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Rating: 
Summary: Definitive work on the subject
Review: Frederickson furnishes the historical background necessary to understand the political history of the South--and the nation--for the past half century. The Dixiecrats, who bolted the Democratic Party in 1948 out of their opposition to the notion of racial equality, only won four states in their effort to elect Strom Thurmond. But their reactionary stance would eventually reach a wider public frightened by the integration of public schools, fair housing laws, and federal protection of citizenship rights. The campaign marks the beginning of the white South's flight from the New Deal coalition. Like Strom Thurmond himself, a lightning rod figure in this excellent book, the heirs of these segregationist rebels become Republicans in 1964 and 1968, and bring about the two-party South. The future of the region was foretold in the white supremacist revolt of 1948, and is retold here with clarity, grace, balance, and style. A fine piece of historical research and writing that illuminate American politics today.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD READ THAT ILLUMINATES AMERICAN POLITICS TODAY
Review: Frederickson furnishes the historical background necessary to understand the political history of the South--and the nation--for the past half century. The Dixiecrats, who bolted the Democratic Party in 1948 out of their opposition to the notion of racial equality, only won four states in their effort to elect Strom Thurmond. But their reactionary stance would eventually reach a wider public frightened by the integration of public schools, fair housing laws, and federal protection of citizenship rights. The campaign marks the beginning of the white South's flight from the New Deal coalition. Like Strom Thurmond himself, a lightning rod figure in this excellent book, the heirs of these segregationist rebels become Republicans in 1964 and 1968, and bring about the two-party South. The future of the region was foretold in the white supremacist revolt of 1948, and is retold here with clarity, grace, balance, and style. A fine piece of historical research and writing that illuminate American politics today.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive work on the subject
Review: Kari Frederickson's analysis of the Dixiecrat movement and their influence on Southern (and American) politics is an important volume, and will likely be the definitive work on the subject. The author charts the course of southern dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party beginning in the 1930s, culminating in the "critical election" of 1948 when the Dixiecrats challenged President Truman. What differs in this volume is the detail given to the Dixiecrat Party and J. Strom Thurmond and Fielding Wright, the party's candidates for president and vice-president, respecitively. As a result, we not only gain a better understanding of the Dixiecrats and why the party won the votes of only four southern states, but also how this pivotal event was the beginning of the end for the one-party South. Recommended for those interested in American political history and a must read for historians and students of the American South.
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