Richard Nixon

Win a copy of ‘Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life’ on Goodreads

by Shaun Manning June 6, 2013

Early reviews are unanimous in their praise for James Cannon’s Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life: “This is a first-rate political history and a compassionate biography.” —Publishers Weekly “[T]his insider account persuasively demonstrates that [Ford] was a far better president than campaigner and that, at a particularly low moment in our history, we were perhaps luckier than we knew to have him.” —Kirkus “Cannon portrays a man who, despite the shadow of the Nixon pardon clouding his presidency, maintained an honorable reputation in the often unsavory business of politics.” —Booklist “The life of this honest and plain-spoken man…will delight historians […]

Happy 90th Birthday to William G. Milliken

by Shaun Manning March 26, 2012

William G. Milliken, Michigan’s 44th and longest-serving governor, celebrates his 90th birthday on March 26. A moderate Republican rising through the ranks from State Senator to Lieutenant Governor under George Romney, Milliken took over the state’s top office in 1969 when Romney accepted a position in then-President Richard Nixon’s cabinet. Milliken was then elected to three successive four-year terms as Governor, for a total of 14 years in office. His life and time in office are chronicled in the 2006 University of Michigan Press biography William G. Milliken: Michigan’s Passionate Moderate by Dave Dempsey. The biography was chosen as a […]

Modern politicans aren’t the first to verbally stumble, ‘Elly Peterson’ author writes

by University of Michigan Press September 1, 2011

Sara Fitzgerald, a former Washington Post journalist, is author of Elly Peterson: ‘Mother’ of the Moderates. Will a statement made by a tired politician at the end of a long day of campaigning help define the 2012 presidential race? Michele Bachmann placing the “shot heard ‘round the world” in New Hampshire instead of Massachusetts? Rick Perry labeling the Federal Reserve chairman’s management of the economy as “treasonous?” Mitt Romney’s response to a heckler that “corporations are people, too?” Romney knows very well the consequences of making a statement that comes to be defined as a “campaign gaffe.” Forty-four years (and […]

Moderates, the debt ceiling, and the future of the Republican Party: Sara Fitzgerald, author of ‘Elly Peterson,’ weighs in

by University of Michigan Press July 21, 2011

A couple of months ago, The Washington Post mused, in a front-page story on the presidential campaign of Jon Huntsman Jr., “Can a Republican moderate survive?” I smiled when I saw the headline because you might think I was crazy to set out to write a book that would be titled Elly Peterson: “Mother” of the Moderates. It’s not as if the moderates are holding a national convention, with chapters in every state and city these days! The current Republican establishment is not very interested in “moderates,” and Democrats are not very interested in things that are labeled “Republican.” And […]

Q&A with John Kenneth White, author of Barack Obama’s America

by University of Michigan Press September 4, 2009

The election of Barack Obama to the presidency marks a conclusive end to the Reagan era, writes John Kenneth White in Barack Obama’s America: How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era. Reagan symbolized a 1950s and 1960s America, largely white and suburban, with married couples and kids at home, who attended church more often than not. The demographics, however, have shifted: Marriage is at an all-time low. Cohabitation has increased from a half-million couples in 1960 to more than 5 million in 2000 to even more this year. Gay marriages and civil unions are redefining […]

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