In-class Handouts

CLASS Seminar

Campaigns & Elections in U.S. History

July 20, 2008

I. Structure

1. Constitution (framers and direct democracy; creation of Electoral College; role of the Senate)

2. Amendments (changing the Electoral College—failure to predict parties; E.C. results in U.S. history—1824, 1876, 1888, 2000; expanding the right to vote—African-Americans, women, 18-year-olds)

3. Legal and Statutory (civil rights movement, Bush v. Gore)

II. Patterns of Campaigning

1. FDR and the New Deal coalition (effects of Depression; FDR and presidential leadership; four elements: Southern whites, Northern African-Americans, union workers, liberals and intellectuals; consolidating the New Deal: Truman upset victory, Eisenhower and “modern Republicanism”)

2. Technology and Changing Nature of Campaigns (FDR and role of radio—fireside chats and explaining public policy issues; emergence of TV after World War II; Eisenhower and first TV ads; Nixon, “Checkers speech,” and first use of TV to avoid scandal; Kennedy-Nixon debates and U.S. political culture)

3. Civil Rights (NAACP and legal/constitutional strategy—path to Brown v. Board of Education decision; Montgomery bus boycott and emergence of Martin Luther King; civil rights movement and grassroots activism; impact in 1960 election; King and push for civil rights legislation—March on Washington, 1963; dangers to New Deal coalition, divisions within both parties)

CLASS Seminar

“All the Way with LBJ”: The 1964 Election

July 21, 2008

I. The Foundations

1. Establishing an Image (LBJ as political tactician; healer after tragedy; “let us continue”—passing the Kennedy legacy, with political benefits: (1) foreign aid bill, (2) tax bill, (3) farm bill, (4) civil rights bill; provisions: outlaw racial discrimination in public accommodations, give Justice Dept. authority to file suits for school desegregation in federal court, create EEOC)

2. The Republican Race (Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller weaknesses; Richard Nixon, William Scranton bids; the emergence of Ambassador Henry Lodge; the threat of Lodge and how the Lodge candidacy affects Vietnam; Oregon and Lodge collapse; Goldwater nomination and 1964 convention)

3. Potential Pitfalls (potential pitfalls: ethics—“Landslide Lyndon,” personal wealth, Bobby Baker scandal, John Williams; Robert Kennedy and vice presidency: background relationship, RFK and Justice Department; open pressure and LBJ response; decision to exclude)

III. The Outcome

1. The Frontlash Agenda (LBJ hopes and targeted constituencies: younger voters, better-educated & suburban voters, maximizing the black vote; liberals and the 1964 convention—controversy over the Tuck bill; consolidating the civil rights base—Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party controversy and the Democratic national convention; neutralizing Goldwater— Tonkin Gulf Resolution, nuclear weapons; economics and how to tailor a Democratic agenda?; limitations of the frontlash approach)

2. The Jenkins Scandal (polls and LBJ vulnerabilities; Baker/McCloskey affair; arrest and reaction—role of Abe Fortas; Lady Bird response; J. Edgar Hoover and continuing fears; election outcome—coattails and transformation of House of Representatives; ideology and a hollow victory?)

CLASS Seminar

Race & Scandal, 1968-1992

July 22, 2008

I. 1968 Election

1. Johnson’s Collapse (rise of the right: crime and Miranda, urban unrest, Martin Luther King’s Northern efforts and collapse of biracial civil rights coalition; Vietnam and divisions within Democratic Party, 1966 elections)

2. The Democratic Race (importance of Robert Kennedy; popular protests and effect on Democratic Party; nature of presidential selection; Allard Lowenstein and search for challenger to LBJ; RFK indecision; settling on Eugene McCarthy; New Hampshire primary and campaign fallout—RFK entry, LBJ withdrawal; path to assassination and Chicago disaster)

3. Fall Campaign ( “New Nixon” and safe GOP choice; George Wallace wildcard; “Southern Strategy”—using race as a wedge issue to divide New Deal Democratic coalition; Nixon’s rose-garden tactics; Agnew vs. Muskie; Hubert Humphrey Salt Lake City address, outcome)

II. Nixon and Presidential Scandal

1. The Political Culture of Richard Nixon (conception of politics; dirty tricks legacy; merging of commander-in-chief clause and domestic authority—Kent State, Huston Plan; Pentagon Papers case; Nixon reaction; extension into politics)

2. The Origins of Watergate (memories of 1960 and origins of cover-up—CREEP and bugging of DNC headquarters; arrest and Nixon attempts to obstruct justice—role of CIA, Pat Gray and leaderless FBI; Watergate in 1972 campaign, Nixon victory)

3. The Cover-up Unravels (four-pronged assault on Nixon: (1) press—role of Woodward/Bernstein and eventually Post; (2) lower-level judiciary: importance of Judge John Sirica; (3) Senate—Sam Ervin and country lawyering; (4) special prosecutor—Archibald Cox’s agenda; Nixon response: invocation of executive privilege)

4. The Fall of Nixon (erratic administration response: Dean, Haldeman, Erlichman dismissed; Agnew resignation; evading subpoenas; Saturday Night Massacre; 18½ minute gap; House Judiciary Committee and impeachment hearings—Barbara Jordan remarks; U.S. v Nixon and Nixon’s resignation)

II. The 1980 Election: Toward a New Republican Majority

1. Backlash against Right-Related Liberalism (race: busing and affirmative action; gender: Phyllis Schlafly and public response to Equal Rights Amendment, changing attitudes toward abortion—Catholics, traditionalists, cracks in Democratic coalition; foreign policy: Angola, Nicaragua, Iranian revolution, Iranian hostage crisis, Afghanistan; economics: “stagflation”)

2. The Reagan Revolution (Ted Kennedy’s challenge to Jimmy Carter; Carter holds on; Republican race: Bush surge, Connally collapse, Anderson defection, Reagan nomination; continuing weaknesses—age, radical reputation; Anderson effect; debates; Reagan Democrats; smashing GOP win; part of international pattern?—Thatcher in Britain, Kohl in West Germany)

3. Consolidating (1984 “Morning in America” theme; “soundbite” politics; role of race in Republican coalition—Willie Horton ad, “hands” ad)

	House margin	House org.	Senate margin	Senate org.
1974	+49D	+147D	+4D	+24D
1976	+1D	+149D	No change	+24D
1978	+15R	+119D	+3R	+18D
1980	+35R	+49D	+12R	+6R

CLASS Seminar

The Politics of Spin, 1992-2008

July 23, 2008

I. 1992 Election

1. Politics of Scandal (Thomas/Hill hearings; emergence of sexual harassment as issue; Webster and politics of abortion; “Year of the Woman”; House bank scandal; terms-limits movement; Gingrich and ’92 Group)

2. Unrest & Reaction (economic difficulties and decline of Bush I; Clinton: scandals and “comeback kid,” importance of Hillary, “feel your pain,” “war room” and idea of spin; Perot: unusual background, issues: balanced budget, congressional reform, trade; infomercials and folksy style; withdrawal and re-entry; fall outcome)

II. Clinton & American Politics

1. Difficulties and Revival (early problems: scandals, Reno and independent counsels, Hillary and health care; 1994 election; comeback: Dick Morris and triangulation, “outspinning” Gingrich)

2. Sexual Harassment (political: effect of Thomas/Hill hearings; legal: legacy of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986) and “hostile work environment”; statutory: Molinari amendment (1994); merging of law and politics—Packwood, Clinton)

3. The Starr Chamber (Ken Starr background and initial appointment; difficulties of Whitewater inquiry; merging with Paula Jones case; discovery of Monica Lewinsky; Tripp and perjury trap; unpredictable public reception; Starr Report and 1998 elections; legal and political effects of impeachment)

III. 2000 Election

CLASS Seminar

The 2008 Elections

July 24, 2008

I. Beyond Bush

1. GOP collapse (Katrina/Iraq combination; congressional scandals; 2006 results Dems +31 in House, +6 in Senate; Frist, Allen withdrawals; conservative difficulty in finding candidate)

2. Divided Republicans (McCain implosion; Giuliani’s peculiar strategy; emergence of Romney—background and difficulties; rise of Huckabee and power of Christian conservatives; Romney Mormon speech, flip-flops; Huckabee triumph and revival of McCain; profiting from GOP rules—South Carolina, Florida, New York/NJ/CT)

II. The Democratic Race

1. Winnowing the Field (Gore decision not to run; Edwards and four-year campaign; second-tier candidates: Richardson, Biden)

2. Rules Changes (Nevada, South Carolina; creation of “Super-Duper Tuesday”; Michigan, Florida primaries and decision to strip of all delegates; state party pressures and candidates’ boycott)

3. 2007 Strategies (Obama: significance of Iowa—demographic and timing, use proportional rules to advantage, outlast February 5 primaries, maximize youth vote, online fundraising and organizing, promise of new type of politics, significance of Iraq war participation; Clinton: debate over Iowa, stress big states—Penn’s lack of knowledge of rules, fundraising from traditional base, stress readiness/inevitability/commander-in-chief threshold, refusal to apologize for Iraq war vote)

4. Nature of Race (decline of Edwards; Obama and African-American community; Iowa victory; Clinton and New Hampshire; Bill Clinton and South Carolina; creation of Obama coalition; Feb. 5 results and Obama tactical advantages—Idaho and New Jersey; Obama winning streak; role of the superdelegates)

5. The Obama Nomination (Clinton’s no-holds-barred strategy—from inevitability to identity politics to commander-in-chief to working-class whites; Obama gaffes—Rev. Wright, “bitter” comment; Clinton’s Bosnia escapade; changing the rules—Florida/Michigan, popular vote; North Carolina, Indiana, and end of race; lingering bitterness)

6. Looking Ahead to the Fall