The Racial Attitudes of American Presidents: From Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt"George Sinkler has written a fascinating study of the individual racial attitudes of the ten presidents from 1860 to 1908, and how their views influenced their role in the White House. Basing his work on the personal letters, memoirs and papers of these men, Dr. Sinkler compares what they said with what they did, what they felt with how they acted. The author believes that all of the presidents in this study were extremely race conscious. As politicians, the presidents avoided moves which would bring them public condemnation. The personal ideas of the presidents did not influence their actions as much as did the views of the majority of Americans, and few of them "were willing to exploit the full potentialities of the Presidential office in the interest of racial statesmanship." The presidents never doubted that Blacks were American citizens who would ultimately enjoy full citizenship; however, they were not so generous with Orientals. And when it came to the question of integration of racial minorities into American life the presidents felt the Indian would achieve this before other groups. There is endless information in this book which forces the reader to reevaluate his thoughts about this period of American history and the role of the presidents"--Jacket. |
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Contents
PREFACE | 1 |
THE RACIAL ATTITUDES OF ANDREW JOHNSON | 77 |
+056 | 89 |
Copyright | |
18 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
acceptance according Addresses Amendment American Andrew Johnson annual message appeared appointment asked August believe Benjamin Harrison bill called cause Chinese citizens Civil Cleveland colored concerned Congress Constitution December Democrats Diary Douglass election emancipation enforce equality fact favor February federal felt Garfield George give given governor Grant hand Hayes History House ibid idea Indian issue James January Japanese John July June labor letter Lincoln March matter McKinley Negro never North November October Ohio opinion party political position prejudice present President problem protection question race racial reason Reconstruction Reel regard relations reported Republican Richardson RTLC rule Secretary seemed Senate September slavery slaves social South Southern Speech Theodore Roosevelt things thought tion told troops TRP PL United views vote wanted Washington York
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Racial Attitudes of American Presidents: From Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt Anchor Books Doubleday Anchor Book |
| Author | George Sinkler |
| Publisher | Doubleday, 1971 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Sep 16, 2008 |
| Length | 413 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |