The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American PoliticsGeorge Wallace has been called "the most influential loser in American politics". The four-time Alabama governor and four-time presidential candidate launched the conservative political movement that put Ronald Reagan in the White House in 1980 and gave Newt Gingrich and the Republicans control of the Congress in 1994. Historian Dan T. Carter, prize-winning author of Scottsboro, builds upon a decade of research to explain how Wallace transcended his regional parochialism to become the voice of the silent majority. Using newly available research materials on the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, Carter describes in sharp detail Wallace's pivotal role in shaping national politics from 1963 until the present. George Wallace was the Deep South politician who vowed "segregation forever", and first gave voice to a national backlash against Washington. Through the 1960s and 1970s, he sensed and then exploited the conservative reaction Americans have come to know by many names - white backlash, the silent majority, the alienated voter - and he made a generation of politicians dance to his tune. In 1968 he formed the American Independent Party and ultimately drew the support of nearly fifteen percent of the electorate. By 1972, his political message had become mainstream: a quest for law and order, hostility toward welfare, tax breaks for the middle class, a contempt for "Washington bureaucrats", and a reliance on "common folks with common sense" rather than "pointy-headed pseudo-intellectuals" to chart a return to moral values. More than any other political leader of his generation, Wallace was the alchemist of the new social conservatism that reshaped American politics in the 1970sand 1980s. Richard Nixon was obsessed with destroying or manipulating the Alabamian, whom he blamed for nearly causing his defeat in 1968. Ronald Reagan, as The New York Times concluded, "sailed into the White House" on the "tide George Wallace discovered". And that same tide gave Republicans a smashing victory in 1994 and the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years. |
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THE POLITICS OF RAGE: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics
User Review - KirkusHistorian Carter (Emory Univ.; When the War Was Over, 1985, etc.) tackles racist demagogue George C. Wallace, four-time governor of Alabama and presidential candidate. American politics is angry ... Read full review
The politics of rage: George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism, and the transformation of American politics
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictHistorian Carter's biography of the former Alabama governor and presidential candidate emphasizes Wallace's ability to exploit white racism and social conservatism to further his political career. It ... Read full review
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The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism ... Dan T. Carter No preview available - 1996 |
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aides Alabama American asked attorney author's interview began Bill Birmingham bombing Bremer called campaign candidate church civil rights close County court crowd Democratic demonstrators Department early election federal final followers force former four friends George Wallace going governor hand head House hundred integration issue January January 11 John Johnson Jones judge July June Kennedy late later leaders less Letter living looked Lurleen major March meeting Montgomery Advertiser moved never Nixon North November October Party percent plans police political President presidential Press race racial record reporters Republican returned Richard Robert seemed senator September showed South southern speech stand Story street talk television thousand told Trammell turned University vote voters Wallace's Washington week White House wife York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics |
| Author | Dan T. Carter |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster, 1995 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Sep 23, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0684809168, 9780684809168 |
| Length | 572 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |