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Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964. By Gary A. Donaldson. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2003; pp x + 376. $34.95.
In 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson won big. He also lost big. These outcomes do not come as a surprise to students of American political history. Indeed, the irony that Johnson's unprecedented landslide election (one with a 61 percent margin and a 15-million-vote plurality) came just five months after he signed his landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act (one which, in his words, would deliver "the South to the Republican party for a long time to come") is well documented in many works on the Johnson presidency and the 1964 election.
Why, then, did Gary A. Donaldson write another book centering on Johnson's victory and loss? How does this text differ from the others on this heavily researched election? And, why might this one merit our attention? The short answers to these questions are: to focus on the ripple effect of this election for conservative and liberal organizations in the United States; in its detail and storytelling; and because this book encourages the reader to consider a variety of questions that are as relevant in 2005 as they were in 1964. It is almost impossible to read this book in the aftermath of the 2004 presidential contest without putting it down repeatedly to think about the intersections between 2004 and 1964.1 imagine the book will continue to be a rich read as the nation heads into the 2006 and 2008 elections, for Donaldson does a thoughtful job of showing how the 1964 campaign set the stage...