Civil Rights and the Presidency

Reviews / Votes

Lots of ground-breaking information. Julie Leininger Pycion, Manhattan College Graham has abridged his award winning book into a highly readable account of the role of the executive branch in civil rights policy from the sit-ins of 1960 through Nixon's first administration. The Historian An extraordinarily well-written and fascinating account. Thomas A. Schwartz, Vanderbilt University A powerful critique of government civil rights policy after 1965. Florida Historical Quarterly (on the First Edition) An informative account of the crucial years in the struggle for racial minorities and women to gain more civil rights. There is much in it to stimulate class discussion. Robert W. Langran, Villanova University I am pleased to see you come out with another abridgement of a significant (if lengthy) title. William L. Van Deburg, University of Wisconsin Praise for The Civil Rights Era: Should reacquaint a new generation with forgotten truths...Instructive, too, is Mr. Graham's assessment of presidential leadership The New York Times Book Review A rigorous, undiluted examination of the policies and programs effected by the federal government in pursuit of civil equality for all citizens...An impressive marshaling of evidence and interpretation...An excellent resource Booklist The first administrative history of the movement...A major milestone in the study of recent American life and politics Library Journal A fascinating, near-definitive study of the implementation of the transcendent cause of our times...Graham does a great service in laying out the past so we can make sense of both it and the present. Review of Politics Could not be more timely...Notable for its prudent, credible insights and its calm detachment in pursuit of a subject that seems to invite little but strident advocacy and opposition, for its command of the bewildering mass of manuscript materials in federal archives and presidential libraries...and not least for its analytic clarity, its anecdotal riches, and its exhaustive exploration of a complicated and vitally important subject. Reviews in American History A gripping, literate account of landmark civil rights legislation governing employment, housing and voting. The executive branch focus is also useful both in demonstrating the fundamental role played by the White House in the enactment of these legislative reforms and in providing insightful glimpses into the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations...A highly accessible and quite worthwhile addition to the literature. Michigan Law Review Anyone interested in the 'rights revolution' of the 1960s can turn to this accessible study for an insightful analysis of national policy on race and gender in the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations. Georgia Historical Quarterly