Right Star Rising: A New Politics, 1974-1980

by Laura Kalman

An authoritative history of the right turn in American national politics during the Ford-Carter years. On the face of it, the Ford-Carter years seem completely forgettable. They were years of weak presidential leadership and national drift. Yet, as Laura Kalman shows in this absorbing narrative history, the contours of our contemporary politics took shape during these years. This was the incubation period for a powerful movement on the right that was to triumph with Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980. These years also marked the coming of age of the social movements of the 1960s, as their causes moved from the streets to the courts for mediation. Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and the scope of privacy rights had immense social and political impact. The nation experienced an energy crisis, a sharp economic downturn, and a collision with fundamentalism in Iran that set the terms for coming crises. Kalman’s navigation of this eventful political and social terrain is expert and riveting. 8 pages of black-and-white photographs

Genres: Politics, History, American History

496 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 2010

About the author

Laura Kalman is a professor of 20th century American History, educated at Yale. She teaches at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In her spare time, she enjoys young adult fiction, particularly the novels of Janet Lambert

Reviews

[Martin]

Fascinating look at and analysis of how the problems of the seventies led to the era of Reagan.

[James]

Sort of an unofficial sequel to Nixonland, this is a breezy read that covers the period from 1974-1980

[Jeff Schauer]

Fascinating read, which throws much light on our contemporary politics. Reviewed here (with Empire Project): http://californiamwananchi.blogspot.c...