The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics
by Dan T. Carter
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"George 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 show more 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 1970s and 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."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved show lessTags
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Member Reviews
excellent biography of George Wallace. Reads well. If you want background on the new conservatism in the American South this book will provide that.
Carter captures the personality of Wallace. Often misreports minor facts.
3782. The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics, by Dan T. Carter (read 13 Aug 2003) I read this author's superlative book on the Scottsboro Boys on Dec 7, 1969, and knew this would be a good book. It was published in 1995, and is basically a biography of George Wallace, though it studies Wallace as a catalyst for political change. One stands disturbed anew at the support that Wallace gained despite his racism--or rather, because of his racist views. The book covers the years after Wallace was shot in 1972 rather skimpily, and treats his victories of 1974 and again in 1982 pretty cursorily. The book is well-footnoted, with a good bibliography. Not as good a show more book as his book on the Scottsboro Case, but a winner nonetheless. show less
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Author Information
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Dan T. Carter is a professor of history at Emory University. He received his B. A. from the University of South Carolina, his M. A. from the University of Wisconsin, and then returned to the University of South Carolina for his Ph.D. Carter wrote From George Wallace to Newt Gingrich: Race and the Conservative Counterrevolution as well as The show more Politics of Rage: George Wallace and the Rise of New Conservatism and the Transformation of American Politics, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, as well as the Seltzer Prize. Carter's other awards include the Organization of American Historians' Avery Craven Prize, the Jules Landry Prize, the Lillian Smith Award, and the Anisfield Wolfe Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1995
- People/Characters
- George Wallace
- Important places
- Alabama, USA; USA
- Important events
- Conservative movement (U.S. history)
- Related movies
- George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire (2000 | IMDb)
- Disambiguation notice
- Full title (1995): The politics of rage : George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism, and the transformation of American politics / Dan T. Carter... (show all)>
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 976.106 — History & geography History of North America South central United States Alabama
- LCC
- F330.3 .W3 .C37 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history Alabama
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 247
- Popularity
- 131,549
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.27)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
