Reconsidering Roosevelt on race : how the presidency paved the road to Brown / Kevin J. McMahon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McMahon, Kevin J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945--Relations with African Americans.

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

United States. Supreme Court--History--20th century.

United States.

African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc--History--20th century.

Segregation in education--Law and legislation--United States--History--20th century.

Segregation in education.

United States--Race relations--Political aspects.

United States--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (310 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Many have questioned FDR's record on race, suggesting that he had the opportunity but not the will to advance the civil rights of African Americans. Kevin J. McMahon challenges this view, arguing instead that Roosevelt's administration played a crucial role in the Supreme Court's increasing commitment to racial equality-which culminated in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. McMahon shows how FDR's attempt to strengthen the presidency and undermine the power of conservative Southern Democrats dovetailed with his efforts to seek racial equality through the federal courts. By appointing a majority of rights-based liberals deferential to presidential power, Roosevelt ensured that the Supreme Court would be receptive to civil rights claims, especially when those claims had the support of the executive branch.

Contents:

The day they drove old Dixie down

The incongruities of reform : rights-centered liberalism and legal realism in the early New Deal years

FDR's constitutional vision and the defeat of the court-packing plan : the modern presidency and the enemies of institutional reform

Approving legislation for the people, preserving liberties

almost rewriting laws : the politics of creating the Roosevelt court

A constitutional purge : Southern democracy, lynch law, and the Roosevelt Justice Department

The commitment continues : Truman, Eisenhower, and the civil rights decisions

The road the court trod.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-285) and index.

ISBN:

9786612537875

9781282537873

1282537873

9780226561127

0226561127

OCLC:

593356253