash” thesis that attributes the South's embrace of the Republican Party to racial issues, and white working-class abandonment of the Democratic Party over civil ...
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This chapter rejects the “white backlash” thesis that attributes the South's embrace of the Republican Party to racial issues, and white working-class abandonment of the Democratic Party over civil rights, taxation, welfare, and affirmative action. Backlash implies that the South's move from the Democrats to the GOP was reactionary, but this chapter argues that angst over civil rights alone did not guarantee a Republican realignment. Instead it stresses the building of Republican organization in the South—resources, field workers, communications infrastructure, and leadership—beginning with the 1944 campaign of Thomas Dewey, and culminating in Herbert Brownell's mastery of such organization on behalf of Dwight Eisenhower that shook the southern GOP out of its “post office politician” mentality. Unlike the presidential campaign of 1968, in which Richard Nixon amassed a “silent majority” around the concept of law and order, this chapter argues, the Republicans' first southern strategy was not based on race.Less
This chapter rejects the “white backlash” thesis that attributes the South's embrace of the Republican Party to racial issues, and white working-class abandonment of the Democratic Party over civil rights, taxation, welfare, and affirmative action. Backlash implies that the South's move from the Democrats to the GOP was reactionary, but this chapter argues that angst over civil rights alone did not guarantee a Republican realignment. Instead it stresses the building of Republican organization in the South—resources, field workers, communications infrastructure, and leadership—beginning with the 1944 campaign of Thomas Dewey, and culminating in Herbert Brownell's mastery of such organization on behalf of Dwight Eisenhower that shook the southern GOP out of its “post office politician” mentality. Unlike the presidential campaign of 1968, in which Richard Nixon amassed a “silent majority” around the concept of law and order, this chapter argues, the Republicans' first southern strategy was not based on race.
Michael Bowen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807834855
- eISBN:
- 9781469602752
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807869192_bowen
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Between 1944 and 1953, a power struggle emerged between New York governor Thomas Dewey and U.S. senator Robert Taft of Ohio that threatened to split the Republican Party. This book reveals how this ...
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Between 1944 and 1953, a power struggle emerged between New York governor Thomas Dewey and U.S. senator Robert Taft of Ohio that threatened to split the Republican Party. This book reveals how this two-man battle for control of the GOP—and the Republican presidential nomination—escalated into a divide of ideology that ultimately determined the party's political identity. Initially, the author argues, the separate Dewey and Taft factions endorsed fairly traditional Republican policies. However, as their conflict deepened, the normally mundane issues of political factions, such as patronage and fund-raising, were overshadowed by the question of what “true” Republicanism meant. Taft emerged as the more conservative of the two leaders, while Dewey viewed Taft's policies as outdated. Eventually, conservatives within the GOP organized against Dewey's leadership and, emboldened by the election of Dwight Eisenhower, transformed the party into a vehicle for the Right. The author reveals how this decade-long battle led to an outpouring of conservative sentiment that had been building since World War II, setting the stage for the ascendancy of Barry Goldwater and the modern conservative movement in the 1960s.Less
Between 1944 and 1953, a power struggle emerged between New York governor Thomas Dewey and U.S. senator Robert Taft of Ohio that threatened to split the Republican Party. This book reveals how this two-man battle for control of the GOP—and the Republican presidential nomination—escalated into a divide of ideology that ultimately determined the party's political identity. Initially, the author argues, the separate Dewey and Taft factions endorsed fairly traditional Republican policies. However, as their conflict deepened, the normally mundane issues of political factions, such as patronage and fund-raising, were overshadowed by the question of what “true” Republicanism meant. Taft emerged as the more conservative of the two leaders, while Dewey viewed Taft's policies as outdated. Eventually, conservatives within the GOP organized against Dewey's leadership and, emboldened by the election of Dwight Eisenhower, transformed the party into a vehicle for the Right. The author reveals how this decade-long battle led to an outpouring of conservative sentiment that had been building since World War II, setting the stage for the ascendancy of Barry Goldwater and the modern conservative movement in the 1960s.
Joyce Mao
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226252711
- eISBN:
- 9780226252858
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226252858.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines the motivation and method behind conservatives’ adoption of China as a signature foreign policy issue from the Chinese Revolution through the Korean War. During that transition ...
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This chapter examines the motivation and method behind conservatives’ adoption of China as a signature foreign policy issue from the Chinese Revolution through the Korean War. During that transition period, leaders of the “old” right began to see the rapidly disintegrating situation in East Asia as a political opportunity and looked to past events like Yalta to clarify their positions on foreign policy. Both exemplified and led by Sen. Robert A. Taft, they were awakened to the possibilities of internationalism by events in East Asia, and of China as exception to the rule of bipartisan foreign policy. As this chapter argues, it was a process that saw difficult, and sometimes bewildering, change for an old guard that sought to challenge both Democrats as well as moderate Eisenhower Republicans. Taft’s own evolution from isolationist to internationalist presidential candidate illustrated the swift change China wrought upon national politics.Less
This chapter examines the motivation and method behind conservatives’ adoption of China as a signature foreign policy issue from the Chinese Revolution through the Korean War. During that transition period, leaders of the “old” right began to see the rapidly disintegrating situation in East Asia as a political opportunity and looked to past events like Yalta to clarify their positions on foreign policy. Both exemplified and led by Sen. Robert A. Taft, they were awakened to the possibilities of internationalism by events in East Asia, and of China as exception to the rule of bipartisan foreign policy. As this chapter argues, it was a process that saw difficult, and sometimes bewildering, change for an old guard that sought to challenge both Democrats as well as moderate Eisenhower Republicans. Taft’s own evolution from isolationist to internationalist presidential candidate illustrated the swift change China wrought upon national politics.
Simon Topping
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813032283
- eISBN:
- 9780813038971
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032283.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
At the beginning of 1952, Robert Taft seemed destined to finally secure the presidential nomination he craved. His reelection in 1950 made him the triumphant symbol of resurgent conservatism. ...
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At the beginning of 1952, Robert Taft seemed destined to finally secure the presidential nomination he craved. His reelection in 1950 made him the triumphant symbol of resurgent conservatism. Although claiming without much conviction that he had no interest in running, it was apparent that Taft's reelection made him not just a potential presidential candidate, but the man most likely to secure the Republican nomination. This chapter focuses on the elections of the 1952, wherein the conservative faction of the Republican Party rooted for Robert Taft, a candidacy which was dreaded by African Americans. Taft repeatedly courted the South and was the de facto leader of the GOP in a Congress that had pointedly failed to pass any civil rights legislation. The unattractiveness and the lack of appeal of the Taft candidacy among black voters forced the Republicans to seek another presidential candidate in Dwight Eisenhower.Less
At the beginning of 1952, Robert Taft seemed destined to finally secure the presidential nomination he craved. His reelection in 1950 made him the triumphant symbol of resurgent conservatism. Although claiming without much conviction that he had no interest in running, it was apparent that Taft's reelection made him not just a potential presidential candidate, but the man most likely to secure the Republican nomination. This chapter focuses on the elections of the 1952, wherein the conservative faction of the Republican Party rooted for Robert Taft, a candidacy which was dreaded by African Americans. Taft repeatedly courted the South and was the de facto leader of the GOP in a Congress that had pointedly failed to pass any civil rights legislation. The unattractiveness and the lack of appeal of the Taft candidacy among black voters forced the Republicans to seek another presidential candidate in Dwight Eisenhower.
Lawrence S. Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813174860
- eISBN:
- 9780813174877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813174860.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Stassen’s failure to win the Republican nomination for president in June 1948 did not quench his thirst for high office. Robert T. McCracken, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of ...
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Stassen’s failure to win the Republican nomination for president in June 1948 did not quench his thirst for high office. Robert T. McCracken, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees, offered Stassen the university presidency in July, and the board elected him on September 17, 1948. The enthusiasm he aroused among college students as a Republican candidate convinced him that higher education had always been in the forefront of his ambitions. Stassen saw himself in the same light as Eisenhower, who had accepted the presidency of Columbia University. As the president of a prestigious Ivy League university, he could ensure his prominence in national affairs. For four years, Stassen walked a delicate line between his university obligations and his political ambitions. Inevitably, he had to confront criticism over his extracurricular activities. However, the possibility of a cabinet appointment in a Dewey administration became irrelevant when President Truman won the election in November.Less
Stassen’s failure to win the Republican nomination for president in June 1948 did not quench his thirst for high office. Robert T. McCracken, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees, offered Stassen the university presidency in July, and the board elected him on September 17, 1948. The enthusiasm he aroused among college students as a Republican candidate convinced him that higher education had always been in the forefront of his ambitions. Stassen saw himself in the same light as Eisenhower, who had accepted the presidency of Columbia University. As the president of a prestigious Ivy League university, he could ensure his prominence in national affairs. For four years, Stassen walked a delicate line between his university obligations and his political ambitions. Inevitably, he had to confront criticism over his extracurricular activities. However, the possibility of a cabinet appointment in a Dewey administration became irrelevant when President Truman won the election in November.
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748668878
- eISBN:
- 9780748695218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748668878.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The socialist phase in the history of the American left was mainly over by the 1940s, but in the latter part of that decade Republican politicians seeking political advantage alleged that the ...
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The socialist phase in the history of the American left was mainly over by the 1940s, but in the latter part of that decade Republican politicians seeking political advantage alleged that the Democratic Party was still nurturing “creeping socialism”. The chapter details the Great Scare and persecution of genuine left-wing figures like the actor Charlie Chaplin. It shows how Democratic politicians were smeared for allegedly voting the same way as Vito Marcantonio. The presidential candidate Senator Robert Taft rode the wave of anti-socialist rhetoric. Senator Robert Wagner’s attempt to round out the welfare state by introducing universal medical insurance foundered in this hostile climate, as did left-led attempts to end Jim Crow.Less
The socialist phase in the history of the American left was mainly over by the 1940s, but in the latter part of that decade Republican politicians seeking political advantage alleged that the Democratic Party was still nurturing “creeping socialism”. The chapter details the Great Scare and persecution of genuine left-wing figures like the actor Charlie Chaplin. It shows how Democratic politicians were smeared for allegedly voting the same way as Vito Marcantonio. The presidential candidate Senator Robert Taft rode the wave of anti-socialist rhetoric. Senator Robert Wagner’s attempt to round out the welfare state by introducing universal medical insurance foundered in this hostile climate, as did left-led attempts to end Jim Crow.
