Unions, Radicals, and Democratic Presidents: Seeking Social Change in the Twentieth Century (Contributions in American History)

Social change advocates won a remarkable series of victories during the 20th century. This study examines both successful and unsuccessful efforts, ranging from the women's suffrage movement of the 1910s to the divisive debate between Gore and Nader supporters during the 2000 election. Halpern details the ingredients essential to shaping progressive campaigns. While left-wing activists sustained grass roots movements and worked with allies in left-center coalitions, trade unions energized by progressive activists gave the efforts institutional weight with crucial assistance from Democratic presidents committed to liberalism. Frequently facing repression, left-wingers nevertheless managed to pass their values on to their children, who in turn sustained new sets of social movements. Leftists worked alongside other progressives to form left-center coalitions on issues such as Civil Rights and labor law reform. Influenced by liberalism, Roosevelt, Johnson, and Kennedy gave crucial assistance to the social change process. Shying away from liberalism, Carter and Clinton and Vice President Gore failed to provide comparable assistance, disappointing progressive activists and unions and leading to important setbacks. Whether the Democratic Party will once again seek to elect a president with a liberal vision to assist a revitalized labor movement, a newly energized left, and left-center coalitions in the social change process remains to be seen. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 1 The Labor Movement: Leader of Social Change or Just Another Interest Group?......Page 24 2 Children of the Left: Sharing Values Across the Generations......Page 38 3 When Henry Met Franklin......Page 66 4 "I’m Fighting for Freedom": Coleman Young, HUAC, and the Detroit African American Community......Page 84 5 "From the Top Down or from the Bottom Up?" John F. Kennedy, Executive Order 10988, and the Rise of Public Employee Unionism......Page 102 6 Jimmy Carter and the UAW: Failure of an Alliance......Page 140 7 Arkansas and the Defeat of Labor Law Reform in 1978 and 1994......Page 186 8 The Crisis of the Labor Movement in the United States and the Search for a New Vision in Domestic and Foreign Affairs......Page 216 9 Gore or Nader? Progressives, Radicals, Labor, and the 2000 Election......Page 234 Conclusion......Page 282 Bibliography......Page 286 A......Page 290 C......Page 291 D......Page 292 F......Page 293 I......Page 294 L......Page 295 N......Page 296 P......Page 297 S......Page 298 U......Page 299 Y......Page 300 Photo essay follows page 145......Page 170 Traces the successes and failures of the left/progressive movement in the United States through the twentieth century, and explores what the movement reveals about the direction American politics will take in the twenty-first century