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In June 1963, in the midst of national turmoil brought about by
civil rights demonstrations, John Kennedy sent his administration's
first major civil rights bill to the Congress. Still unsure about
this move, he asked his brother Robert, "Do you think we did the
right thing?" Within days of assuming the presidency, Lyndon
Johnson publicly committed himself to civil rights as a "memorial"
to his predecessor. Privately he told Georgia's Senator Richard
Russell, the leader of the South in Congress, "Dick, you've got to
get out of my way. I'm going to run you over." President Johnson
would not compromise or equivocate on civil rights. John Kennedy of
Massachusetts yielded to the pressure of events and became an ally
of the movement, despite his fear that supporting civil rights
could cost him votes in Congress and the nation. Lyndon Johnson of
Texas, whom liberals loathed because he often gutted their prize
legislation, became the committed champion of civil rights.
Together their administrations became synonymous with the Second
Reconstruction, though neither president had a prior record of
strong civil rights commitment. Mark Stern explains how each man
pursued power and votes, and ultimately redirected his own course
of action and altered the nation's future. Mark Stern is a
professor of political science and director of the University
Honors Program at the University of Central Florida.
American society today is hardly recognizable from what it was a
century ago. Integrated schools, an information economy, and
independently successful women are just a few of the remarkable
changes that have occurred over just a few generations. Still, the
country today is influenced by many of the same factors that
revolutionized life in the late nineteenth century immigration,
globalization, technology, and shifting social norms and is plagued
by many of the same problems economic, social, and racial
inequality. One Nation Divisible, a sweeping history of
twentieth-century American life by Michael B. Katz and Mark J.
Stern, weaves together information from the latest census with a
century s worth of data to show how trends in American life have
changed while inequality and diversity have endured. One Nation
Divisible examines all aspects of work, family, and social life to
paint a broad picture of the American experience over the long arc
of the twentieth century. Katz and Stern track the transformations
of the U.S. workforce, from the farm to the factory to the office
tower. Technological advances at the beginning and end of the
twentieth century altered the demand for work, causing large
population movements between regions. These labor market shifts fed
both the explosive growth of cities at the dawn of the industrial
age and the sprawling suburbanization of today. One Nation
Divisible also discusses how the norms of growing up and growing
old have shifted. Whereas the typical life course once involved
early marriage and living with large, extended families, Americans
today commonly take years before marrying or settling on a career
path, and often live in non-traditional households. Katz and Stern
examine the growing influence of government on trends in American
life, showing how new laws have contributed to more diverse
neighborhoods and schools, and increased opportunities for
minorities, women, and the elderly. One Nation Divisible also
explores the abiding economic paradox in American life: while many
individuals are able to climb the financial ladder, inequality of
income and wealth remains pervasive throughout society. The last
hundred years have been marked by incredible transformations in
American society. Great advances in civil rights have been tempered
significantly by rising economic inequality. One Nation Divisible
provides a compelling new analysis of the issues that continue to
divide this country and the powerful role of government in both
mitigating and exacerbating them."
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