Lecture 15: Nixonland

LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM

IN THE 1960S

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOUTH?

THE “SUNBELT”

Population growthIndustrial shift

This map shows population increases between 1950 and 1990

This map shows the changes between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. But back in 1948, New York had 45 seats, Florida had 6, Texas had 21, California had 23, and Arizona and New Mexico each had 2.

DISTRICTING SHIFTS SOUTH

ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL SEATS, 1948 AND 2012

MISSISSIPPI CONGRESSIONAL SEATS,

1948 AND 2012

GEORGIA CONGRESSIONAL SEATS,1948 AND 2012

Between 1950 and 2000, the South steadily moved from Democrat to Republican. Why? Race The Cold War (hawk v. dove) Fiscal conservatism Evangelical religion

Why did the South embrace fiscal conservatism? States’ rights Racial coding Cold War anticommunism Economic change

The South shaped the direction of the country. The New Deal coalition fell apart The Democratic and Republican parties realigned

THE SOUTH MATTERS

THE DEMOCRATS AND CIVIL RIGHTS

The New Deal For the first time in history, blacks felt that the federal

government actually cared about them and what happened to them.

Integration of defense industries, 1941 Under FDR

Integration of the armed forces, 1948 Under Harry Truman

The Cold War Republicans tended to be more hardline anticommunist, and

they often viewed the civil rights movement as a Communist plot.

BLACKS AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

“...It ought to be possible… for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops.

...It ought to be possible for American consumers of any color to receive equal service in places of public accommodation, such as hotels and restaurants and theaters and retail stores, without being forced to resort to demonstrations in the street, and it ought to be possible for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without interference or fear of reprisal.

~ John F. Kennedy, June 11, 1963

JFK AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Long political career, senator from South Carolina, 1956 to 2003

Leader of the “Dixiecrats” in 1948

“All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement.”

Opposed the Civil Rights ActSwitched from Democrat to

Republican in 1964Ultimately moved away from

racial rhetoric to embrace the rhetoric of fiscal conservatism

STROM THURMOND’S AMERICA

THE NEW CONSERVATISM

The New Conservatism Small government conservatism Strident anticommunism Evangelical Christianity Backlash against 1960s movements

BARRY GOLDWATER’S 1964 CAMPAIGN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pbp0hur9RU

RONALD REAGAN’S 1964 “A TIME FOR CHOOSING”

THE DECLINE OF LIBERALISM

The Civil Rights Act of 1964The Voting Rights Act of 1965The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965Medicare (1965) and Medicaid (1966)The Social Security Amendments of 1967The National Endowment for the Arts (1965)Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966The War on Poverty

Head Start Job Corps Neighborhood Youth Corps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) Food Stamp Act of 1964

LYNDON JOHNSON’S “GREAT SOCIETY”

LJB’s “Great Society” speech

READING

RICHARD NIXON’S “LAW AND ORDER”

THE 1968 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

RICHARD NIXON’S “LAW AND ORDER” SPEECH

“From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that...but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.”

~ Nixon Strategist Kevin Phillips, 1970

THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY

“I have the greatest aff ection for them but I know they're not going to make it for 500 years. They aren't. You know it, too. I mean, all this, uh, Julie, I asked her about the black studies program at Smith. You know, and she said, the trouble is they didn’t find anything to study. Yet you’ve got outstanding negroes. You’ve got to help them. You’ve got to find the Booker T. Washingtons and the George Washington Carvers. That’s all. Now the Mexicans are a diff erent cup of tea. They have a heritage, but at the present time they steal, they're dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life at least. They don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like.”

RICHARD NIXON ON RACE

THE HARD HAT RIOT, 1970

CONCLUSION

The Democrats: LBJ fails to balance the Great Society and Vietnam The New Deal coalition falls apart

The Republicans: The Southern Strategy Nixon’s appeal to “law and order”

To some it seemed as though America was being torn in two.

And then came the 1970s . . .

TO SUMMARIZE