ANNOTATED BIBLOGRAPHY
THE POLITICS OF FEAR AND NOSTALGA:
The Triumph of the Republican Party and Modern Conservatism, 1968-2008
David Cullen
In 1964 Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, capturing 61.2 percent of the
popular vote and winning 486 of the total 538 electoral votes. Following the presidential
election, political analysts suggested that the Republican Party might disappear as a viable
political organization by the mid-term elections of 1966. Yet, the Republican candidate Richard
Nixon won the first of two terms in 1968. The Republican Ronald Reagan won the first of two
terms in 1980. The Republican George Bush won in 1988, while his son won the first of two
terms in 2000. Of the ten presidential elections since 1964, the Republican Party won seven.
The three elections the party lost were won by a moderate-evangelical Christian, Jimmy Carter
and by Bill Clinton, who deliberately moved the Democratic Party from its left-of-center focus
to the moderate middle in order to win consecutive terms in 1992 and 1996. Thus, the
Republican Party not only survived its 1964 loss but altered the political atmosphere in such a
manner that the word “liberal” became a slur by the turn of the century. What explains this
dominance by a party perceived in 1964 to be a political outlier? At first the answer seemed to
be the reaction of Southern Democrats to the success of the Civil Rights Movement. Since
Reconstruction, the Democratic Party’s dominance of the region resulted in the phrase “the
Solid South” to describe the former Confederacy. Beginning in the late 1960s, Southern
Democrats switched their political allegiance so that by the 1990s, the region became the Solid
Republican South.
This answer proved too simplistic, however, to explain voter turnout between 1980 and
2004. Over the last decade historians and political scientists have produced a series of scholarly
monographs that provide a much more nuanced analysis of the reasons for the electoral
triumph of the Republican Party. Among the factors that explain the emergence of
conservatism as a major political force are religious and cultural values, reactions to modern
science, status quo anxiety, historical amnesia and demographic changes. This Study Grant
would provide the time to read the major works of these scholars and would result in a better
understanding of American politics since 1964 and would enhance my lecture/discussion points
for my 1302 survey classes and my History of Texas course. I will, of course, share the results of
my reading with my colleagues in both the history and political science departments.
Additionally, I will present at the fall Faculty Development Day in August 2015.
The Politics of Fear and Nostalgia
The Triumph of the Republican Party and Modern Conservatism
Bogus, Carl, T. Buckley: William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism (New
York: Bloomsbury Press, 2011)
Bogus-the latest biography of William Buckley emphasizes his importance as he
provided intellectual integrity to post World War II Conservatism in part by arguing that the
Republican Party must distance itself from extremists such as the John Birch Society.
Brinkley, Alan. “The Problem of American Conservatism,” American Historical Review (April
1994): 409-29
Brinkley-call for historians to study post W.W. II conservatism, including identifying the
key figures, organizations and events.
Bronitsky, Jonathan. “The Brooklyn Burkeans.” National Affairs (2009): 1-8
Carter, Dan T. The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, Origins of New Conservatism and the
Transformation of American Politics (Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press, 1996)
Carter-his work became a catalyst to re-think the causes for the decline of the Solid
South. George Wallace’s appeal to the working classes of the North caught political experts by
surprise. Wallace’s strategy became the centerpiece of the Republican Party’s campaigns
beginning in 1988.
Cowie, Jefferson. Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class (New York:
The New Press, 2010)
Cowie profiles the baby-boomer blue collar worker, emphasizing their expectation and
values and studies how popular culture portrayed the working class throughout the 1970s.
Darwin, Jonathan. Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America (New York:
Random House, 2014)
Darwin-argues that the politics of LBJ and Regan created a chasm between the two
parties and the events of the 1960s dismantled the American political consensus.
Edsall, Thomas Byrnes and Mary Edsall. Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes
on American Politics (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991)
Edsall-the authors examine the origins of the tax revolt that came to dominate political
discourse by the 1990s and continues to be a divisive force among the electorate.
Engels, Jeremy. The Politics of Resentment: A Genealogy (University Park: The Pennsylvania
State University Press, 2015)
Engels-written in response to the shooting of Congress women Gifford, he examines
how the political language of the country has produced resentment as a political force.
Flamm Michael. Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism (New
York: Columbia University Press, 2005)
Flamm-like Jenkins, he profiles the loss of faith among many liberals that the role of
government should be that of an active agent in society. The Republican Party reached out to
those dismayed by the failure of the government to maintain law and order and, beginning with
Nixon’s Silent Majority strategy of the 1970s, conservatives proclaimed liberalism a failure and
a threat to the national and economic security of the country.
Franks, Thomas. What’s the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
(New York: Holt Publishers, 2005)
Franks-provides a narrative of how the Republican Party convinced middle class and
working class Americans to vote against their economic self-interests in favor of promised
cultural changes.
Hartman, Andrew. A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2015)
Hartman- argues that the key to understanding the origins of the culture wars was the
work of a handful of New York intellectuals who began their career debating the merits of
communism but felt that the New Left had infected the liberalism that allowed an immigrant
generation, themselves, to succeed. rsity of Chicago Press, 2015)
Jenkins, Philip. Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties
America (New York: Oxford University Press: 2008)
Jenkins-he examines how the events of the 1960s produced a sense of panic among
many citizens who convinced themselves that the country was in the midst of a revolution that
threatened the status quo of white middle class Americans.
Kabaservice, Geoffrey. Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the
Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012)
Kabaservice-a timely book that reminds readers that the Republican Party once was the
home of many moderates. His study examines what happened to those moderate politicians
once considered important figures at the national level.
Kruse, Kevin M. One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
(New York: Basic Books, 2015)
Kruse-a fail attempt to connect politics and money with faith based voters.
Lasch, Christopher. “The Politics of Nostalgia: Losing History in the Midst of History.” Harpers 11
(November 1984): 65-70
Lash-a review essay that argues that historians have given in to a nostalgic view of the
past.
Lee, Michael J. Creating Conservatism: Postwar Words that made an American Movement (East
Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2014)
Lee-reviews the conservative cannon, the most important books that shaped
conservative thought.
Lind, Michael. Made In Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics
(New York: New America Books, 2003)
Lind-essentially an extended essay arguing that Texas political leadership has always
been conservative and the triumph of the Republican Party in the South occurred first in Texas.
McGirr, Lisa. Suburban Warriors: The Rise of the New American Right (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2001)
McGirr-one of the first books that challenges simpler explanations for the success of
conservatism. The author is one of the few to examine the role of suburbia and especially
women as agents for political change. However, her concentration on Orange County California
lessens the importance of her study.
Nash, George H. The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 (Wilmington:
ISI Books, 2006)
Nash-considered the best survey of conservative thought in one volume. A very well
written analysis of the major figures within the conservative movement.
Patterson, James T. Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore (New
York: Oxford University press, 2005)
Patterson-a work of synthesis, his monograph provides a political narrative emphasizing
the dramatic social and economic challenges the country faced beginning with Watergate
through the controversial 2000 presidential election.
Pearlstein, Rick. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American
Consensus (New York: Scribner, 2001)
Pearlstein-his work on Barry Goldwater is considered the first scholarly re-examination
of what happened to the Republican Party between 1954 and 1964. His story foreshadows
what happened to the party thirty years later.
____________. Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (New York:
Scribner, 2008)
Pearlstein- he followed his work on Goldwater by examining the political atmosphere
that allowed Nixon to emerge from his 1960 defeat as a viable candidate, using many of the
tactics that the party would adopt beginning in the 1980s. His work challenged the assumption
that the main reason for the triumph of the Republican Party was solely his Southern Strategy.
____________. “Who Owns the Sixties: The Opening of a Scholarly Generational Gap?” Lingua
Franca: The Review of Academic Life 6 (May/June 1996): 1-6
Pearlstein-examines how the sixties became a political weapon for the Republican Party
and the different approaches taken by different generation of scholars.
Phillips-Fein, Kim. “Conservatism: A State of the Field,” Journal of American History (December,
2011): 723-43.
Phillip-Fein-an historiographic essay reviewing the major works about conservatism
published between 1994 and 2010.
Schaller, Michael. Right Turn: American Life in the Reagan-Bush Era (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2007)
Schaller-a narrative of the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.B. Bush that
compares the evolution of the Republican Party between 1980 and 1992.
Self, Robert O. All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy since the 1960s (New
York: Hill and Wang, 2014)
Self- concludes that the Democratic Party harmed itself when the party abandoned
social justice e issues. A not very convincing argument.
Sokol, Jason. There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights (New
York: Alfred A. Knoph, 2006)
Sokol-an interesting examination of how average white Southers responded to the end
of segregation.
Tele, Steven. The Rise of the Conservative Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press
2009)
Tele-a concise well written treatment of the conservative movement beginning in the
late 1950s. Nash book is superior.
Thorburn, Wayne. A Generation Awakes: Young Americans for Freedom and the Creation of the
Conservative Movement (Ottawa: Jameson Books, 2010)
Thorburn-he rescues an often overlooked important player in the triumph of the
Republican Party, the Young Americans for Freedom student group. In fact, for every student
who joined S.D.S., two joined Y.A.F. The group became an important network for the early
success of Ronald Reagan.