Nixon's civil rights : politics, principle, and policy / Dean J. Kotlowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kotlowski, Dean J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil rights--United States--History--20th century.

Civil rights.

Affirmative action programs--Government policy--United States--History--20th century.

Affirmative action programs.

Affirmative action programs--Government policy.

History.

United States--Politics and government--1969-1974.

United States.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

x, 404 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2001.

Summary:

Richard Nixon believed that history would show his administration in the forefront of civil rights progress. What does the record really say about civil rights under Nixon? In a groundbreaking new book, Dean Kotlowski offers a surprising study of an administration that redirected the course of civil rights in America.

Nixon's policymaking recast the civil rights debate from an argument over racial integration to an effort to improve the economic station of disadvantaged groups. Kotlowski examines such issues as school desegregation, fair housing, voting rights, affirmative action, and minority businesses, as well as Native American and women's rights. He details Nixon's role, revealing a president who favored deeds over rhetoric and who constantly weighed political expediency and principles in crafting civil rights policy.

In moving the debate from the street to the system, Nixon set civil rights on a path whose merits and results are still debated. Nixon's Civil Rights is a revealing portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures of modern American politics and a major contribution to the study of civil rights in America.

Contents:

Prologue: Deeds versus Words 1

1 Flexible Response: Southern Politics and School Desegregation 15

2 Open Communities versus Forced Integration: Romney, Nixon, and Fair Housing 44

3 The Art of Compromise: Extending the Voting Rights Act 71

4 Jobs Are Nixon's Rights Program: The Philadelphia Plan and Affirmative Action 97

5 Black Power, Nixon Style: Minority Businesses and Black Colleges 125

6 A Cold War: Nixon and Civil Rights Leaders 157

7 Challenges and Opportunities: Native American Policy 188

8 Stops and Starts: Women's Rights 222

Epilogue: In the Shadow of Nixon 259.

Notes:

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--Indiana University).

Includes bibliographical references (pages [381]-388) and index.

ISBN:

0674006232

OCLC:

47176981