Description |
1 online resource ([xii], 336 pages) |
Contents |
Introduction : searching for the center -- Part I. Patriot kings ; Between aristocracy and democracy : John Adams -- Up from federalism : George Cabot -- Reckoning with the original sunbelt right : John Quincy Adams -- The Jeffersonian origins of the GOP : Abraham Lincoln -- Part II. Progressives ; The last patrician : Henry Adams -- Between privilege and poverty : Theodore Roosevelt -- Losing the square deal center : William Howard Taft -- Part III. Pragmatists ; "Me-too" Republicanism meets the new right : Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. -- West of center : the Bushes -- After liberalism : Carter, Clinton, Obama -- Conclusion : holding the center |
Summary |
The fierce polarization of contemporary politics has encouraged Americans to read back into their nation's past a perpetual ideological struggle between liberals and conservatives. However, in this timely book, David S. Brown advances an original interpretation that stresses the critical role of moderate statesmen, ideas, and alliances in making our political system work. Beginning with John Adams, Brown charts the vital if uneven progress of centrism through the centuries. Moderate opposition to both New England and southern secessionists during the early republic and later resistance to industrial oligarchy and the modern Sunbelt right are part of this persuasion's far-reaching legacy. Time and again moderates, operating under a broad canopy of coalitions, have come together to reshape the nation's electoral landscape. Today's bitter partisanship encourages us to deny that such a moderate tradition is part of our historical development--one dating back to the Constitutional Convention. Brown offers a less polemical and far more compelling assessment of our politics |
Bibliography |
Includes chapter notes (pages [269]-285), bibliographical references (pages [287]-304), and index |
Notes |
Print version record |
Subject |
Moderation -- Political aspects -- United States -- History
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Politicians -- United States.
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Political culture -- United States
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Politics, Practical -- United States
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy.
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture.
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Moderation -- Political aspects
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Political culture
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Politicians
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Politics and government
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Politics, Practical
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SUBJECT |
United States -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140410
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Subject |
United States
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Genre/Form |
History
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Form |
Electronic book
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ISBN |
1469629240 |
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9781469629247 |
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9781469629254 |
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1469629259 |
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