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Like its predecessor, the second edition of Politics as Usual, treats the decade and a half after World War II as a discrete historical era, the end of which represents a watershed in the political life of the nation.
List of contents
Foreword vii
Acknowledgements xii
Preface xiii
Preface to the First Edition xv
Chapter One: Truman's Trial Period, 1945-1948 1 New President, New Problems 2
The Cold War Begins 10
The 1946 Elections 17
The Politics of Containment 20
Truman and the Eightieth Congress 29
The Election of 1948 35
Chapter Two: The Era of Hard Feelings, 1949-1952 48 Frustration of the Fair Deal 49
The End of Bipartisanship 53
The Anti-Communist Crusade 59
The Korean War and American Politics 63
Truman under Siege 75
The Election of 1952 81
Chapter Three: The Eisenhower Equilibrium, 1953-1956 88 The Reaffirmation of Republicanism 89
A New Foreign Policy? 94
The End of McCarthyism 106
The Cooptation of Congress 117
The Politics of Dead Center 123
Eisenhower Ascendant 129
Chapter Four: Endings and Beginnings, 1957-1960 140 The Continuing Problem of Civil Rights 141
Hard Times at Home and Abroad 147
National Security and Party Politics 159
President versus Congress 166
End of an Era: The Election of 1960 170
Conclusion: Reflections on a Political Era 180
Bibliographical Essay 186
Index
Photos follow page 118
About the author
Gary W. Reichard is Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. He has previously held faculty and administrative appointments at The Ohio State University, the University of Delaware, the University of Maryland, and Florida Atlantic University. He received his B.A. from the College of Wooster, his M.A. from Vanderbilt University, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. The author of
The Reaffirmation of Republicanism: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Eight-third Congress, he has co-edited two books of essays on recent American politics and society:
Reshaping America, Society and Institutions, 1945-1960 and
American Choices: Social Dilemmas & Public Policy since 1960. In addition to teaching post-World War II United States history, he has taught the history of American immigration and ethnicity.
Summary
Like its predecessor, the second edition of Politics as Usual, treats the decade and a half after World War II as a discrete historical era, the end of which represents a watershed in the political life of the nation.
