Synopses & Reviews
“Do not forget that ‘skill and integrity are the keys to success.” This was the last piece of advice on a list Will Thurmond gave his son Strom in 1923. The younger Thurmond would keep the words in mind throughout his long and colorful career as one of the Souths last race-baiting demagogues and as a national power broker who, along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, was a major figure in modern conservative politics.
But as the historian Joseph Crespino demonstrates in Strom Thurmonds America, the late South Carolina senator followed only part of his fathers counsel. Political skill was the key to Thurmonds many successes; a consummate opportunist, he had less use for integrity. He was a thoroughgoing racist—he is best remembered today for his twenty-four-hour filibuster in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957—but he fathered an illegitimate black daughter whose existence he did not publicly acknowledge during his lifetime. A onetime Democrat and labor supporter in the senate, he switched parties in 1964 and helped to dismantle New Deal protections for working Americans.
If Thurmond was a great hypocrite, though, he was also an innovator who saw the future of conservative politics before just about anyone else. As early as the 1950s, he began to forge alliances with Christian Right activists, and he eagerly took up the causes of big business, military spending, and anticommunism. Crespinos adroit, lucid portrait reveals that Thurmond was, in fact, both a segregationist and a Sunbelt conservative. The implications of this insight are vast. Thurmond was not a curiosity from a bygone era, but rather one of the first conservative Republicans we would recognize as such today. Strom Thurmonds America is about how he made his brand of politics central to American life.
Review
Winner of the Deep South Book Prize
“The most authoritative study on Thurmond to date.”
—Frank Rich, New York Magazine
“A deft portrait.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Insightful . . . masterfully ties together complex historical strands . . . Crespino doesnt make Thurmond likable, but thats not his goal. His is loftier and more difficult: to get beneath the surface of an influential politician in order to shed light on our times.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[O]utstanding . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—The Washington Monthly
“[A] fine new biography . . . fascinating as political drama.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—Gene Seymour, American History
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“[An] outstanding biography . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—Michael ODonnell, The Washington Monthly
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—Gene Seymour, American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“Insightful . . . masterfully ties together complex historical strands . . . Crespino doesnt make Thurmond likable, but thats not his goal. His is loftier and more difficult: to get beneath the surface of an influential politician in order to shed light on our times.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[O]utstanding . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—The Washington Monthly
“[A] fine new biography . . . fascinating as political drama.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“A deft portrait.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Insightful . . . masterfully ties together complex historical strands . . . Crespino doesnt make Thurmond likable, but thats not his goal. His is loftier and more difficult: to get beneath the surface of an influential politician in order to shed light on our times.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[O]utstanding . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—The Washington Monthly
“[A] fine new biography . . . fascinating as political drama.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“A deft portrait.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Insightful . . . masterfully ties together complex historical strands . . . Crespino doesnt make Thurmond likable, but thats not his goal. His is loftier and more difficult: to get beneath the surface of an influential politician in order to shed light on our times.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[O]utstanding . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—The Washington Monthly
“[A] fine new biography . . . fascinating as political drama.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Review
“The most authoritative study on Thurmond to date.”
—Frank Rich, New York Magazine
“A deft portrait.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Insightful . . . masterfully ties together complex historical strands . . . Crespino doesnt make Thurmond likable, but thats not his goal. His is loftier and more difficult: to get beneath the surface of an influential politician in order to shed light on our times.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[O]utstanding . . . Crespino presents the right blend of narrative, scholarly analysis, and restrained outrage.”
—The Washington Monthly
“[A] fine new biography . . . fascinating as political drama.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review
“[An] impressive biography . . . Crespinos portrait reveals a flawed, egotistical, unapologetic, headstrong man whose views helped give birth to the contemporary Right and whose legacy continues to influence the GOP.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Joseph Crespino argues convincingly [that] Thurmonds political impact reached far beyond the nostalgic Old South . . . Crespinos lucid, illuminating book reveals an outsize political personage whose complexities often eluded supporters and antagonists alike.”
—American History
“Engaging . . . offer[s] a far more authoritative portrait than Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompsons Strom or Jeffrey K. Smiths Dixiecrat . . . Strongly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century American political history or biography.”
—Library Journal
“A highly useful and timely companion in an election cycle marked by the resurgence of the controversies of Thurmonds day.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“No other book is likely to offer a more insightful understanding of both Strom Thurmond the man and the age in which he lived. This is a thoroughly terrific and important work, for it makes clear the continuing impact of Thurmonds legacy on our politics today.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Team of Rivals
“Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a historical biography that makes much of recent U.S. history more understandable. It is essential reading for anyone interested in post-1945 American politics.”
—Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
“Joseph Crespino brilliantly captures the hypocrisy of a southern society that could mold Strom Thurmond into, simultaneously, an audacious white separatist and a flagrant race-mixer willing to abandon his own black daughter. Crespino also properly positions Thurmond not as an outlier or a relic of a distant era of Dixiecrat racism, but as the architect and harbinger of the extremist, racially tinged politics that would reshape the Republican Party into the twenty-first century.”
—Douglas A. Blackmon, former chief of the Wall Street Journals Atlanta bureau and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name
“This pathbreaking biography reveals a Strom Thurmond whose influence stretched far beyond the racist precincts of Dixie. He was, as Joseph Crespino brilliantly shows, a pioneer of many of the conservative themes we now take for granted: stalwart anticommunism, opposition to labor unions, support for ‘law and order, and the promotion of ‘family values. Crespino combines the incisiveness of a fine scholar with the literary talent of a gifted storyteller. When I finished the book, I almost felt like cheering!”
—Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation
“Strom Thurmond has become one of those antic men people hear about but cant quite believe existed—the racist demagogue with the secret biracial daughter who made self-interest into a public art form. Because Thurmond was such a gifted opportunist, its difficult to say what he really believed, leaving the resourceful historian Joseph Crespino to do the near impossible. Strom Thurmonds America is a reasonable portrait of a reactionary that serves as a valuable prism through which to examine the ways politicians encourage social divisions to consolidate power.”
—Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Crowd Sounds Happy and The Catcher Was a Spy
“Strom Thurmonds America is at once a captivating portrait of an important national figure and a nuanced and provocative rethinking of recent American political history. Joseph Crespino handles Thurmonds personal story with great aplomb and persuasively reframes the late senator as a pivotal character in modern American politics.”
—Bruce Schulman, author of The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics
“Joseph Crespino offers a provocative account of Strom Thurmonds life and the ways in which some conservatives used race to build a national coalition. He makes a compelling and original case that, rather than a throwback to an earlier era in politics, Thurmond was one of the architects of the modern Republican Party, a sophisticated political strategist who played on the fears and anxieties of the American electorate.”
—Julian E. Zelizer, author of Jimmy Carter and Governing America
Synopsis
The political sins of the late South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond are notorious: he was behind the Dixiecrat Party of the late 1940s, the Southern Manifesto of 1956, the daylong filibuster in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and the flight of white Southerners into the clutches of the Republican Party in 1968 that gave Nixon the White House. His personal sins are equally infamous, most especially his refusal to acknowledge his illegitimate African American daughter. Even before his death in 2003, historians had cast him as a curiosity of a bygone era. Joseph Crespinos Strom Thurmonds America is a stunning correction.
Crespino shows not only that Thurmonds political sins and racial hypocrisies were not his alone but also, more insightfully, that the rise of the Republican right is inconceivable without Thurmond, who led a national charge against labor, the left-wing movements of the sixties, and the antiwar movement, viewing each as a bastion of Communism and anti-Americanism. A Democrat until he switched parties in 1964, he spurred the realignment of Southern and national politics, making the South the base of mainstream Republicanism.
In this authoritative biography, Crespino reveals how a man for whom politics was the only thing that mattered helped foster modern conservatism and altered the course of the nation.
Synopsis
One reviewer likened the subject of
Strom Thurmonds America to “a malevolent Forrest Gump.” As Joseph Crespinos inspired biography of the late politician demonstrates, a better description of Thurmond would be hard to find. Thurmonds life spanned nearly the entire twentieth century, while his career saw him play a central role in the turning points of postwar American politics. As the presidential nominee of the short-lived Dixiecrat Party and as a longtime South Carolina senator, Thurmond was a national power broker and, along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, a key figure in the rise of modern conservatism.
Though best remembered for his twenty-four-hour filibuster in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and for fathering an illegitimate black daughter whose existence he never publicly acknowledged, Thurmonds influence, as Crespino reveals, went far beyond matters of race. As early as the 1950s, Thurmond was forging alliances with Christian Right activists and eagerly taking up the causes of big business, military spending, and anticommunism. When he switched parties in 1964, he helped lay the foundation for our current political situation—though often viewed as a curiosity from a bygone era, Thurmond was in fact one of the first conservative Republicans we would recognize as such today. Strom Thurmonds America is about how he made his brand of politics central to American life.
About the Author
Joseph Crespino is a professor of history at Emory University. He is the author of In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution and the coeditor of The Myth of Southern Exceptionalism. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.