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Energy and the National Defense
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the war between Iran and Iraq underline the grim thesis of this book. Howard Bucknell argues that our dependence upon foreign oil poses an unequaled threat not only to our security as a nation but also to the fabric of our society. He issues a call for confronting this imminent crisis, for conservation and for the urgent development of new sources of energy.
A 1944 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Howard Bucknell III commanded a number of ships while on active duty, including the nuclear-powered submarines U.S.S. Snook and U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. Formerly ...Read More
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The Secretary of Defense
Since its creation by the National Security Act of 1947 the office of secretary of defense has grown rapidly in power and influence, surpassing at times that of the secretary of state to become second only to the presidency in the government of the United States. The pivotal secretaries, according to Kinnard, are James Forrestal, Charles Wilson, Robert McNamara, Melvin Laird, and James Schlesinger.
Kinnard analyzes the administration of each of these secretaries not only within the domestic and international contexts of his time but also within the bureaucratic world in which the secretary functions along with the president and ...Read More
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Little Kingdoms: The Counties of Kentucky, 1850–1891
Kentucky’s counties though theoretically provinces of the state were in reality powerful semi-sovereign entities during the latter half of the 19th century. Their positive accomplishments were many. Government funds were wisely invested in internal improvements, road construction, law enforcement, tax collection, and relief of the poor. Keen competition for county offices, placed on an electoral basis by the Constitution of 1850, brought added vitality to Kentucky’s uniquely intense political life, and the official day on which the county courts met continued to be the foremost social and economic day of the month.
Despite these positive facets and the good intentions ...Read More
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The Politics of City-County Merger: The Lexington-Fayette County Experience
Although city-county consolidation has been urged for years as a solution for many urban problems, relatively few communities have come to the point of offering such an option to the voters and in most of the communities that have done so, the voters have rejected the idea.
In 1972 the voters of Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky, approved consolidation by a better than two-to- one margin. W. E. Lyons examines this victory for consolidation, comparing the Lexington setting with other places where merger has been attempted.
For the first time in the literature, the details of actually drafting a consolidated ...Read More
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The Master Architects: Building the United States Foreign Service 1890–1913
During the twenty years before World War I, several key figures worked to improve the foreign service and to reform its appointment system. Richard Hume Werking explores both the methods and the motives of these “master architects.” Unlike other scholars, Werking finds that the foundations and general structure of the United States foreign service emerged before World War I. He sees its development as prompted less by foreign crises than by economic conditions—particularly the need to stimulate export trade. Indispensable to its growth were the dedicated efforts of bureaucrats who were loyal to national interests but wished the opportunity to ...Read More
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The County in Kentucky History
In the nineteenth century, Kentucky was one of the nation’s leading producers of racehorses, whiskey, tobacco—and new counties. By 1886 the three original Kentucky counties had been carved into 119 (belated 120th was to be formed in 1912). These small divisions commanded the fierce loyalty of their citizens and for most Kentuckians formed the center of political and community life.
The County in Kentucky History shows the bitter strife of countywide feuds and the conviviality of court day, the sporadic outbreaks of ill-feeling between town and country and the high-spirited brawls that regularly accompanied elections. Robert M. Ireland traces the ...Read More
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Populism and Politics: William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party
This study focuses attention of the People’s party which existed for a short time in the 1890s. Despite its brief existence the party and the movement that brought it into being had a lasting effect on American politics and society.
Populism originally developed outside the political system because the system had proved incapable of responding to real needs. As the movement was transformed into the People’s party, however, much of its responsive nature was lost. The People’s party became subject to the same influences that guided the old parties and it became more concerned with winning office than with promoting ...Read More
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A House for All Peoples: Ethnic Politics in Chicago 1890–1936
This book assesses the role of urban ethnic groups, particularly in terms of the rise of the Democratic Party to national predominance between 1928 and 1932. It builds quantitative and qualitative models for the study of ethnic groups in terms of political behavior. Focusing clearly upon political change and the role of ethnicity, the work advances the hypothesis that Chicago’s ethnic groups responded as ethnic groups, rather than on socio-economic or other bases, when they shifted their party allegiances in the late twenties. This ethnic realignment was a major factor in the redistribution of power between parties in Chicago.
Employing ...Read More
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The Republican Command: 1897–1913
This powerful book reminds us of the enormous power the nation accords its political leaders and how in the significant period, 1897–1913, these leaders failed to meet their responsibilities. Their inadequacies, the authors feel, delayed the administration of justice for all citizens, neglected African Americans, and seriously impaired the future effectiveness of their own once viable, successful, and justly proud Republican Party.
The authors follow the maneuvers of McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Senators Aldrich, Platt, Allison, and Spooner, and House Speaker “Uncle” Joe Cannon as they juggled pressing domestic questions, perpetuating themselves in power without really confronting the public need.
From ...Read More
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The Climax of Populism: The Election of 1896
Rarely has a third political party in the United States exerted a force upon national events comparable to that of the Populists during the 1890s. This force reached its climax in the presidential race of 1896, when the national reforms epitomized in the cry for free silver were at issue. Yet despite a number of recent studies, confusion and error regarding the Populists in the crucial election of 1896 still persist.
Robert F. Durden, by extensive use of the papers of Marion Butler, Populist senator from North Carolina and national chairman of the party during the campaign, sheds new light ...Read More
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