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Description
Scroop, Daniel. Mr. Democrat: Jim Farley, the New Deal, and the Making of Modern American Politics. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006. x + 275 pages. Cloth, $29.95.
Stebenne, David L. Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006. xi + 363 pages. Cloth, $35.00.
In an age when campaign strategists, such as Karl Rove, have become household names, and when former congressional aides, such as Chris Matthews, are now television pundits, these two biographies of political lieutenants from the not-so-distant past merit close attention. Daniel Scroop's Mr. Democrat examines the life of James A. Farley, the architect of Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide triumphs in the elections of 1932 and 1936. David L. Stebenne's Modern Republican resurrects Arthur Larson, the principal theoretician of Republicanism--1950s-style. Despite depicting political actors from different parties, eras, and White Houses, these two studies share many similarities. Farley and Larson were both secondary figures who, in their own ways, shaped American politics. The former helped to construct the New Deal coalition while the latter adjusted to its accomplishments. Interestingly, each man left public life not entirely satisfied with his handiwork.
Scroop's book admirably fills a gap in the literature of the New Deal. Although Farley published two memoirs, Behind the Ballots (1938) and Jim Farley's Story (1948), he heretofore has not... |
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