Despite his twin defeats to Eisenhower, Stevenson had an impressive public career: as a young lawyer in FDR's New Deal administration, as special assistant to the secretary of the navy in World War II, as an advisor on the creation of the United Nations after the war, as governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953, as ambassador to the United Nations in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet among his finest moments, Broadwater writes, were his campaigns for the presidency, when he managed to rally a demoralized, divided Democratic party and to give the American public - for the last time in recent history, according to some pundits - a choice between two good candidates, not merely the lesser of two evils.
The mutually energizing and often volatile friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson - unexplored in depth by scholars until this study - was one of the last century s remarkable political alliances. Both Stevenson and Eleanor Roosevelt shared a view of politics as a moral enterprise, one in which the fulfillment of its "mission" was the betterment of the human condition. This belief was the foundation upon which their legislative initiatives were constructed. Employing letters and diaries as well as contemporary media accounts, this book examines the perspectives, the convictions, the style, and the spirit that both principals brought to the calling of public service.
Each volume of the Dictionary of World Biography contains 250 entries on the lives of the individuals who shaped their times and left their mark on world history. This is not a who's who. Instead, each entry provides an in-depth essay on the life and career of the individual concerned. Essays commence with a quick reference section that provides basic facts on the individual's life and achievements. The extended biography places the life and works of the individual within an historical context, and the summary at the end of each essay provides a synopsis of the individual's place in history. All entries conclude with a fully annotated bibliography.
Few eras in U.S. history have begun with more optimistic promise and ended in more pessimistic despair than the 1960s. When JFK became president in 1960, the U.S. was the hope of the world. Ten years later American power abroad seemed wasted in the jungles of Indochina, and critics at home cast doubt on whether the U.S. was really the land of the free and the home of the brave. This book takes an encyclopedic look at the decade—at the individuals who shaped the era, the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement, the women's movement, and the youth rebellion. It covers the political, military, social, cultural, religious, economic, and diplomatic topics that made the 1960s a unique decade in U.S. history.
The inspiring story of the 13 courageous Black men who integrated the U.S. Navy during World War II—leading desegregation efforts across America and anticipating the civil rights movement. Featuring previously unpublished material from the U.S. Navy, this little-known history of forgotten civil rights heroes uncovers the racism within the military and the fight to serve. Through oral histories and original interviews with surviving family members, Dan Goldberg brings thirteen forgotten heroes away from the margins of history and into the spotlight. He reveals the opposition these men faced: the racist pseudo-science, the regular condescension, the repeated epithets, the verbal abuse and even violence. Despite these immense challenges, the Golden Thirteen persisted—understanding the power of integration, the opportunities for black Americans if they succeeded, and the consequences if they failed. Until 1942, black men in the Navy could hold jobs only as cleaners and cooks. The Navy reluctantly decided to select the first black men to undergo officer training in 1944, after enormous pressure from ordinary citizens and civil rights leaders. These men, segregated and sworn to secrecy, worked harder than they ever had in their lives and ultimately passed their exams with the highest average of any class in Navy history. In March 1944, these sailors became officers, the first black men to wear the gold stripes. Yet even then, their fight wasn’t over: white men refused to salute them, refused to eat at their table, and refused to accept that black men could be superior to them in rank. Still, the Golden Thirteen persevered, determined to hold their heads high and set an example that would inspire generations to come. In the vein of Hidden Figures, The Golden Thirteen reveals the contributions of heroes who were previously lost to history.
Ambassador Finger provides an insider's view of significant events in American diplomacy since World War II. Also included are insightful appraisals of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Bush, Lodge, Stevenson, and Goldberg. He goes on to portray dramatic changes in the American Foreign Service which has become a merit service of outstanding men and women of varied ethnic backgrounds, chosen from all parts of the country on the basis of highly competitive entrance examinations. Finger also dispels the canard that a diplomat is someone sent abroad to lie for his country. He argues that, on the contrary, a reputation for integrity is essential for effective diplomacy. This is particularly true at the United Nations. Finger spent 15 years there and relates from experience salient situations where diplomatic skill, effective advocacy, and the cultivation of friendship and trust have contributed to the maintenance of peace and the establishment of significant development programs. He further demonstrates how permanent representatives who were close to the president were able to have crucial influence on major American policies. This insightful guide to contemporary American foreign policy and the workings of both the Foreign Service and the United Nations will be of interest to scholars and students of American diplomacy as well as candidates for the Foreign Service.
Say “the Sixties” and the images start coming, images of a time when all authority was defied and millions of young Americans thought they could change the world—either through music, drugs, and universal love or by “putting their bodies on the line” against injustice and war. Todd Gitlin, the highly regarded writer, media critic, and professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, has written an authoritative and compelling account of this supercharged decade—a decade he helped shape as an early president of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and an organizer of the first national demonstration against the Vietnam war. Part critical history, part personal memoir, part celebration, and part meditation, this critically acclaimed work resurrects a generation on all its glory and tragedy.
A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
Interweaving key cultural, economic, social, and political events, a history of the United States in the post-World War II era ranges from 1945, through a turbulent period of economic growth and social upheaval, to Watergate and Nixon's 1974 resignation
What best defines a Democrat in the American political arena—idealistic reformer or pragmatic politician? Harry Truman adopted both roles and in so doing defined the nature of his presidency. Truman and the Democratic Party is the first book to deal exclusively with the president's relationship with the Democratic party and his status as party leader. Sean J. Savage addresses Truman's twin roles of party regular and liberal reformer, examining the tension that arose from this duality and the consequences of that tension for Truman's political career. Truman saw the Democratic party change during his lifetime from a rural-dominated minority party often lacking a unifying agenda to an urban-dominated majority party with strong liberal policy objectives. A seasoned politician who valued party loyalty and recognized the value of political patronage, Truman was also attracted to a liberal ideology that threatened party unity by alienating southern Democrats. By the time he succeeded Franklin Roosevelt, the diversity of opinions and demands among party members led Truman to alternate between two personas: the reformer committed to liberal policy goal—civil rights, national health insurance, federal aid to education—and the party regular who sought greater harmony among fellow Democrats. Drawing on personal interview with former Truman administration members and party officials and on archival materials—most notably papers of the Democratic National Committee at the Harry S. Truman Library—Savage has produced a fresh perspective that is both shrewd and insightful. This book offers historians and political scientists a new way of looking at the Truman administration and its impact on key public policies.
