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Alabama Politics, Government, and Law
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Alabama Getaway by Allen Tullos, et al. In Alabama Getaway Allen Tullos explores the recent history of one of the nation's most conservative states to reveal its political imaginary--the public shape of power, popular imagery, and individual opportunity. From Alabama's largely ineffectual politicians to its miserly support of education, health care, cultural institutions, and social services, Tullos examines why the state appears to be stuck in repetitive loops of uneven development and debilitating habits of judgment. The state remains tied to fundamentalisms of religion, race, gender, winner-take-all economics, and militarism enforced by punitive and defensive responses to criticism. Tullos traces the spectral legacy of George Wallace, ponders the roots of anti-egalitarian political institutions and tax structures, and challenges Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice's use of the civil rights struggle to justify the war in Iraq. He also gives due coverage to the state's black citizens who with a minority of whites have sustained a movement for social justice and democratic inclusion. As Alabama competes for cultural tourism and global industries like auto manufacturing and biomedical research, Alabama Getaway asks if the coming years will see a transformation of the "Heart of Dixie."Call Number: 976.1063 TUL
ISBN: 9780820330495
Publication Date: 2011-03-15
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Alabama Governors by Samuel L. Webb, et al. This collection of biographical essays, written by thirty-four noted historians and political scientists, chronicles the times, careers, challenges, leadership, and legacies of the fifty-seven men and one woman who have served as the state's highest elected official. The book is organized chronologically into six sections that cover Alabama's years as a US territory and its early statehood, the 1840s through the Civil War and Reconstruction, the late nineteenth-century Bourbon era, twentieth-century progressive and wartime governors, the Civil Rights era and George Wallace's period of influence, and recent chief executives in the post-Wallace era. The political careers of these fifty-eight individuals reflect the story of Alabama itself. Taken together, these essays provide a unified history of the state, with its recurring themes of race, federal-state relations, tensions between north and south Alabama, economic development, taxation, and education. Alabama Governors expertly delineates the decisions and challenges of the chief executives, their policy initiatives, their accomplishments and failures, and the lasting impact of their terms. The book also includes the true and sometimes scandalous anecdotes that pepper Alabama's storied history. Several of the state's early governors fought duels; one killed his wife's lover. A Reconstruction era-governor barricaded himself in his office and refused to give it up when voters failed to reelect him. A twentieth-century governor, an alumnus of Yale, served as an officer in the Ku Klux Klan. This entirely updated and revised edition includes enlarged and enhanced images of each governor. Published as Alabama prepares for its sixty-fourth gubernatorial election, Alabama Governors is certain to become an valuable resource for teachers, students, librarians, journalists, and anyone interested in the colorful history of Alabama politics.Call Number: 976.1009 ALA
ISBN: 9780817318437
Publication Date: 2014-08-31
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Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century by William H. Stewart Why does Alabama rank so low on many of the indicators of quality of life? Why did some of the most dramatic developments in the civil rights revolution of the 1960s take place in Alabama? Why is it that a few interest groups seem to have the most political power in Alabama? William H. Stewart's Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century explores these questions and more, illuminating many of the often misunderstood details of contemporary Alabama politics in this cohesive and comprehensive publication. The Alabama state government, especially as a specimen of Deep South politics, is a topic of frequent discussion by its general public--second only to college football. However, there remains a surprising lack of literature focusing on the workings of the state's bureaucracy in an extensive and systematic way. Bearing in mind the Yellowhammer State's long and rich political history, Stewart concentrates on Alabama's statecraft from the first decade of the twenty-first century through the November 2010 elections and considers what the widespread Republican victories mean for their constituents. He also studies several different themes prominent during the 2010 elections, including the growing number and influence of special interest groups, the respective polarization of whites and blacks into the Republican and Democratic parties, and the increasingly unwieldy state constitution. This fascinating and revealing text provides a wealth of information about an extremely complex state government. Featuring detailed descriptions of important concepts and events presented in a thorough and intelligible manner, Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century is perfect for scholars, students, everyday Alabamians, or anyone who wants the inside scoop on the subtle inner workings of the Cotton State's politics.Call Number: 320.9761 STE
ISBN: 9780817319274
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
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For the Love of Alabama by Ron Casey; Bailey Thomson; Sam Hodges (Editor); Wayne J. Flynt (Foreword by) Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4 For the Love of Alabama is a compilation of the most poignant and trenchant writing--editorials, reportage, and columns--by two of Alabama's most committed and reform-minded journalists. Ron Casey and Bailey Thomson both died young: Casey at forty-eight and Thomson at fifty-four. Nevertheless, through their work at the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register, respectively, they labored tirelessly to illuminate and confront the state's chronic and interrelated problems of race, government, education, and poverty. Both journalists attended The University of Alabama shortly after George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door, and their subsequent work tackled the tumultuous politics of that era. Casey and Thomson soon became voices of statewide reform movements. As such, they attacked the 1901 Constitution for its stagnating effects on the laboring class, race relations, education, and healthcare; allowances for special-interest influence; and impediments to fair taxes--an ongoing crusade that spawned, among much other work, Casey's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of editorials "What They Won't Tell You About Your Taxes" and Thomson's series "Dixie's Broken Heart," which won the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Compiled here are the writings that challenged not only the en- trenched corruption of the times, but also the apathy toward that corruption. It is a testament to the process of reform Casey and Thomson hoped would improve the lives of all Alabamians. It is also a volume of strong personal convictions, uncompromised religious beliefs, and a grounded devotion to community--all displayed in the clear, concise prose of two friends driven to change, for the better, the state that they loved.Call Number: 976.1 CAS
ISBN: 9780817356668
Publication Date: 2011-08-02
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Nobody but the People by Warren A. Trest In this first authorized biography of former Alabama Governor John Patterson, historian Warren Trest offers new insights and rich details into the life of a significant Southern politician whose career touched some of the key struggles of the twentieth century civil rights movement. Patterson later recanted his segregationist views and went on to become a widely respected judge, but as governor from 1958-62, he led Alabama into full white-supremacist rebellion against the national effort to integrate schools and public accommodations. He was a rare Southern supporter of JFK in 1960, but the two broke bitterly over the 1961 Freedom Rides and Kennedy had to send federal marshals into Montgomery to quell KKK-led mobs. Not merely a civil rights account, Nobody But the People also details Patterson's World War II heroism, his role as attorney general in cleaning up vice and corruption, and his efforts to improve education and the economy. Patterson is revealed as a complex and likable politician and jurist whose career was unfortunately blighted by decisions he later regretted on racial issues.Call Number: 976.1063 TRE 2008
ISBN: 9781588382214
Publication Date: 2008-09-01
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There's Hope for the World by Richard Arrington On a sultry September morning in 1955, a young African American man, the son of share corppers, boarded a Greyhound bus in Birmingham, Alabama, to leave his home state for the first time in his life. He was headed for the University of Detroit on a teaching scholarship from Miles College. Richard Arrington could not have guessed then that his future as a teacher would be postponed for decades by big-city politics--and that he would serve a record-setting five terms as chief executive of Alabama's largest city. Under Arrington's leadership, Birmingham rebuilt itself from a foundering, steel-driven industrial center to one of the most diversified metropolitan areas in the Southeast, with an economy fueled by health care, biomedical research, engineering, telecommunications, and banking. As mayor, Arrington's economic legacy is impressive. When he left office, Birmingham boasted a record number of jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in its history. Additionally, Birmingham had built the strongest tax base in Alabama, expanded its city limits by 60 square miles, reduced crime to its lowest level in 25 years, and funded a $260 million school construction program. Today Birmingham is financially sound and is the only city in the Southeast with a $100 million endowment fund.Call Number: 976.0164 ARR 2008
ISBN: 9780817316235
Publication Date: 2008-10-12
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Thomas Goode Jones by Brent J. Aucoin This first comprehensive biography of Thomas Goode Jones records the life of a man whose political career reflects the fascinating and unsettled history of Alabama and the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century. Often overshadowed by the pharaonic antebellum period, the Civil War, and the luminous heights of the civil rights movement, the deceptively placid decades at the turn of the century were, in fact, a period when southerners fiercely debated the course of the South's future. In tracing Jones's career, Brent J. Aucoin offers vivid accounts of the great events and trends of that pivotal period: Reconstruction, the birth of the "Solid South," the Populist Revolt, and the establishment of racial disenfranchisement and segregation. Born in 1844, Jones served in the Confederate army and after the war identified as a conservative "Bourbon" Democrat. He served as Alabama's governor from 1890 to 1894 and as a federal judge from 1901 until his death in 1914. As a veteran, politician, and judge, Jones embodied numerous roles in the shifting political landscape of the South. Jones was not, however, a reflexive conformist and sometimes pursued policies at odds with his party. Jones's rhetoric and support of African American civil rights were exceptional and earned him truculent criticism from unrepentant racist factions in his party. His support was so fearless that it inspired Booker T. Washington to recommend Jones to Republican president Theodore Roosevelt as a federal judge. On the bench, Jones garnered national attention for his efforts to end peonage and lynching, and yet he also enabled the establishment of legalized segregation in Alabama, confounding attempts easily to categorize him as an odious reactionary or fearless progressive. A man who both represented and differed from his class, Thomas Goode Jones offers contemporary readers and scholars an ideal subject of study to understand a period of southern history that still shapes American life today.Call Number: 976.1091 AUC
ISBN: 9780817319137
Publication Date: 2016-07-15
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Wallace by Marshall Frady "A sensitive, informed and funny feat of high journalism that is a classic of the kind."--The New York Times Book Review Wallace is a classic portrait of one of the century's most fiery and controversial political figures. Initially conceived as a novel, Marshall Frady's biography of George Wallace retains the narrative force and descriptive powers of fiction. Elizabeth Hardwick noted on Wallace's first publication in 1968, "There is a palpable Faulknerian mood to the reporting," and The New Republic observed, "Frady has established new standards in political biography." This is a wonderfully crafted depiction of a seminal figure whose influence altered the course of national politics.Call Number: 976.1063 FRA
ISBN: 067977128X
Publication Date: 1996-06-03
Alabama Politics, Government, and Law
Alabama Getaway by In Alabama Getaway Allen Tullos explores the recent history of one of the nation's most conservative states to reveal its political imaginary--the public shape of power, popular imagery, and individual opportunity. From Alabama's largely ineffectual politicians to its miserly support of education, health care, cultural institutions, and social services, Tullos examines why the state appears to be stuck in repetitive loops of uneven development and debilitating habits of judgment. The state remains tied to fundamentalisms of religion, race, gender, winner-take-all economics, and militarism enforced by punitive and defensive responses to criticism. Tullos traces the spectral legacy of George Wallace, ponders the roots of anti-egalitarian political institutions and tax structures, and challenges Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice's use of the civil rights struggle to justify the war in Iraq. He also gives due coverage to the state's black citizens who with a minority of whites have sustained a movement for social justice and democratic inclusion. As Alabama competes for cultural tourism and global industries like auto manufacturing and biomedical research, Alabama Getaway asks if the coming years will see a transformation of the "Heart of Dixie."
Alabama Governors by This collection of biographical essays, written by thirty-four noted historians and political scientists, chronicles the times, careers, challenges, leadership, and legacies of the fifty-seven men and one woman who have served as the state's highest elected official. The book is organized chronologically into six sections that cover Alabama's years as a US territory and its early statehood, the 1840s through the Civil War and Reconstruction, the late nineteenth-century Bourbon era, twentieth-century progressive and wartime governors, the Civil Rights era and George Wallace's period of influence, and recent chief executives in the post-Wallace era. The political careers of these fifty-eight individuals reflect the story of Alabama itself. Taken together, these essays provide a unified history of the state, with its recurring themes of race, federal-state relations, tensions between north and south Alabama, economic development, taxation, and education. Alabama Governors expertly delineates the decisions and challenges of the chief executives, their policy initiatives, their accomplishments and failures, and the lasting impact of their terms. The book also includes the true and sometimes scandalous anecdotes that pepper Alabama's storied history. Several of the state's early governors fought duels; one killed his wife's lover. A Reconstruction era-governor barricaded himself in his office and refused to give it up when voters failed to reelect him. A twentieth-century governor, an alumnus of Yale, served as an officer in the Ku Klux Klan. This entirely updated and revised edition includes enlarged and enhanced images of each governor. Published as Alabama prepares for its sixty-fourth gubernatorial election, Alabama Governors is certain to become an valuable resource for teachers, students, librarians, journalists, and anyone interested in the colorful history of Alabama politics.
Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Why does Alabama rank so low on many of the indicators of quality of life? Why did some of the most dramatic developments in the civil rights revolution of the 1960s take place in Alabama? Why is it that a few interest groups seem to have the most political power in Alabama? William H. Stewart's Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century explores these questions and more, illuminating many of the often misunderstood details of contemporary Alabama politics in this cohesive and comprehensive publication. The Alabama state government, especially as a specimen of Deep South politics, is a topic of frequent discussion by its general public--second only to college football. However, there remains a surprising lack of literature focusing on the workings of the state's bureaucracy in an extensive and systematic way. Bearing in mind the Yellowhammer State's long and rich political history, Stewart concentrates on Alabama's statecraft from the first decade of the twenty-first century through the November 2010 elections and considers what the widespread Republican victories mean for their constituents. He also studies several different themes prominent during the 2010 elections, including the growing number and influence of special interest groups, the respective polarization of whites and blacks into the Republican and Democratic parties, and the increasingly unwieldy state constitution. This fascinating and revealing text provides a wealth of information about an extremely complex state government. Featuring detailed descriptions of important concepts and events presented in a thorough and intelligible manner, Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century is perfect for scholars, students, everyday Alabamians, or anyone who wants the inside scoop on the subtle inner workings of the Cotton State's politics.
For the Love of Alabama by Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4 For the Love of Alabama is a compilation of the most poignant and trenchant writing--editorials, reportage, and columns--by two of Alabama's most committed and reform-minded journalists. Ron Casey and Bailey Thomson both died young: Casey at forty-eight and Thomson at fifty-four. Nevertheless, through their work at the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register, respectively, they labored tirelessly to illuminate and confront the state's chronic and interrelated problems of race, government, education, and poverty. Both journalists attended The University of Alabama shortly after George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door, and their subsequent work tackled the tumultuous politics of that era. Casey and Thomson soon became voices of statewide reform movements. As such, they attacked the 1901 Constitution for its stagnating effects on the laboring class, race relations, education, and healthcare; allowances for special-interest influence; and impediments to fair taxes--an ongoing crusade that spawned, among much other work, Casey's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of editorials "What They Won't Tell You About Your Taxes" and Thomson's series "Dixie's Broken Heart," which won the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Compiled here are the writings that challenged not only the en- trenched corruption of the times, but also the apathy toward that corruption. It is a testament to the process of reform Casey and Thomson hoped would improve the lives of all Alabamians. It is also a volume of strong personal convictions, uncompromised religious beliefs, and a grounded devotion to community--all displayed in the clear, concise prose of two friends driven to change, for the better, the state that they loved.
Nobody but the People by In this first authorized biography of former Alabama Governor John Patterson, historian Warren Trest offers new insights and rich details into the life of a significant Southern politician whose career touched some of the key struggles of the twentieth century civil rights movement. Patterson later recanted his segregationist views and went on to become a widely respected judge, but as governor from 1958-62, he led Alabama into full white-supremacist rebellion against the national effort to integrate schools and public accommodations. He was a rare Southern supporter of JFK in 1960, but the two broke bitterly over the 1961 Freedom Rides and Kennedy had to send federal marshals into Montgomery to quell KKK-led mobs. Not merely a civil rights account, Nobody But the People also details Patterson's World War II heroism, his role as attorney general in cleaning up vice and corruption, and his efforts to improve education and the economy. Patterson is revealed as a complex and likable politician and jurist whose career was unfortunately blighted by decisions he later regretted on racial issues.
There's Hope for the World by On a sultry September morning in 1955, a young African American man, the son of share corppers, boarded a Greyhound bus in Birmingham, Alabama, to leave his home state for the first time in his life. He was headed for the University of Detroit on a teaching scholarship from Miles College. Richard Arrington could not have guessed then that his future as a teacher would be postponed for decades by big-city politics--and that he would serve a record-setting five terms as chief executive of Alabama's largest city. Under Arrington's leadership, Birmingham rebuilt itself from a foundering, steel-driven industrial center to one of the most diversified metropolitan areas in the Southeast, with an economy fueled by health care, biomedical research, engineering, telecommunications, and banking. As mayor, Arrington's economic legacy is impressive. When he left office, Birmingham boasted a record number of jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in its history. Additionally, Birmingham had built the strongest tax base in Alabama, expanded its city limits by 60 square miles, reduced crime to its lowest level in 25 years, and funded a $260 million school construction program. Today Birmingham is financially sound and is the only city in the Southeast with a $100 million endowment fund.
Thomas Goode Jones by This first comprehensive biography of Thomas Goode Jones records the life of a man whose political career reflects the fascinating and unsettled history of Alabama and the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century. Often overshadowed by the pharaonic antebellum period, the Civil War, and the luminous heights of the civil rights movement, the deceptively placid decades at the turn of the century were, in fact, a period when southerners fiercely debated the course of the South's future. In tracing Jones's career, Brent J. Aucoin offers vivid accounts of the great events and trends of that pivotal period: Reconstruction, the birth of the "Solid South," the Populist Revolt, and the establishment of racial disenfranchisement and segregation. Born in 1844, Jones served in the Confederate army and after the war identified as a conservative "Bourbon" Democrat. He served as Alabama's governor from 1890 to 1894 and as a federal judge from 1901 until his death in 1914. As a veteran, politician, and judge, Jones embodied numerous roles in the shifting political landscape of the South. Jones was not, however, a reflexive conformist and sometimes pursued policies at odds with his party. Jones's rhetoric and support of African American civil rights were exceptional and earned him truculent criticism from unrepentant racist factions in his party. His support was so fearless that it inspired Booker T. Washington to recommend Jones to Republican president Theodore Roosevelt as a federal judge. On the bench, Jones garnered national attention for his efforts to end peonage and lynching, and yet he also enabled the establishment of legalized segregation in Alabama, confounding attempts easily to categorize him as an odious reactionary or fearless progressive. A man who both represented and differed from his class, Thomas Goode Jones offers contemporary readers and scholars an ideal subject of study to understand a period of southern history that still shapes American life today.
Wallace by "A sensitive, informed and funny feat of high journalism that is a classic of the kind."--The New York Times Book Review Wallace is a classic portrait of one of the century's most fiery and controversial political figures. Initially conceived as a novel, Marshall Frady's biography of George Wallace retains the narrative force and descriptive powers of fiction. Elizabeth Hardwick noted on Wallace's first publication in 1968, "There is a palpable Faulknerian mood to the reporting," and The New Republic observed, "Frady has established new standards in political biography." This is a wonderfully crafted depiction of a seminal figure whose influence altered the course of national politics.