White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement

by Allan J. Lichtman

Spanning nearly one hundred years of American political history, and abounding with outsize characters--from Lindbergh to Goldwater to Gingrich to Abramoff-- White Protestant Nation offers a penetrating look at the origins, evolution, and triumph (at times) of modern conservatism. Lichtman is both a professor of political history at American University and a veteran journalist, and after ten years of prodigious research, he has produced what may be the definitive history of the modern conservative movement in America. He brings to life a gallery of dynamic right-wing personalities, from luminaries such as Strom Thurmond, Phyllis Schlafly, and Bill Kristol to indispensable inside operators like financiers Frank Gannett and J. Howard Pew. He explodes the conventional wisdom that modern conservative politics began with Goldwater and instead traces the roots of today’s movement to the 1920s. And he lays bare the tactics that conservatives have used for generations to put their slant on policy and culture; to choke the growth of the liberal state; and to build the most powerful media, fundraising, and intellectual network in the history of representative government. White Protestant Nation is entertaining, provocative, enlightening, and essential reading for anyone who cares about modern American politics and its history.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Religion, American History

560 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Allan J. Lichtman is Distinguished Professor of History at The American University in Washington, D.C. and the author of many acclaimed books on U.S. political history, including White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement (finalist, 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award in Non-fiction), FDR and the Jews (with Richard Breitman), and The Case for Impeachment.

Professor Lichtman devised a model (“Keys to the White House”) with Vladimir Keilis-Borok to predict the outcome of US presidential elections; said model has been correct since 1984. He is regularly sought out by the media for his authoritative views on voting and elections.

Reviews

[George Clack · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not quite a pure fraud, but the fact that this book made the long list for a National Book Critics Circle Award shakes my faith in critics. The problem is obvious. Lichtman is an abysmal writer who dumps the fruits of his research, term-paper style, into this 460-plus-page book with very few idea threads to guide us through. He has one big, rather intriguing thesis, which he traces back to the 1920s: that the American conservative movement is essentially a bunch of white Protestant business-oriented type seeking to preserve the nation they grew up in. In a word, the right-wing is “anti-pluralistic” in every way. Lichtman’s lack of skills as a writer – his dutiful, leaden prose (example: in 1936 conservatives saw victory over FDR as “not the most important thing, but the only thing”) – made it a form of torture to read the book. My book club wound up splitting it up by sections and delivering reports so no one would have to struggle through the whole thing – the first time we’ve ever done that.

[Sean Chick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terribly well written or organized, even if the arguments are solid. This book needs to be written by someone else.

[Publius · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is not written for average readers who might be bored straight to sleep after 100 pages. It is very detailed but perhaps too detailed to most readers who did not majored in politics. It's written like an academic textbook or a super long paper.

However, the book does make it clear how GOP transfer itself from 1920 to 21 century.
One needs to seriously skip and scan in order to save time or avoid falling into sleep. I think 100 pages a day is the maxim for average readers before they fall asleep. As an example, I usually can keep awake before reaching 90 pages

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is a bit misleading. It covers much more than just the rise of the conservative movement. The book covers its entire history in the 20th century. As the main title implies, it isn't just recently that Christians have figured prominently in conservatism. They are present in the 1920s, 1950s and at other points in this narrative. But this isn't a religious history, so in that way, the main title is a bit misleading too. It's definitely political history. It's just that sometimes the two intertwine. The most challenging part for me was keeping straight all of the organizations that have been connected to the conservative movement in this history. Historian and author Lichtman is thorough in his research and it gets a little confusing at times.

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

A fucking slog. Simultaneously dense with names names names yet shallow in its analysis, featuring neither a compelling narrative nor thesis. Maybe this would be better if i hadn't already read approximately 4 dozen better books on the topic, but also if you only have time for one book about the conservstive movement THIS AINT IT CHIEF.

[Elizabeth Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was an okay overview of the rise of the religious right until I got to the end of the Reagan chapter. The author did not mention the AIDS crisis at all. How the fuck are you going to write a book about the Christian right's influence on American government and not say anything about how they played a role in Reagan ignoring HIV/AIDS. Not even a passing mention.

[Peter Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The definitive book on American Conservatism

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm only trudging through this book because, although I am certainly interested in the changing fortune of conservatives in the U.S., I have found this book to be a chore. This is mostly me and my tastes. I really don't care for books that aren't guided by a narrative -- a raison d'etre that helps the author move through a swath of complex information. I end up feeling like the author is just stringing together factoids, without ever stepping back and looking at a bigger picture. Lichtman, the author, also attempts to write a book about politics, without ever making it clear where he stands. This seems patently silly, in this day and age. I want to know why he felt he needed to write this book, what drives him, why he thinks anyone else should care. Lichtman never really does this, and I find books like this fantabulously boring at best, disingenuous at worst.

[Geraldine Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Academic tomes are rarely scintillating reading and this book is no exception. The prose is dry, informative with a few nice descriptive sparks. But this kind of book is not read for entertainment. Lichtman lays out the history of the American conservative movement in detail. He shows the mutual interdependent evolution of protestant and political influence on our society. I read the book because I wanted to understand the philosophy and motivation behind the modern conservative movement. This book provided that.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lichtman seems to think that his focus is more original than it is. Essentially just a solid political history on the rise of contemporary conservatism 1920-2008. Summary - they are dumb. Also, I was put off by a weird Hofstadter diss. bleh.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the turning points, the important religious figures, the political realignments and the regressions from enlightenment as the United States returned from World War I to attempt to return itself to its White Protestant origins.

[Ian Divertie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it rather a long time ago, I know it had a lot of good information. I should probably re-read it soon. I would highly recommend it to anyone else curious about the Religious Right in America and its influence on our politics.