Politics & Current Events
Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (1912-1994) is most closely associated with the truism “all politics is local.” One meaning of the observation is that politics must have a base of pragmatic neighborhood reality. It is not all theory; it is not all anticipation of demographics; it is not an imposition from above but an attention to grassroots. For years I resisted breaking out my political books to a page of their own because the topic seemed so ephemeral, so transitory. Well, what is the web but superb access to the ephemeral? I will try NOT to include too much history here or to stack the deck, so to speak, with partisan books. On the other hand, what is available is what is available — the only criteria is good writing, good sourcing, and some accordance with what my customers may be interested in. In that way, I am keeping it local, as per Speaker O’Neill. It will grow with time and a broadening definition of what is politics and what is a current event.
George Wallace: American Populist
George Wallace: American Populist
A full-scale biography of the complex life and times of George Wallace, from rural poverty under Roosevelt to national prominence in the age of segregation
Alabama Governor George Wallace captured the national spotlight in fiery opposition to civil rights as one of the last great demagogues of the Jim Crow South. That image, however, has overshadowed his other and more lasting significance–as spokesman for a tide of working-class resentment and general opposition to big, intrusive government that persists to this day. As historian Alan Brinkley wrote in theNew York Times,Wallace emerges in this biography as “the first of a new breed of protest politicians, the first to articulate themes that have no inherent racial content and that have now become a staple of American politics, having shaped every national campaign from Richard Nixon’s in 1968 to Bill Clinton’s and Ross Perot’s in 1992.”George Wallaceexplores the origins of Wallace’s racism, his relentless dedication to his own political advancement, the influence of his public life on the nation, and his role as the embodiment of the dark side of our nation’s politics–for America made George Wallace, not the other way around.
“A terrific read.George Wallaceis both a serious book about American politics and a good old-fashioned yarn.”–Washington Post