The Disruption of the Solid South

by George Brown Tindall

In less than twenty years Republicans have created a viable opposition to the Democratic party in the South for the first time since the heyday of the Whigs in the 1840s. The turn in Republican fortunes below the Potomac, writes George Brown Tindall in this important new study, owes less to new strategies than to new conditions, for the Southern Strategy was not born yesterday. It was invented or at least first pursued in the 1870s by Rutherford B. Hayes, who called it his Southern Policy. Subsequent changes have been only variations on a theme by Hayes.

98 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1972

About the author

George Brown Tindall was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1958 until his retirement in 1990. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Furman University in 1942 and, after service in the Army Air Force in World War II, earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina.

Reviews

[Daniel K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting lecture given at Mercer University in 1971 about the shifting patterns of Southern politics from the Reconstruction era till the 70s. Many times, the main political parties of today can seem like static monoliths. If recent elections have taught us anything it is that this concept is far from the truth. This lecture does a good job at highlighting the policies and agendas at a federal, congressional, state, and party level that worked and didnt work to evolve the Democrats and Republicans. I wish there was a follow-up lecture tracking the continued evolution of both parties in the South from the 70s to today.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief overview of southern politics from Reconstruction through Nixon. Brief because a there were originally a series of lectures delivered at Mercer in 1979.