Title: Independent nation : how the vital center is changing American politics /
Authors: Avlon, John P.
Publisher: Harmony Books,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Center parties United States History; Politicians United States Biography; Politicians United States History; United States Politics and government
Abstract: "Independent Nation documents the rich history of the defining political movement of our time. Organized as a series of short and colorful political biographies, it offers an insightful and engaging analysis of the successes and failures of key Centrist leaders throughout the twentieth century. In the process, it demonstrates that Centrism is not only a winning political strategy but an enlightened governing philosophy that best reflects the will of the people by putting patriotism ahead of partisanship and the national interest ahead of special interests."--Jacket.
Contents: Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 : the Rough Rider takes on the robber barons -- Harry Truman, 1948 : the man from Independence fights a three-front war -- The rise and fall of Jimmy Carter : facing Ronald Reagan, John Anderson, and Ted Kennedy in the election of 1980 -- Governor Buddy Roemer, 1991 : a reformer falls to a crook and the KKK in the Big Easy -- Woodrow Wilson, 1912 : a Progressive beats the party bosses -- John F. Kennedy, 1960 : an idealist without illusions charts a cold-warrior course -- Richard Nixon, 1968 : a promise to "bring us together" -- Bill Clinton, 1992 : leading the Democrats out of the wilderness and into the White House -- California governor Earl Warren, 1946 : the knight of nonpartisanship wins both primaries -- Eisenhower vs. Taft, 1952 : the internationalist vs. the isolationist -- Nelson Rockefeller vs. Barry Goldwater, 1964 : the liberal Republican vs. an advocate of "extremism" -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan vs. Bella Abzug, 1976 : the neo-con vs. the New Left -- Senator Margaret Chase Smith, 1950 : the lady from Maine stands up to Joe McCarthy -- Senator Edward W. Brooke, 1973 : stuck in the middle of the civil rights movement -- Radical centrists. The independent governors of the 1990s ; Governor Lowell Weicker of Connecticut ; Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota ; Governor Angus King of Maine -- Rudy Giuliani, 1997 : an independent reformer restores the glory to Gotham -- Election 2000 : the compassionate conservative vs. a practical idealist and the Straight Talk Express.