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The Oxford History of the United States #11
Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore
In Restless Giant , acclaimed historical author James Patterson provides a crisp, concise assessment of the twenty-seven years between the resignation of Richard Nixon and the election of George W. Bush in a sweeping narrative that seamlessly weaves together social, cultural, political, economic, and international developments. We meet the era's many memorable figures and explore the "culture wars" between liberals and conservatives that appeared to split the country in two.
Patterson describes how America began facing bewildering developments in places such as Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, and Iraq, and discovered that it was far from easy to direct the outcome of global events, and at times even harder for political parties to reach a consensus over what attempts should be made. At the same time, domestic issues such as the persistence of racial tensions, high divorce rates, alarm over crime, and urban decay led many in the media to portray the era as one of decline. Patterson offers a more positive perspective, arguing that, despite our often unmet expectations, we were in many ways better off than we thought. By 2000, most Americans lived more comfortably than they had in the 1970s, and though bigotry and discrimination were far from extinct, a powerful rights consciousness insured that these were less pervasive in American life than at any time in the past.
With insightful analyses and engaging prose, Restless Giant captures this period of American history in a way that no other book has, illuminating the road that the United States traveled from the dismal days of the mid-1970s through the hotly contested election of 2000.
The Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book." Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.
Patterson describes how America began facing bewildering developments in places such as Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, and Iraq, and discovered that it was far from easy to direct the outcome of global events, and at times even harder for political parties to reach a consensus over what attempts should be made. At the same time, domestic issues such as the persistence of racial tensions, high divorce rates, alarm over crime, and urban decay led many in the media to portray the era as one of decline. Patterson offers a more positive perspective, arguing that, despite our often unmet expectations, we were in many ways better off than we thought. By 2000, most Americans lived more comfortably than they had in the 1970s, and though bigotry and discrimination were far from extinct, a powerful rights consciousness insured that these were less pervasive in American life than at any time in the past.
With insightful analyses and engaging prose, Restless Giant captures this period of American history in a way that no other book has, illuminating the road that the United States traveled from the dismal days of the mid-1970s through the hotly contested election of 2000.
The Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book." Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.
464 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2005
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About the author
James T. Patterson
17 books42 followersJames T. Patterson is an American historian, who was the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Brown University for 30 years. He was educated at Harvard University. His research interests include political history, legal history, and social history, as well as the history of medicine, race relations, and education.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
October 10, 2012
My final stop on my march through the ages is James T. Patterson's Restless Giant. This volume has a very different feel from both Patterson's previous book Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States) and from the Oxford series in general. This book is more upbeat than the previous; this could be due to the material. Grand Expectations leaves you a little emotionally down in a reflection of the disappointment of the time period. In contrast, Restless Giant is written with the optimism of the 1980s and 1990s, where America, in winning the Cold War, seemed as if it were invincible. The title of the book is a clear spin of one Admiral Yamamoto's statement of America being a sleeping giant that he had awakened by attacking Pearl Harbor. This book is also very different from the rest of the Oxford series because, unlike the earlier volumes, this book is features an era that I actually lived through. I was born in 1981, so my life begins basically in chapter 5 and the rest of the book covers the events of my youth.
The story begins in the 1970s in the aftermath of Watergate, Patterson does his best to uncover this brief little era, in which a public first supports President Gerald Ford but begins to soar towards him in as he pardons his dishonored predecessor. Ford finds himself replaced with the humorless Jimmy Carter, who in turn presides over one of the worst economies since the 1930s. In keeping the tradition of the series, Patterson explores this era from all sides. He tells the story of the ordinary people, the social trends, new gadgets, and entertainment that the people enjoyed. It is a decade I am glad to have just missed.
The 1980s and my life begin with Ronald Reagan having vanquished Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, ushered in a new conservative era. Although Patterson points out that even though conservative politics were becoming popular it was hardly a triumph equal to the liberals in 1932. The Democrats still held the House and Reagan while eager to pay lip-service to conservative domestic polices, he was not that interested in promoting them. Reagan chose instead to focus mainly on U.S. foreign policy. Reagan's foreign policy would be credited with winning the Cold War for the United States. Patterson also discusses horrors of the era, such as, the coming of the AIDS epidemic, and some the lighter moments such as the beginning of MTV.
"Reagan, moreover, was not so doctrinaire a conservative as liberals made out. While fond of damning big government--and of denunciations of 'welfare queens'--he recognized that liberal interest groups had effective lobbies on the Hill, that major New Deal--Great Society social programs--many of them entitlements--were here to stay, and the rights-consciousness had become a powerful political force. He understood that though people said they distrusted government, they expected important services from it."(p.163)
The chapter covering the era of George H.W. Bush is known simply as 'Bush 41'. There is a strong argument to be made that of all the presidents to be featured in this book he was the most successful. Unfortunately, he will never be look at in that regard because he is cursed as a one-termer in his lost Bill Clinton in 1992. Although he had 'neo-cons' in his administration, the first President Bush was not as dominated by those view points as his son would be over a decade later.
Patterson begins to cover the nineties, which saw the end of the Industrial Age and the beginning of the Information Age. As the first baby boomer to assume the presidency, Bill Clinton gave Americans the impression that they once again had a very young Kennedy like president. Like Kennedy, he makes a lot of errors and also has his triumphs. And also like Kennedy, Patterson covers more of the former than the later. Nevertheless, I feel that Patterson gives Clinton a fair treatment.
"Extraordinarily well informed about domestic issues, Clinton had impressed many party leaders when he headed the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank that blossomed after 1989 within the ideologically centrist Democratic Leadership Council. Like a great many boomers, he liberal positions on a range of social issues such as abortion and health care, but though he had the populist touch of a campaigner, he did not position himself of the left. A moderate as governor, he distanced himself as a presidential candidate from liberals like Mondale and Dukakis, who had been badly beaten in 1984 and 1988." p.248
I was a teenager in the 1990s and my political options were beginning to form. So reading about the Clinton years was like reliving my youth in a way. Of the course the news that dominated the headlines was the Monica Lewinsky affair and the unjustified impeachment of President Clinton by his relentless partisan opponents. Clinton's behavior brought on a lot of his own misery, but his opponents' behavior was worse because they attacked not only Bill Clinton politically, but the office the President as an institution. Clinton in standing up to these attacks, I believe, ended a deterioration of power that had been chipping at the presidency since Nixon resigned*.
"If Clinton's near-legendary luck had held out--as it might have done if he had been chief executive during pre-Watergate days when reporters had turned a relatively blind eye to the promiscuity of politicians--he would have joined a number of American presidents who had engaged in extramarital relations without being publicly exposed while in office."(p.388)
The book ends with the controversial election of President George W. Bush over Vice President Al Gore. The first election that I ever voted in was one that was finished by the United States Supreme Court. I was very disappointed the time because I thought the election was outright stolen. I now, in agreeing with Patterson but having this opinion before, feel that the election had instead just fallen off a bus. (I have often thought about what might have been.)
Before ending I have to talk about this one part of a paragraph in chapter 8--the chapter that deals with the culture wars of the 1990s:
"Though many publishers and bookshops struggled to break even, fiction by highly talented authors--Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Anne Tyler, Richard Ford, John Updike, and others with smaller name recognition--sold well. So did excellently researched works of non-fiction. James McPherson's prize winning Battle Cry for Freedom (1988), a history of the Civil War era enjoyed huge sales." (p.288)
Now Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), I believe I both read and reviewed that book. If memory serves that is the Civil War volume of the Oxford History of the United States series, which is the same series as this very book! David Kennedy, the current editor, must have yelled out 'GO TEAM' when he read those words.
All in all, this is a great book. It is interesting reading events that took place in your own life as actually history. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to know more about the time decades preceding the attacks of September 11.
The story begins in the 1970s in the aftermath of Watergate, Patterson does his best to uncover this brief little era, in which a public first supports President Gerald Ford but begins to soar towards him in as he pardons his dishonored predecessor. Ford finds himself replaced with the humorless Jimmy Carter, who in turn presides over one of the worst economies since the 1930s. In keeping the tradition of the series, Patterson explores this era from all sides. He tells the story of the ordinary people, the social trends, new gadgets, and entertainment that the people enjoyed. It is a decade I am glad to have just missed.
The 1980s and my life begin with Ronald Reagan having vanquished Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, ushered in a new conservative era. Although Patterson points out that even though conservative politics were becoming popular it was hardly a triumph equal to the liberals in 1932. The Democrats still held the House and Reagan while eager to pay lip-service to conservative domestic polices, he was not that interested in promoting them. Reagan chose instead to focus mainly on U.S. foreign policy. Reagan's foreign policy would be credited with winning the Cold War for the United States. Patterson also discusses horrors of the era, such as, the coming of the AIDS epidemic, and some the lighter moments such as the beginning of MTV.
"Reagan, moreover, was not so doctrinaire a conservative as liberals made out. While fond of damning big government--and of denunciations of 'welfare queens'--he recognized that liberal interest groups had effective lobbies on the Hill, that major New Deal--Great Society social programs--many of them entitlements--were here to stay, and the rights-consciousness had become a powerful political force. He understood that though people said they distrusted government, they expected important services from it."(p.163)
The chapter covering the era of George H.W. Bush is known simply as 'Bush 41'. There is a strong argument to be made that of all the presidents to be featured in this book he was the most successful. Unfortunately, he will never be look at in that regard because he is cursed as a one-termer in his lost Bill Clinton in 1992. Although he had 'neo-cons' in his administration, the first President Bush was not as dominated by those view points as his son would be over a decade later.
Patterson begins to cover the nineties, which saw the end of the Industrial Age and the beginning of the Information Age. As the first baby boomer to assume the presidency, Bill Clinton gave Americans the impression that they once again had a very young Kennedy like president. Like Kennedy, he makes a lot of errors and also has his triumphs. And also like Kennedy, Patterson covers more of the former than the later. Nevertheless, I feel that Patterson gives Clinton a fair treatment.
"Extraordinarily well informed about domestic issues, Clinton had impressed many party leaders when he headed the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank that blossomed after 1989 within the ideologically centrist Democratic Leadership Council. Like a great many boomers, he liberal positions on a range of social issues such as abortion and health care, but though he had the populist touch of a campaigner, he did not position himself of the left. A moderate as governor, he distanced himself as a presidential candidate from liberals like Mondale and Dukakis, who had been badly beaten in 1984 and 1988." p.248
I was a teenager in the 1990s and my political options were beginning to form. So reading about the Clinton years was like reliving my youth in a way. Of the course the news that dominated the headlines was the Monica Lewinsky affair and the unjustified impeachment of President Clinton by his relentless partisan opponents. Clinton's behavior brought on a lot of his own misery, but his opponents' behavior was worse because they attacked not only Bill Clinton politically, but the office the President as an institution. Clinton in standing up to these attacks, I believe, ended a deterioration of power that had been chipping at the presidency since Nixon resigned*.
"If Clinton's near-legendary luck had held out--as it might have done if he had been chief executive during pre-Watergate days when reporters had turned a relatively blind eye to the promiscuity of politicians--he would have joined a number of American presidents who had engaged in extramarital relations without being publicly exposed while in office."(p.388)
The book ends with the controversial election of President George W. Bush over Vice President Al Gore. The first election that I ever voted in was one that was finished by the United States Supreme Court. I was very disappointed the time because I thought the election was outright stolen. I now, in agreeing with Patterson but having this opinion before, feel that the election had instead just fallen off a bus. (I have often thought about what might have been.)
Before ending I have to talk about this one part of a paragraph in chapter 8--the chapter that deals with the culture wars of the 1990s:
"Though many publishers and bookshops struggled to break even, fiction by highly talented authors--Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Anne Tyler, Richard Ford, John Updike, and others with smaller name recognition--sold well. So did excellently researched works of non-fiction. James McPherson's prize winning Battle Cry for Freedom (1988), a history of the Civil War era enjoyed huge sales." (p.288)
Now Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), I believe I both read and reviewed that book. If memory serves that is the Civil War volume of the Oxford History of the United States series, which is the same series as this very book! David Kennedy, the current editor, must have yelled out 'GO TEAM' when he read those words.
All in all, this is a great book. It is interesting reading events that took place in your own life as actually history. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to know more about the time decades preceding the attacks of September 11.
February 4, 2022
The shortest, and most recent (chronologically) of the entries in the excellent "The Oxford History of the United States" series pales in comparison to the others that I have read. That does not mean that it is not good, nor that it does not contain solid analytical sections. And the author, James Patterson, wrote the prior book (again, chronologically) in the series, which was very good. His writing here is also by and large that of a serious historian who devoted extensive research to this project. He decides to end the book with the contested 2000 presidential election instead of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.
The main problem stems from this being written way too close to the period under study. Patterson finished this in 2005, barely four years following the final events of the book. That simply is not enough time to get an appreciation of how certain policies implemented have worked out, both positively and negatively; it is also not enough time to examine major events and if the perceptions of those events have changed over time. I do not want to say that writing a recent history book is not worthwhile, because on the plus side the author remembers the events freshly in his/her own mind and can speak to people who were alive (and possibly directly involved) in the events covered. But for a series such Oxford, it does not really fit in with the nuanced, comprehensive and long-range view that the other books are able to offer.
For example, Patterson's discussion of the internet is already woefully outdated. Think back to 2004/05, and what the internet was then, and how you used it, and compare that to now. There are more differences than similarities, I would argue. This was before apps, before smart phones, before social media (maybe Myspace had just come out a year before), before the vast majority of Americans had internet in their homes, let alone anything resembling high-speed internet. And, I suspect, someone in 2042 will have a much different experience concerning the internet than we do right now. When I think back to 2004, I had only been using e-mail for about a half-dozen years, and not to the extent that I do now, and had only been free of dial-up for less than five years. That seems like ancient history now.
Also, Patterson strangely does not discuss a few topics that, even then, were already changing society. There was barely a mention of the rise of right-wing radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh. Patterson devotes about two sentences to that subject, which I think played a huge part in the radicalizing of evangelicals and others, pushing them further and further to the right. There is no mention of professional sports at all, which I find odd, especially when one considers how the NFL absolutely exploded in popularity during the time period this book covers. I am not sure how that escaped mention, and not just the NFL but other major sports as well. Patterson hardly mentions cellphones and how they quickly revolutionized how and where people communicated with each other. While they were just beginning to become ubiquitous at the end of the century, I still think enough people were getting them by then to warrant a mention.
But there are several positives to the book as well. Patterson, benefiting from the passage of some time by then, begins the book in 1974, in the aftermath of Watergate and Richard Nixon's resignation. He reviews the economically difficult and dispiriting years of the 1970s, when both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were unable to solve the stubborn stagflation problem. The populace had lost faith in elected officials thanks to the lies surrounding both the Vietnam War and Watergate.
Patterson provides a detailed look at Ronald Reagan's rise, how it coincided with sections of the country becoming more evangelical, and how he managed to paint a sunny portrait of America as contrasted with Carter's hard medicine speeches. The George Bush and Bill Clinton administrations and years are covered as well, albeit with not as much historical insight due to less time having elapsed. Patterson does a good job of describing how millions of Americans became mesmerized by their TVs, planting themselves in front of it for an average of four hours each night. I would imagine that is one thing that probably not changed in the intervening years.
The main theme of the work is that Americans as a whole were restless. While their quality of life (medically, economically, technologically) was better, people seemed unhappy, as if they were searching for something. There remained a longing of "the good old days" following WWII and into the early 1960s, when things seemed "better" than they were later. Yet as Patterson astutely points out, things were most decidedly not better then: healthcare was much more rudimentary; many household gadgets (like microwaves and cordless phones) did not exist; cars were less safe; there were more labor strikes; the rights of minorities, women, and gays were greatly diminished from what they became later; and there was always the constant cloud of nuclear attack from the Soviet Union hovering over everywhere. Nonetheless, in their minds, many Americans wanted to go back in time and live in what seemed to them a less complicated time. Sort of like how I would like to do now, by returning to the 1990s.
Grade: C+
The main problem stems from this being written way too close to the period under study. Patterson finished this in 2005, barely four years following the final events of the book. That simply is not enough time to get an appreciation of how certain policies implemented have worked out, both positively and negatively; it is also not enough time to examine major events and if the perceptions of those events have changed over time. I do not want to say that writing a recent history book is not worthwhile, because on the plus side the author remembers the events freshly in his/her own mind and can speak to people who were alive (and possibly directly involved) in the events covered. But for a series such Oxford, it does not really fit in with the nuanced, comprehensive and long-range view that the other books are able to offer.
For example, Patterson's discussion of the internet is already woefully outdated. Think back to 2004/05, and what the internet was then, and how you used it, and compare that to now. There are more differences than similarities, I would argue. This was before apps, before smart phones, before social media (maybe Myspace had just come out a year before), before the vast majority of Americans had internet in their homes, let alone anything resembling high-speed internet. And, I suspect, someone in 2042 will have a much different experience concerning the internet than we do right now. When I think back to 2004, I had only been using e-mail for about a half-dozen years, and not to the extent that I do now, and had only been free of dial-up for less than five years. That seems like ancient history now.
Also, Patterson strangely does not discuss a few topics that, even then, were already changing society. There was barely a mention of the rise of right-wing radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh. Patterson devotes about two sentences to that subject, which I think played a huge part in the radicalizing of evangelicals and others, pushing them further and further to the right. There is no mention of professional sports at all, which I find odd, especially when one considers how the NFL absolutely exploded in popularity during the time period this book covers. I am not sure how that escaped mention, and not just the NFL but other major sports as well. Patterson hardly mentions cellphones and how they quickly revolutionized how and where people communicated with each other. While they were just beginning to become ubiquitous at the end of the century, I still think enough people were getting them by then to warrant a mention.
But there are several positives to the book as well. Patterson, benefiting from the passage of some time by then, begins the book in 1974, in the aftermath of Watergate and Richard Nixon's resignation. He reviews the economically difficult and dispiriting years of the 1970s, when both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were unable to solve the stubborn stagflation problem. The populace had lost faith in elected officials thanks to the lies surrounding both the Vietnam War and Watergate.
Patterson provides a detailed look at Ronald Reagan's rise, how it coincided with sections of the country becoming more evangelical, and how he managed to paint a sunny portrait of America as contrasted with Carter's hard medicine speeches. The George Bush and Bill Clinton administrations and years are covered as well, albeit with not as much historical insight due to less time having elapsed. Patterson does a good job of describing how millions of Americans became mesmerized by their TVs, planting themselves in front of it for an average of four hours each night. I would imagine that is one thing that probably not changed in the intervening years.
The main theme of the work is that Americans as a whole were restless. While their quality of life (medically, economically, technologically) was better, people seemed unhappy, as if they were searching for something. There remained a longing of "the good old days" following WWII and into the early 1960s, when things seemed "better" than they were later. Yet as Patterson astutely points out, things were most decidedly not better then: healthcare was much more rudimentary; many household gadgets (like microwaves and cordless phones) did not exist; cars were less safe; there were more labor strikes; the rights of minorities, women, and gays were greatly diminished from what they became later; and there was always the constant cloud of nuclear attack from the Soviet Union hovering over everywhere. Nonetheless, in their minds, many Americans wanted to go back in time and live in what seemed to them a less complicated time. Sort of like how I would like to do now, by returning to the 1990s.
Grade: C+
August 10, 2020
James Patterson's second contribution to the Oxford History of the United States (after his Bancroft Award-winning Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974) is by far the weakest volume of the series. Part of it is the result of the problem posed by contemporary history, which lacks the perspective provided by distance from events and an ability to render an assessment based on knowing what were the long term consequences. Patterson recognizes this difficulty, yet his response exacerbates the problem by refusing to render pretty much any judgments. Instead he provides a bland summary of events heavily supplemented by statistics, with none of the valuable analysis that characterizes the other titles in the series. This limits the book's utility and ensures that the volume about the most recent events is sure to be the first to outlive its usefulness.
January 12, 2011
Worthy history but a long haul and frequently rather dull. I enjoyed the portraits of the presidents from Nixon to Bush junior but in between were seemingly endless reams of statistics and data that I found a little heavy going.
March 28, 2017
Not the greatest, not in-depth, and a somewhat conservative analysis of the times. Too soon to truly be considered history.
March 15, 2015
First Oxford history of the US that I've completely finished, and I enjoyed it well enough. Patterson is a clear writer who organizes the book well. His major theme is that decline narratives about the US in this time period have been persistent, but are mostly inaccurate. He notes that Americans were generally more tolerant, educated, and well-off by 2001 than they were in 1974. The prosperity trend is particularly significant, as Patterson notes that the US became the most powerful and wealthy nation (relative to the rest of the world) in the 1990's. Still, the perception of decline, the disillusionment with politics, and the persistence of culture wars makes people see this era through darkly tinted glasses. I think his case for a positive view of this period is solid in general. He says that even though partisan and ideological battles rage and social conflict/inequality persists, the center of agreed upon values and institutions has continued to hold.
Patterson highlights a number of themes in this book: the rise of rights consciousness, continuing racial inequality and tension, women's growing independence, the rise of the religious right and a new conservative coalition, the end of the Cold War, globalization and global democratization, deeper ascendency of liberalism and tolerance, loosening of cultural mores-especially in popular culture, multiculturalism and identity pride, more partisan politics but less partisan people, and inescapable international responsibilities/entanglements. Some sections, such as his treatment of Reagan, are excellent. At times, however, he focuses too much on presidential campaigns that don't always merit extended attention.
Compared to Wood and McPherson's Oxford histories, Patterson is pretty thin on primary sources. He sometimes pulls overwhelmingly from a small set of sources, such as James Mann's (admittedly outstanding) "Rise of the Vulcans" or Tom Wolfe's writings. However, Patterson does a much better job with a wider variety of social and cultural issues, especially racial history. This is a good overview of the recent past.
Who put the comp in the comp-id-comp-di comp.
Patterson highlights a number of themes in this book: the rise of rights consciousness, continuing racial inequality and tension, women's growing independence, the rise of the religious right and a new conservative coalition, the end of the Cold War, globalization and global democratization, deeper ascendency of liberalism and tolerance, loosening of cultural mores-especially in popular culture, multiculturalism and identity pride, more partisan politics but less partisan people, and inescapable international responsibilities/entanglements. Some sections, such as his treatment of Reagan, are excellent. At times, however, he focuses too much on presidential campaigns that don't always merit extended attention.
Compared to Wood and McPherson's Oxford histories, Patterson is pretty thin on primary sources. He sometimes pulls overwhelmingly from a small set of sources, such as James Mann's (admittedly outstanding) "Rise of the Vulcans" or Tom Wolfe's writings. However, Patterson does a much better job with a wider variety of social and cultural issues, especially racial history. This is a good overview of the recent past.
Who put the comp in the comp-id-comp-di comp.
December 1, 2012
A perfectly readable summary of political and cultural happenings between, as the subtitle puts it, the end of Nixon to the start of Bush II. Readable, but deeply unsatisfying, since Patterson is unwilling to actually exercise any judgement--this is a chronicle, not history. There's no causation here and no suggestion that people may have done good or bad things, just events and more events. The general tenor is "So and so said that this happened. But thus and thus said that that happened. Moving right along..." So you never know what Patterson actually thinks happened, or why you should care, or, indeed, if even he cares. This is all the more offensive when you think about what was about to happen to the U.S.: 9/11 had just passed, and he opted not to write about it at all. I imagine he'd make the same decision about the great financial crash. So, particularly in the last few chapters, this becomes an extremely odd read: you know that all the 'steady financial growth' is based on garbage, and that it's all about to fall down, but Patterson doesn't give you any reason to believe that he thought anything other than what the most fatuous optimists of the time thought. America was strong, and would remain strong and so on and so on. There's no hint that he's unhappy with the electoral process that gave us Bush v Gore. No hint that he was disturbed by Reagan's lunacy or Clinton's cynicism.
I skype-reading-grouped this with an historian friend, who summed it up very well. The first wave of books about historical events will be violently partisan. The second wave will revise the partisan arguments. The third will be post-revisionist and almost entirely neutral in tone. Patterson's tried to skip a couple of steps, but because there's no obvious idiotic background against which he can appear reasonable, he himself just looks morally bankrupt. Too bad, because the man can write, and you'll certainly learn a lot from his book. I can easily imagine recommending it as a first stop, but certainly not a state-of-the-art work on the time period.
I skype-reading-grouped this with an historian friend, who summed it up very well. The first wave of books about historical events will be violently partisan. The second wave will revise the partisan arguments. The third will be post-revisionist and almost entirely neutral in tone. Patterson's tried to skip a couple of steps, but because there's no obvious idiotic background against which he can appear reasonable, he himself just looks morally bankrupt. Too bad, because the man can write, and you'll certainly learn a lot from his book. I can easily imagine recommending it as a first stop, but certainly not a state-of-the-art work on the time period.
September 28, 2007
Okay, so it's not an edge-of-your-seat thrillfest.
But if you're interested in how your world got so screwed up, Patterson has some answers.
From post-interation bussing in the 70s through Carter's good ol' boy cabinet, Reagan's public spending excesses, Bush's attempts to get the economy back on the rails, through the pop culture and electronic boom of Clinton's 90s, Patterson plots social, political and economic maps that show us how we got to where we are.
Since I wasn't born or raised in the US, my perspective is very Eurocentric, and this history really helps me understand the geograpic and political world I live in now.
But if you're interested in how your world got so screwed up, Patterson has some answers.
From post-interation bussing in the 70s through Carter's good ol' boy cabinet, Reagan's public spending excesses, Bush's attempts to get the economy back on the rails, through the pop culture and electronic boom of Clinton's 90s, Patterson plots social, political and economic maps that show us how we got to where we are.
Since I wasn't born or raised in the US, my perspective is very Eurocentric, and this history really helps me understand the geograpic and political world I live in now.
September 8, 2008
A good summary of the last 30 or so years of US history. It expains cogently the back story of our current political, social, and cultural problems.
November 5, 2024
Overall it was a very interesting book.
It gave an excellent overview of a recent era in U.S. politics and life. It covered many areas and definitely attempted to give multiple perspectives on several divisive issues.
The section on culture wars was interesting, as it already seems outdated, but that might be something to note how quickly it can be hard to compare sensibilities from today to that period that feels so recent but actually was 25+ years ago.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in modern U.S. culture or politics.
It gave an excellent overview of a recent era in U.S. politics and life. It covered many areas and definitely attempted to give multiple perspectives on several divisive issues.
The section on culture wars was interesting, as it already seems outdated, but that might be something to note how quickly it can be hard to compare sensibilities from today to that period that feels so recent but actually was 25+ years ago.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in modern U.S. culture or politics.
November 7, 2021
Though dry at times, this offers a riveting, well-researched analysis of the growing partisanism in politics of the USA and disdain for politicians from both parties. With more entergetic writing it would be 5 stars. It is not VERY dry, though. It's worth a read!
September 6, 2020
Got this one as the last in the chronological installments of the Oxford History of the United States, covering the period from the Ford presidency to the 2000 Election. Easy read...about half the length of most installments...managed to knock it off in a day. Too soon? Yes, as in, this book written in 2005, was written too soon to cover the history of its era. Of all the writers in the series, Patterson is the most interpretive. Here, with recent events and relying entirely on hand-picked secondary sources we see the world condensed into politics, race, economics and war. Not to say the work isn’t educational. You see the emergence of 21st century political leaders in the Ford and Carter administrations, Reagan’s complete electoral dominance, Congress’ transition in 1986 and 1994 from Democratic to Republican, Bush 41 attempting to exorcise the demons of Vietnam in the Persian Gulf and Clinton’s relatively smooth economic, albeit political exhausting, campaign as President.
Thoughts:
*Patterson does not track on the Restless Giant theme like he did with Grand Expectations in the previous book. In fact, this work seems like a sequel - Americans’ continued economic improvement but gradual dissatisfaction with life.
*Ford and Carter’s administrations were fly-over territory in this book. The most memorable parts were them getting voted out. The fun was getting to emergence of Reagan and the Moral Majority.
*Great discussion of the Reagan tax cuts (actually closed some loopholes that effectively raised taxes) and Iran Contra affair, which was a highlight of the book. Growing up in this time, surprised there was not more talk of Nancy Reagan, the “Just Say No” campaign and the drug epidemic of the 80s.
*True old man history in the 90s where the book falls off. Lots of discussion of culture wars and social degradation, which Patterson admits does not play a large part in most Americans’ thinking. Clinton’s emergence as a popular president after Monicagate sums up how little Americans cared about Presidential morality - maybe morality in general.
*Touches on some cultural flashpoints, emergence of sexual themes on television, Rodney King and OJ Simpson, some movies...but on a personal note, never mentions cartoons and merchandising advertising directed at children (maybe briefly when talking about movie blockbusters). We (I was a kid at this time) made our parents spend so much money. Ninja Turtles? Power Rangers? C’mon man.
*For Patterson to assess summarily Clinton’s presidency as mediocre in historical rank stood out to me as heavy-handed. It’s not something he attempts to do for any president (at least in his own voice) in either Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 or this work.
*I would like to see the Oxford Series reattempt this time period with a different author at a later time and encompassing a larger time frame through the Bush 43 Presidency. If it’s done any time soon, the safer route is to be less interpretive, rely on whatever primary sources are available and include a more robust cultural analysis of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Thoughts:
*Patterson does not track on the Restless Giant theme like he did with Grand Expectations in the previous book. In fact, this work seems like a sequel - Americans’ continued economic improvement but gradual dissatisfaction with life.
*Ford and Carter’s administrations were fly-over territory in this book. The most memorable parts were them getting voted out. The fun was getting to emergence of Reagan and the Moral Majority.
*Great discussion of the Reagan tax cuts (actually closed some loopholes that effectively raised taxes) and Iran Contra affair, which was a highlight of the book. Growing up in this time, surprised there was not more talk of Nancy Reagan, the “Just Say No” campaign and the drug epidemic of the 80s.
*True old man history in the 90s where the book falls off. Lots of discussion of culture wars and social degradation, which Patterson admits does not play a large part in most Americans’ thinking. Clinton’s emergence as a popular president after Monicagate sums up how little Americans cared about Presidential morality - maybe morality in general.
*Touches on some cultural flashpoints, emergence of sexual themes on television, Rodney King and OJ Simpson, some movies...but on a personal note, never mentions cartoons and merchandising advertising directed at children (maybe briefly when talking about movie blockbusters). We (I was a kid at this time) made our parents spend so much money. Ninja Turtles? Power Rangers? C’mon man.
*For Patterson to assess summarily Clinton’s presidency as mediocre in historical rank stood out to me as heavy-handed. It’s not something he attempts to do for any president (at least in his own voice) in either Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 or this work.
*I would like to see the Oxford Series reattempt this time period with a different author at a later time and encompassing a larger time frame through the Bush 43 Presidency. If it’s done any time soon, the safer route is to be less interpretive, rely on whatever primary sources are available and include a more robust cultural analysis of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
November 13, 2022
Easily half the length of the other volumes in this series, Giant does an admirable job of what many histories cannot accomplish: an eagle-eyed view of recent history. This is Patterson's second volume in the "Ox" (he wrote the preceding one as well), and covers the titular period. Less focus is given to Watergate as that was covered in the last book. Instead, Patterson presses forward, providing much of the valuable context for the clusterfuck that is American today: the rise of the religious right, the batshit insane "conservatives", Reagan's era of deregulation and radical ignominy, the "culture wars" of the 90s, Clinton's failures and the rise of vapid, personal politics and a Washington where little gets done beyond shrill fear-mongering and the concomitant flaccid Democratic response.
Stands alone as a single volume of the history of the 80s and 90s as well, though culture fiends will find little to sink their teeth into as far as the 90s goes, that is skipped rather abruptly, as is the rise of the Internet and the Age of (Mis)Information.
Stands alone as a single volume of the history of the 80s and 90s as well, though culture fiends will find little to sink their teeth into as far as the 90s goes, that is skipped rather abruptly, as is the rise of the Internet and the Age of (Mis)Information.
April 22, 2015
From the Oxford History of the United States, Patterson presents a balanced and straightforward history of the U.S. from the resignation of Nixon to the contentious SCOTUS decision of Bush v. Gore. A central theme is the increase in various "rights movements" throughout the country by various political (and sometimes ethnic) minorities. These movements generated an ever increasing sense of entitlement among these groups and when those entitlements were not met, an increasing sense that life wasn't very good. So despite a prodigious amount of personal and material wealth, Americans would consistently be dissatisfied with their own situations. Patterson does a fine job highlighting the constant tension between perceived affluence/influence and it's actual presence (or absence). He doesn't editorialize and despite covering highly partisan recent history, does so in an evenhanded and compelling manner.
April 3, 2025
Another excellent book in the Oxford History of the United States series. One of the shorter volumes in the series, it proved to be a quick and easy read. Mr. Patterson does a very good job of covering the major events from Watergate to Bush v Gore without going into excruciating detail. As someone who grew up through those years and events, it was very interesting reading an assessment of the cause and effect relationship across those ~30 years. Great read and a nice fit in the series.
May 19, 2017
Following on from the high standards of the other Oxford History of America series I have listened to, this was not quite as interesting to me. While covering 1973-2000, compared with 1945-1973 and 1929-1945, not dissimilar timescales, it went into much less detail (it is just over half the length of the previous two volumes), albeit that the period covered meant much was within my living memory. It is still an excellent book, just not as good as its predecessors.
June 28, 2010
Patterson struck again with this great summary of US history since 1974. The title is deceiving because he does not deal with Watergate at all. Still, the book summarizes the cultural, economic, political, and social developments in the late 20th century. My students really enjoyed it.
August 29, 2011
I felt like I already lived through all of this before. It felt like a recap of the headlines throughout my life. I think it may still be too soon to look at this time from a historical perspective.
September 12, 2020
It is said that people are less familiar with the recent past (those years during which they have lived) than they are with the history of previous generations. This book certainly made that point crystal clear to me. The book covers the years 1974-2001...
Patterson has provided us with a clear, consise history of America during this nearly 30 year period - covering everything from the social history of integration to the political turmoil surrounding Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, & Clinton, along with a brief look at the political battle that landed Bush 43 in the White House in 2001.
Although it is too early to know with any certainty the long-term historical impacts of these years, Patterson gives us a solid understanding of the trials encountered and the immediate ramifications seen.
Starting with the so-called "troubled 1970s", which seem to be nothing more than a conclusion to the activism of the 60s, we move on through the challenging Carter years (the massive economic troubles of stagflation) and into the rise of Ronald Reagan and the modern conservative movement. We see how Reagan changed the thinking of Americans and laid the groundwork for conservatism to continue evolving for the rest of the century.
Pushing through the foreign-affairs dominated presidency of Bush 41, we move quickly into the social history of immigration & race relations in the 90's. Clinton's domestic agenda and political battles offer the final chapters in the book, with a brief stop in the Supreme Court for the declaration that George Bush was to be inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that came of age in these years - it will help you to thoroughly understand the reasons why the world you live in today developed as it did rather than simply being a continuation of the Beatnik society of the 50's, the Hippie dominated culture of the 60's, or the constant fear that pervaded American life immediately following World War II - that fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. I believe that this book will make a powerful text for the next generation when studying recent American history.
Patterson has provided us with a clear, consise history of America during this nearly 30 year period - covering everything from the social history of integration to the political turmoil surrounding Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, & Clinton, along with a brief look at the political battle that landed Bush 43 in the White House in 2001.
Although it is too early to know with any certainty the long-term historical impacts of these years, Patterson gives us a solid understanding of the trials encountered and the immediate ramifications seen.
Starting with the so-called "troubled 1970s", which seem to be nothing more than a conclusion to the activism of the 60s, we move on through the challenging Carter years (the massive economic troubles of stagflation) and into the rise of Ronald Reagan and the modern conservative movement. We see how Reagan changed the thinking of Americans and laid the groundwork for conservatism to continue evolving for the rest of the century.
Pushing through the foreign-affairs dominated presidency of Bush 41, we move quickly into the social history of immigration & race relations in the 90's. Clinton's domestic agenda and political battles offer the final chapters in the book, with a brief stop in the Supreme Court for the declaration that George Bush was to be inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that came of age in these years - it will help you to thoroughly understand the reasons why the world you live in today developed as it did rather than simply being a continuation of the Beatnik society of the 50's, the Hippie dominated culture of the 60's, or the constant fear that pervaded American life immediately following World War II - that fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. I believe that this book will make a powerful text for the next generation when studying recent American history.
August 27, 2022
Finally, the volume of Oxford History of the United States that is on the era I lived through!
This one picks up after Watergate and takes us through the election of Bush 41 (W) and 9-11. It is MIUCH shorter than any other volume in the series, clocking in at about 420 pages. This is not due to a shorter time frame for it covers about 25 years; What Hath God Wrought covered about 30 years and was like 900 pages. I assume the brevity here is that the time period is too recent to dig deeply into.
For example, while Patterson does talk about the rise of the Religious Right, he does not emphasize it as much as might be warranted in a post 1-6 nation. In Patterson’s story, the Religious Right is a fringe movement that is tolerated by Republican candidates like Reagan and Bush to get elected. How might it look different to examine how this group began as a “Moral Majority” in the early 80s, criticized Clinton with the mantra “character matters” only to be seduced into supporting the candidate with the least moral character ever in 2016 while there were many other conservative Christian stalwarts in the primary? The shift from Bush 41’s “compassionate conservatism” to desiring a fighter like Trump deserves a story.
For what its worth, Kristin Kobes du Mez does tell this story in Jesus and John Wayne.
Perhaps what most sticks out at the seeming naïveté of Patterson is how he twice mentions the person who sued McDonalds for their coffee being too hot! He also only mentions Rush Limbaugh twice. One of these things is a forgettable, even absurd, moment in the mid 90s. Another is a person who more than any other shaped one of our modern political parties and paved the way for so many other conservative talking heads.
Overall then, this is not a bad book. Its a quite good book. It just will need an update sometime. I’m not sure what Mr. Patterson is up to, but we have 20 more years of history to tell so maybe now is the time?
This one picks up after Watergate and takes us through the election of Bush 41 (W) and 9-11. It is MIUCH shorter than any other volume in the series, clocking in at about 420 pages. This is not due to a shorter time frame for it covers about 25 years; What Hath God Wrought covered about 30 years and was like 900 pages. I assume the brevity here is that the time period is too recent to dig deeply into.
For example, while Patterson does talk about the rise of the Religious Right, he does not emphasize it as much as might be warranted in a post 1-6 nation. In Patterson’s story, the Religious Right is a fringe movement that is tolerated by Republican candidates like Reagan and Bush to get elected. How might it look different to examine how this group began as a “Moral Majority” in the early 80s, criticized Clinton with the mantra “character matters” only to be seduced into supporting the candidate with the least moral character ever in 2016 while there were many other conservative Christian stalwarts in the primary? The shift from Bush 41’s “compassionate conservatism” to desiring a fighter like Trump deserves a story.
For what its worth, Kristin Kobes du Mez does tell this story in Jesus and John Wayne.
Perhaps what most sticks out at the seeming naïveté of Patterson is how he twice mentions the person who sued McDonalds for their coffee being too hot! He also only mentions Rush Limbaugh twice. One of these things is a forgettable, even absurd, moment in the mid 90s. Another is a person who more than any other shaped one of our modern political parties and paved the way for so many other conservative talking heads.
Overall then, this is not a bad book. Its a quite good book. It just will need an update sometime. I’m not sure what Mr. Patterson is up to, but we have 20 more years of history to tell so maybe now is the time?
August 10, 2023
Like the other books in this series, Restless Giant, covers roughly a generation's worth of history of the United States. Unlike the other books, I was alive and aware of the goings on. In this aspect alone, I found a lot more enjoyment as events from my living memory were explored and unpacked in ways that my younger self never thought or didn't understand. In addition, I thought Mr. Patterson's efforts to provide contemporary context as well as historical perspective were well done and largely neutral from a political perspective.
As with many of these books, I've finished and been left with conflicting emotions. On the negative side, it is sad to see how society has become obsessed with material consumption, fame, and wealth. On the other, it is incredible to see how much the United States progressed in areas like race relations, welfare, and social programs. What was considered normal during my parents' youth is no longer tolerated or accepted today. In some cases the needle may have moved too far, but in many cases deep rooted problems have moved towards resolution. Given that this edition was published a mere four years following the election of George W. Bush I'll be anxious in a decade or two to read the next installment of the The History of The United States and hope the progress still outweighs the challenges and difficulties.
As with many of these books, I've finished and been left with conflicting emotions. On the negative side, it is sad to see how society has become obsessed with material consumption, fame, and wealth. On the other, it is incredible to see how much the United States progressed in areas like race relations, welfare, and social programs. What was considered normal during my parents' youth is no longer tolerated or accepted today. In some cases the needle may have moved too far, but in many cases deep rooted problems have moved towards resolution. Given that this edition was published a mere four years following the election of George W. Bush I'll be anxious in a decade or two to read the next installment of the The History of The United States and hope the progress still outweighs the challenges and difficulties.
August 12, 2020
Recapping a period of time that had ended only several years prior would seem an impossible task. Patterson pulls it off as well as might be humanly possible.
Approach this project as a general overview that mainly skims the surface, an obligatory end to the Oxford series (which strangely includes other yet-to-be-written volumes, 15 years after the publishing of this 'final' one). Patterson does his best to provide a useful point-counterpoint that includes an adequate amount of data (which would have been greatly limited when this was published). As with Grand Expectations, this one is heavy on the leadership or "great-man" approach: I found his analysis of Carter, Reagan, and Clinton to be particularly useful. And also like the previous volume, this one is a bit thin on social movements, justice and reform, geography, etc. Still, it is impressive what he is able to do in under 500 pages here.
Approach this project as a general overview that mainly skims the surface, an obligatory end to the Oxford series (which strangely includes other yet-to-be-written volumes, 15 years after the publishing of this 'final' one). Patterson does his best to provide a useful point-counterpoint that includes an adequate amount of data (which would have been greatly limited when this was published). As with Grand Expectations, this one is heavy on the leadership or "great-man" approach: I found his analysis of Carter, Reagan, and Clinton to be particularly useful. And also like the previous volume, this one is a bit thin on social movements, justice and reform, geography, etc. Still, it is impressive what he is able to do in under 500 pages here.
June 21, 2021
The most straightforward and the least dense of the Oxford History of the US series. It lacks the depth of other works, but it mostly achieves its purpose nonetheless. Unlike the other volumes, this work lets complex terms (abstractions) like inequality stand for themselves, assuming we agree with the author's definition and application of that term to historical events. A key sign of the author's bias, there often aren't contrasting views presented about them, only a suggestion about the wrong views during the time studied and the historical narrative, and supporting historical voices to back up the author, directed to gently nudge the reader away from those archaic views. It is still a good history.
March 16, 2019
I love the Oxford History of the United States series and this was a welcome addition to the series covering more recent history, however as enjoyable a read as it was, it isn't of the same calibre as the rest unfortunately. Weirdly it's more the authors' style than the level of detail that I feel let this one down, the narrative jumps around a lot by theme and unless you are coming to this with a fairly detailed knowledge already of historical events it could be very hard for the casual reader to get a sense of the historical order. It is a shame that this book doesn't quite hold up to the others written as part of this series but did still make for an enjoyable read overall.
November 14, 2020
A history text which discusses a time period from the late 70s to the early 00s. A timely read, perhaps most notable for the zeitgeist of negativity despite some significant advances (and tragic regressions). Important to read now if only that it breaks the narrative of doomsaying being a recent development, though I am always made to think of Cato the Elder decrying city life in Rome some 200 years before the republic ever fell. This book also offers interesting wrinkles and new looks at old presidents. Very much recommended as a text to describe the nascence of modern politics and our political parties.
December 31, 2021
I love the Oxford History of the United States series. The books in the series are dense and not light reading. But they provide comprehensive coverage of a time period and this one is no exception, although it is on the shorter side at 400 or so pages. I found it more personally engaging because it covers stuff that happened in my lifetime that I remember as a kid. It is interesting to hear the more objective, retrospective take on things that were a big deal, such as the Gulf War, Clinton's impeachment, the OJ Simpson trial, 9/11, Bush/ Gore election and more.
March 28, 2023
On balance this is a really wonderful survey history and I highly recommend it as a worthy contribution to the rest of the series to which it belongs. It is for the totality of the book that I give it five stars, although I admit Professor Patterson, no doubt unknowingly, does strike a sometimes curmudgeonly and preachy tone, such as when he discusses changes in American popular tastes in the 1990s. This can be excused, however, and does not otherwise take away from a remarkable achievement. Highly recommended.
January 25, 2019
James T. Patterson continues his survey history of America's postwar years with this volume that builds upon the themes he covered in Grand Expectations and shows how they became more recalcitrant leading up to 2001. The narrative is straightforward and, in my opinion, very objective. There are a lot of political, foreign policy, and economic perspectives, along with cultural considerations, that underline the main events and trends.
December 3, 2019
A comprehensive history of the United States from 1975-2000. The author is particularly strong on economics (the impact of technological advances such as personal computers and the internet), and to a lesser degree social history (the end of the sexual revolution due to the Aids epidemic). It was fun to relive the incredible popularity of Ronald Reagan and his presidency, in sharp contrast to the corruption and arrogance of the Clinton administration. Recommended!
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