William Henry Chafe

the partnership of Bill and Hillary Clinton

The politics of the personal

Allard Lowenstein and the Struggle to Save American Liberalism

Never Stop Running

A political leader's decisions can determine the fate of a nation, but what determines how and why that leader makes certain choices? William H. Chafe, a distinguished historian of twentieth century America, examines eight of the most significant political leaders of the modern era in order to explore the relationship between their personal patterns of behavior and their political decision-making process. The result is a fascinating look at how personal lives and political fortunes have intersected to shape America over the past fifty years. One might expect our leaders to be healthy, wealthy, genteel, and happy. In fact, most of these individuals--from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Martin Luther King, Jr., from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton--came from dysfunctional families, including three children of alcoholics; half grew up in poor or only marginally secure homes; most experienced discord in their marriages; and at least two displayed signs of mental instability. What links this extraordinarily diverse group is an intense ambition to succeed, and the drive to overcome adversity. Indeed, adversity offered a vehicle to develop the personal attributes that would define their careers and shape the way they exercised power. Chafe probes the influences that forged these men's lives, and profiles the distinctive personalities that molded their exercise of power in times of danger and strife. The history of the United States from the Depression into the new century cannot be understood without exploring the dynamic and critical relationship between personal history and political leadership that these eight life stories so poignantly reveal.

Personality and Politics in Modern America

Private Lives/Public Consequences

William H. Chafe

PRIVATE LIVES/PUBLIC CONSEQUENCES

Harvard Sitkoff

This comprehensive, widely-read anthology presents cogent and provocative articles from differing political perspectives on major issues in post-World War II America. The fourth edition is considerably expanded to include new selections on the AIDS epidemic, gay rights, the women's movement,and the Clinton-Gore administration. In addition to articles by leading historians the editors have chosen first-person accounts by participants in each of the issues under discussion, from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" to Al Gore's speech on environmentalism. Withlively introductions to each section providing a context for the articles, this book helps students make sense of the tumultuous world of our time.

Readings on Postwar America

A History of Our Time

This comprehensive, widely-used anthology offers a dynamic assessment of the major issues in post-World War II American history. In this second edition, the editors include contemporary articles on the Cold War and the 1960s and present new discussions of the counterculture, the New Right, conservatism under the Reagan administration, the new poverty, and the politics of the 1950s and 1960s

Here is a sweeping study of American women in the 20th century by a leading scholar of women's history. The Paradox of Change ranges from the Progressive Ers and the New Deal to the rise of feminism and the New Right in the 1970s and 1980s. Thoroughly researched and incisively argued, it is essential for anyone who wants to learn more about how women have shaped, and been shaped by, modern America.

American Women in the 20th Century

The Paradox of Change

Raymond Gavins

Robert Korstad

Published in association with Lyndhurst Books of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South is the "viscerally powerful... compilation of firsthand accounts of the Jim Crow era" (Publisher's Weekly). Based on interviews collected by the Behind the Veil Project at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies, this remarkable book presents for the first time the most extensive oral history ever compiled of African American life under segregation. Men and women from all walks of life tell how their most ordinary activities were subjected to profound and unrelenting racial oppression. Yet Remembering Jim Crow is also a testament to how black southerners fought back against the system--raising children, building churches and schools, running businesses, and struggling for respect in a society that denied them the most basic rights. The result is a powerful story of individual and community survival. Praise for Remembering Jim Crow "A 'landmark book.'" —Publisher's Weekly, "The Year in Books" "This is not just an oral history for the South, but for us all. It is a sobering reminder of the mistakes this nation has made, a hopeful reflection on how far we have come." —Kansas City Star

African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South

Remembering Jim Crow

The 'sit-ins' at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro launched the passive resistance phase of the civil rights revolution. This book tells the story of what happened in Greensboro; it also tells the story in microcosm of America's effort to come to grips with our most abiding national dilemma--racism.

Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom

Civilities and Civil Rights

This popular classic text chronicles America's roller-coaster journey through the decades since World War II. Considering both the paradoxes and the possibilities of post-war America, Chafe portrays the significant cultural and political themes that have colored our country's past and present, including issues of race, class, gender, foreign policy, and economic and social reform. He examines such subjects as the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the origins and the end of the Cold War, the culture of the 1970s, the Reagan years, the Clinton presidency, and the events of September 11th and their aftermath. In this edition, Chafe provides an insightful assessment of Clinton's legacy as president, particularly in light of his impeachment, and an entirely new chapter that examines the impact of two of America's most pivotal events of the twenty-first century: the 2000 presidential election turmoil and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Chafe puts forth an excellent account of George W. Bush's first year as president and also covers his subsequent role as a world leader following his administration's declared war on terrorism. The completely revised epilogue and updated bibliographic essay offer a compelling and controversial final commentary on America's past and its future. Brilliantly written by a prize-winning historian, the fifth edition of The Unfinished Journey is an essential text for all students of recent American history

America Since World War II

The Unfinished Journey

Considering both the paradoxes and the possibilities of postwar America, William H. Chafe portrays the significant cultural and political themes that have colored America's past and present, including issues of race, class, gender, foreign policy, and economic and social reform. He examines such subjects as the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, the origins and the end of the Cold War, the culture of the 1970s, the rise of the New Right, the events of September 11th and their aftermath, and various presidencies.

William Henry Chafe

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