The Liberal Heartland : A Political History of the Postwar American Midwest.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lauck, Jon, 1971-

Contributor:

Stock, Catherine McNicol.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democratic Party (U.S.)--History--20th century.

Democratic Party (U.S.).

Political culture--Middle West--History--20th century.

Political culture.

Party affiliation--Middle West--History--20th century.

Party affiliation.

Liberalism--Middle West--History--20th century.

Liberalism.

Progressivism (United States politics)--History--20th century.

Progressivism (United States politics).

Middle West--Politics and government--History--20th century.

Middle West.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

La Vergne : University Press of Kansas, 2025.

Summary:

"Over the last two decades, the political narrative of the "liberal coasts" and the "conservative heartland" has become something of a truism, leading many Democrats to write off much of the Midwest as a Republican stronghold. Today's polarized divide between rural and urban voters makes it easy to forget that things have not always been this way. The Liberal Heartland is a powerful reminder that the American Midwest has a progressive legacy that rivals the coasts. Across twenty chapters, The Liberal Heartland traces the political history of this region from the post-New Deal period to the rise of the New Right and Donald Trump's right-wing populism. The contributors explore the way liberals and progressives across the Midwest fought for expanding environmental protection, engaged in community activism, developed a queer-labor coalition before Stonewall, struggled for women's rights and representation in the Plains states, opposed the death penalty, and mobilized for Indigenous self-determination, among other topics. In addition to well-known leaders like Harry Truman and George McGovern, the book highlights lesser-known figures, such as Lydia Cady Langer, Mary Jean Collins, Richard Hatcher, Jim Jontz, and Paul Wellstone. A companion to the 2020 volume, The Conservative Heartland, The Liberal Heartland explores the history of the Midwest from a less-acknowledged perspective, recounting often forgotten stories that demonstrate the importance of the Midwest for New Deal liberalism and various forms of left-wing politics. This is a long-overdue book that represents a fresh look at the American heartland"-- Provided by publisher.

"Journalists, political pundits, and historians alike were shocked not just by the election of Donald Trump but also by the degree of support he won in states that Democrats had long presumed to be safe. Taken together, the seventeen essays in this collection detail the rise of Midwestern conservatism after World War II by identifying the specific policies, issues, leaders, geographic and demographic changes, controversies, and social causes that helped Midwestern conservative groups grow. It includes essays on nine different states, covering every decade of the postwar period, and looks at the conservative movement through the lenses of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Topics include the rural/urban divide, the development of a conservative intellectual program, environmentalism and its critics, responses to deindustrialization, regional support for Reagan, privatization and its consequences, mass incarceration, and the debates over same-sex marriage, abortion, and second wave feminism"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Preface: Finding the Democratic Tradition in the Midwest

Jon K. Lauck

Introduction

Catherine McNicol Stock

Part One: In the Shadow of the New Deal

1. In the Shadow of FDR and Harry Truman: Missouri's Liberal Senatorial Turn, 1950-1987

Jon E. Taylor

2. Red Power Turned Blue: The Eisenhower Presidency and Democratic Party Ascendancy on Indian Reservations in the Dakotas

Sean J. Flynn

3. "No Back Seat Drivers": Women and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota from Lydia Cady Langer to Heidi Heitkamp

Charles McElwain Barber and Catherine McNicol Stock

4. Green as a Shade of Blue: Political Rhetoric, the Democratic Party, and the Early Environmental Movement in the Upper Midwest

Camden Burd

5. That Other Minority: The UAW, Midwestern Politics, and Pre-Stonewall Queer-Labor Solidarity

James McQuaid

6. The Fall of the Last Democratic Political Machine: East Chicago, Indiana, and the Rise of Community Activism

Emiliano Aguilar

Part Two: Expending Citizenship in the Age of Liberation

7. Humphrey, McGovern, and Mansfield: National Liberals and American Indian Self-Determination

Dean J. Kotlowski

8. "I Gave a Dam about a Dam": Jim Jontz and the Fight for Big Pine Creek in Indiana

Ray E. Boomhower

9. "Your Problem Is Our Problem": Mary Jean Collins's Midwestern Feminism

Katherine Turk

10. Creating a Blueprint for Black Power: Muigwithania, Mayor Hatcher, and the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana

Nicole Poletika

11. "Where Was the Social Justice?"*: La Raza Activism at the University of Notre Dame

Leticia Rose Wiggins

12. Gay Liberation and the Social Gospel: Religious Support for Gay Employment Rights in Wisconsin

Stephen Colbrook

13. Paul Wellstone and the Reshaping of Minnesota's Populist-Progressive Tradition

Michael C. Steiner

Part Three: Battling the New Right from Nixon to Trump

14. The Rise and Disappearance of Liberal South Dakota

Marc C. Johnson

15. Wild About Harry: Walter Mondale, Ronald Reagan, and the Liberal Legacy of Harry Truman in 1984 Midwest

Jeffrey Bloodworth

16. "Why We Must Save the Family Farm": Midwestern Liberalism and Progressive Farm Policy, 1985-1996

Cory Haala

17. Capital Punishment in the Midwest Liberal Struggles, Race, and Legacy

Emma Ricknell

18. "Alone in the Fight": Senator Louis Mahern and the Fight for Gay Rights in Indiana

Tiffany Costley

19. Lambs That Strayed from the Democratic Flock: Catholic Voters in the Midwest

Chad Kinsella

20. The Great Blue Hope: How Senator Sherrod Brown Won Reelection in Donald Trump's Ohio

Christopher J. Devine

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-7006-3866-0

OCLC:

1519988601