This collection of readings from popular books and articles introduces students to a broad range of topics in both domestic and foreign policy.This text features a broad number of topics - politics, foreign policy, women's history, the black movement - making the book especially well-suited for broad survey classes. Brief essays introduce each section and place the material in a useful context. Review questions before each reading help students focus on important points.

America During the Cold War

Politics & Social Sciences

Gillon, Steven M.

Politics & Government

Harcourt College Pub.

Founded in 1947, the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) was at the forefront of the movement toward "Vital Center" liberalism and over the next two decades emerged as the most forceful advocate of many ideas cherished by liberals. With such prominent members as Walter Reuther, David Dubinsky, Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kenneth Galbraith, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and James Loeb among its ranks, the ADA strove to strike a balance between its commitment to abstract ideals of social justice and its sense of the politically possible. How that balance was maintained following World War II and shattered during the Vietnam era, and how it continues to pose the central problem of liberal politics, is the compelling subject of Steven M. Gillon's book. Tracing the rise of a younger, more visionary faction of reformers who attempted to forge a new liberal coalition in the 1960s, Gillon shows how the Vietnam War prompted many liberals to redefine modern liberalism, reconsider its agenda, and rethink the role of the coalition originally forged during the Great Depression.

Politics and Vision: The ADA and American Liberalism, 1947-1985

Oxford University Press

Most Americans saw President Bill Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich as staunch foes--"the polar extremes of Pennsylvania Avenue." But as Steven Gillon reveals in The Pact, these powerful adversaries formed a secret alliance in 1997, a pact that would have rocked the political landscape, had it not foundered in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal. A fascinating look at politics American-style, The Pact offers a riveting account of two of America's most charismatic and influential leaders, detailing both their differences and their striking similarities, and highlighting the profound and lasting impact the tumultuous 1960s had on both their personal and political lives. With the cooperation of both President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich, interviews with key players who have never before spoken about their experiences, along with unprecedented access to Gingrich's private papers, Gillon not only offers a behind-the-scenes look at the budget impasse and the government shutdown in 1995--the famous face-off between Clinton and Gingrich--but he also reveals how the two moved closer together after 1996--closer than anyone knew. In particular, the book illuminates their secret efforts to abandon the liberal and conservative wings of their own parties and strike a bi-partisan deal to reform the "third rail of American politics"--Social Security and Medicare. That potentially groundbreaking effort was swept away by the highly charged reaction to the Lewinsky affair, ending an initiative that might have transformed millions of American lives. Packed with compelling new revelations about two of the most powerful and intriguing figures of our time, this book will be must reading for everyone interested in politics or current events.

The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation

History

Americas

A companion book to The History Channel® special series of ten one-hour documentaries 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America pinpoints pivotal days that transformed our nation. For the series and the book, The History Channel challenged a panel of leading historians, including author Steven M. Gillon, to come up with some less well-known but historically significant events that triggered change in America. Together, the days they chose tell a story about the great democratic ideals upon which our country was built. You won’t find July 4, 1776, for instance, or the attack on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War, or the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. But January 25, 1787, is here. On that day, the ragtag men of Shays’ Rebellion attacked the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, and set the new nation on the path to a strong central government. January 24, 1848, is also on the list. That’s when a carpenter named John Marshall spotted a few glittering flakes of gold in a California riverbed. The discovery profoundly altered the American dream. Here, too, is the day that noted pacifist Albert Einstein unwittingly advocated the creation of the Manhattan Project, thus setting in motion a terrible chain of events. Re-creating each event with vivid immediacy, accessibility, and historical accuracy, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America comes together as a history of our country, from the first colonists’ contact with Native Americans to the 1960s. It is a snapshot of our country as we were, are, and will be.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents)

Reference

Crown

Takes a tour of the century's reforms and legal innovation--federal welfare policy, community mental health, immigration, and campaign finance reform, to name a few--and describes the unintended consequences of their enactment.

That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

What does the Gl Bill of 1944 have in common with the rent-control legislation of the 1940s and 1950s? The Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the Reagan tax cuts of 1981? You might think these were sweeping legal reforms that greatly improved American society. Or perhaps you view them as stopgap measures intended to right some grave social injustice. What all these instances of reform share, however, whether sponsored by Democrats or Republicans, is wildly unforeseen consequences--occasionally positive, often regrettable. With a shrewd eye for historical absurdity, Steven M. Gillon takes us on a tour of this century's reforms and legal innovation -- federal welfare policy, community mental health, immigration, and campaign finance reform, to name an additional few--and describes the unintended consequences of their enactment. The result is a brisk, instructive, and disturbing study that will be required reading for all students of government and society, and for anyone who wishes to avoid the perils that stalk any legislative body.

"That's Not What We Meant to Do": Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in Twentieth-Century America

W.W.Norton&Company

Riding in an open-topped convertible through Dallas on November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson heard a sudden explosive sound at 12:30 PM. The Secret Service sped him away to safety, but not until 1:20 PM did he learn that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Sworn in next to a bloodstained Jackie Kennedy at 2:40 PM, Johnson worked feverishly until 3:00 in the morning, agonizing about the future of both his nation and his party. Unbeknownst to him, his actions had already determined the tragic outcome of his presidency.
In November 22, 1963, historian Steven Gillon tells the story of how Johnson consolidated power in the twenty-four hours following the assassination. Based on scrupulous research and new archival sources, this gripping narrative sheds new and surprising light on one of the most written-about events of the twentieth century.

The Kennedy Assassination--24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson s Pivotal First Day as President

Basic Books

The Kennedy Assassination--24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson's Pivotal First Day as President

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.” History would prove him correct; the events of that daywhen the Japanese bombed Pearl Harborended the Great Depression, changed the course of FDR's presidency, and swept America into World War II. In Pearl Harbor, acclaimed historian Steven M. Gillon provides a vivid, minute-by-minute account of Roosevelt's skillful leadership in the wake of the most devastating military assault in American history. FDR proved both decisive and deceptive, inspiring the nation while keeping the real facts of the attack a secret from congressional leaders and the public.
Pearl Harbor explores the anxious and emotional events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, showing how the president and the American public responded in the pivotal twenty-four hours that followed, a period in which America burst from precarious peace into total war.

Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gillon, Steven M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gillon, Steven M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gillon, Steven M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

America During the Cold War

Politics and Vision: The ADA and American Liberalism, 1947-1985

The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel Presents)

That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century

"That's Not What We Meant to Do": Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in Twentieth-Century America

The Kennedy Assassination--24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson s Pivotal First Day as President

The Kennedy Assassination--24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson's Pivotal First Day as President

Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War

Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War