The Political Life of Bella Abzug, 1920–1976 : Political Passions, Women's Rights, and Congressional Battles

The Political Life of Bella Abzug, 1920–1976: Political Passions, Women’s Rights, and Congressional Battles, by Alan H. Levy, marks the first full biography of Bella Abzug. Abzug was one of woman in politics in mid- and late-twentieth-century America. Levy traces the New York City world of Russian-Jewish immigrants into which Abzug was born. He then examines her education through Columbia Law School, her marriage, and her early work both as a labor attorney and as an advocate for many controversial causes, including that of an African-American falsely accused of raping a white woman in Jim Crow Era Mississippi. Levy studies Abzug’s work for nuclear disarmament, her activism against the Vietnam War, and her successful bid for Congress in 1970. From there, the biography details the myriad of issues with which Abzug grappled as a Member of Congress from 1971 to 1977, and ends with her close loss to Daniel Patrick Moynihan in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1976. A second book, studying the rest of Abzug’s life from 1976 to 1998, is to follow. "The Political Life of Bella Abzug, 1920-1976: Political Passions, Women's Rights, and Congressional Battles, by Alan H. Levy, marks the first full biography of Bella Abzug. Abzug was one of, if not the most important woman in politics in mid and late 20th-century America. Levy traces the New York City world of Russian-Jewish immigrants into which Abzug was born. He then examines her education through Columbia Law School, her marriage, and her early work as a labor attorney and as an advocate for many controversial causes, including that of an African-American falsely accused of raping a white woman in Jim Crow-era Mississippi. This biography studies her work for nuclear disarmament, her activism against the Vietnam War, and her successful bid for Congress in 1970. From there the book details the myriad of issues with which she grappled as a Member of Congress from 1971 to 1977, and ends with her close loss to Daniel Patrick Moynihan in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1976. A second book is to follow which studies the rest of Abzug's life from 1976 to 1998." -- Publisher website. A Political Biography of Bella Abzug, 1920-1976, explores the political life of one of the most compelling figures in American politics of the 70s. Passionate and intelligent, Abzug was one of the most potent forces for political change in the country. Both loved and loathed for her forceful personality, she gained her greatest fame in the battle for women's rights. Her career hit its peak when the world of American politics was changing and Levy aptly places Abzug in the thick of historical events and cultural shifts that changed the landscape of politics