Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (119 page)

McCarthyism and the Red Scare:
Especially sound interpretations of these events are Stephen Whitfield,
Culture of the Cold War
, cited above; and Richard Fried,
Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective
(New York, 1990). Robert Griffith,
The Politics of Fear: Joseph McCarthy and the Senate
(Lexington, Ky., 1970), concentrates persuasively on political manifestations. Griffith and Athan Theoharis, eds.,
The Specter: Original Essays on the Cold War and the Origins of McCarthyism
(New York, 1974), contains well-researched articles on aspects of the Red Scare. David Caute,
The Great Fear: The Anti-Communist Purge under Truman and Eisenhower
(New York, 1978), offers an incredulous survey. Two biographies are David Oshinsky, A
Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy
(New York, 1983); and Thomas Reeves,
The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography
(New York, 1982). See also Richard Rovere,
Senator Joe McCarthy
(New York, 1959), for a sharply critical study. More specialized books include Ellen Schrecker,
No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities
(New York, 1986); Allen Weinstein,
Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case
(New York, 1978); and Richard Freeland,
The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism
(New York, 1971), which criticizes the Truman administration. Daniel Bell, ed.,
The Radical Right
(New York, 1964), includes essays rooting the Red Scare in social tensions.

The 1950s and Eisenhower politics
: I have relied extensively on J. Ronald Oakley,
God's Country: America in the Fifties
(New York, 1986), a well-written survey; and on Stephen Ambrose,
Eisenhower: Soldier and President
(New York, 1990). Other useful treatments of the 1950s include Hine,
Populuxe
, cited above; Charles Alexander,
Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era
, 1952–1961 (Bloomington, Ind., 1975); and David Halberstam,
The Fifties
(New York, 1993). Among the many books focusing on Ike are Craig Allen,
Eisenhower and the Mass Media: Peace, Prosperity, and Prime-Time
TV (Chapel Hill, 1993); Jeff Broadwater,
Eisenhower and the Anti-Communist Crusade
(Chapel Hill, 1992); Robert Burk,
Dwight
D.
Eisenhower: Hero and Politician
(Boston, 1986), a brief biography; William Pickett,
Dwight David Eisenhower and American Power
(Wheeling, 111., 1995), also brief; Herbert Parmet,
Eisenhower and the American Crusades
(New York, 1972), a longer study; Fred Greenstein,
The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader
(New York, 1982), a pro-Ike revisionist account; Shirley Anne Warshaw, ed.,
Reexamining the Eisenhower Presidency
(Westport, Conn., 1993); and Emmet John Hughes,
The Ordeal of Power: A Political Memoir of the Eisenhower Years
(New York, 1963), an engaging account by one of Ike's speechwriters. See also Stephen Ambrose,
Nixon: The Education of a Politician
, 1913–1962 (New York, 1987); and I. F. Stone,
The Haunted Fifties
, 1953–1963 (Boston, 1963), which collects many of Stone's acerbic essays about events of the era.

Foreign affairs in the Eisenhower era:
Robert Divine,
Eisenhower and the Cold War
(New York, 1981), introduces the subject in stimulating essays. Ambrose,
Eisenhower
, offers a favorable interpretation. Other relevant studies include Divine,
The Sputnik Challenge: Eisenhower's Response to the Soviet Satellite
(New York, 1993); David Anderson,
Trapped by Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam
, 1953–1961 (New York, 1991); Lloyd Gardner,
Approaching Vietnam: From World War II Through Dienbienphu, 1941–1954
(New York, 1988); Peter Grose,
Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles
(Boston, 1994); and David Wise and Thomas Ross,
The U-2 Affair
(New York, 1962).

Race relations in the 1950s:
In addition to Kluger,
Simple Justice
, and surveys of race relations noted above, I recommend beginning with Taylor Branch,
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years
, 1954–1963 (New York, 1988), a sweeping, well-written history. Excellent treatments of Martin Luther King, Jr., include David Garrow,
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(New York, 1986); Adam Fairclough, To
Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr
. (Athens, Ga., 1987); and David Lewis,
King: A Biography
(Urbana, 1970). Specialized studies include Jo Robinson,
The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It
(Knoxville, 1987); and Tony Freyer,
The Little Rock Crisis: A Constitutional Interpretation
(Westport, Conn., 1984). For reactions of southern whites the best books are Numan Bartley,
The Rise of Massive Resistance: Race and Politics in the South During the 1950s
(Baton Rouge, 1969); and Neil McMillen,
The Citizens' Council: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction, 1954–1964
(Urbana, 1964). C. Vann Woodward,
The Strange Career of Jim Crow
(rev. ed., New York, 1974), provides essential historical context.

General works on the 1960s:
Three critical books are Allen Matusow,
The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s
(New York, 1984), which emphasizes failings of liberal domestic policies; Charles Morris, A
Time of Passion: America, 1960–1980
(New York, 1984), which contains many acute observations; and William O'Neill,
Coming Apart: An Informal History of America in the 1960s
(Chicago, 1971), an often sardonic account. Todd Gitlin,
The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
(New York, 1987); and Terry Anderson,
The Movement and the Sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee
(New York, 1995), devote considerable attention to protest activities. Books focusing on the Left include James Miller,
"Democracy Is in the Streets": From Port Huron to the Siege of Chicago
(New York, 1987); Kirkpatrick Sale,
SDS
(New York, 1973); Maurice Isserman,
If I Had a Hammer: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left
(New York, 1987); W. J. Rorabaugh,
Berkeley at War: The 1960s
(Berkeley, 1989); and Michael Wreszin, A
Rebel in Defense of Tradition: The Life and Politics ofDwight Macdonald
(New York, 1994). Cultural events in the 1960s receive lively and intelligent coverage in Morris Dickstein,
Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties
(New York, 1977). See also William Braden,
The Age of Aquarius: Technology and the Cultural Revolution
(Chicago, 1970); David Farber, ed.,
The Sixties: From History to Memory
(Chapel Hill, 1994), an up-to-date collection of scholarly essays; and Jim Heath,
Decade of Disillusionment: The Kennedy-Johnson Years
(Bloomington, Ind., 1975).

John F. Kennedy:
Among the many studies of Kennedy and his presidency, four fair-minded accounts merit special mention. They are Herbert Parmet,
JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy
(New York, 1983); Richard Reeves,
President Kennedy: Profile of Power
(New York, 1993); David Burner,
John F. Kennedy and a New Generation
(Boston, 1988); and James Giglio,
The Presidency of John F. Kennedy
(Lawrence, 1991), a very judicious volume. A highly critical study is Thomas Reeves, A
Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy
(New York, 1991). Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., 1000
Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House
(Boston, 1965); and Theodore Sorensen,
Kennedy
(New York, 1965) are lengthy, pro-Kennedy accounts by advisers. Other relevant books include Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy and His Times
(Boston, 1978); Victor Navasky,
Kennedy Justice
(New York, 1971), which looks critically at the Kennedy administration's handling of issues related to the Attorney General's office; and Gerald Posner,
Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK
(New York, 1993), a thoroughly researched treatment of an unendingly controversial matter. Theodore White,
The Making of the President
, 1960 (New York, 1961) is the first of his four books on presidential elections (through 1972). All, focusing on personalities and political strategies, are fast-paced. Key sources on JFK's foreign policies include Michael Beschloss,
The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev
, 1960–1963 (New York, 1991); and Thomas Paterson, ed.,
Kennedy's Quest for Victory: American Foreign Policy
, 1961–1963 (New York, 1989), a critical study. For the space program see Walter McDougall, . . .
The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
(New York, 1985); and Tom Wolfe,
The Right Stuff (New
York, 1979), a highly ironic look by a clever writer.

Civil rights:
This, too, is a crowded field of scholarship and popular writing. In addition to books on race relations noted above, see Carl Brauer,
John F. Kennedy and the Second Reconstruction
(New York, 1977); Clayborne Carson,
In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s
(Cambridge, Mass., 1981); Hugh Davis Graham,
The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy
, 1960–1972 (New York, 1990), a careful, well-researched effort; William Chafe,
Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom
(New York, 1980), a thoughtful book that ranges beyond its title; and John Dittmer,
Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
(Urbana, 1994), an outstanding history. Anne Moody,
Coming of Age in Mississippi
(New York, 1968), is a moving memoir by a civil rights activist, while Howell Raines, ed., My
Soul Is Rested: Movement Days in the Deep South Remembered
(New York, 1977), contains well-chosen reminiscences. More specialized books are David Garrow,
The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From "Solo" to Memphis
(New York, 1981); Garrow,
Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
(New Haven, 1978); Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton,
Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America
(New York, 1967); Malcolm X (with Alex Haley),
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(New York, 1965); E. U. Essien-Udom,
Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity in America
(Chicago, 1962); Lee Rainwater and William Yancey, eds.,
The Moynihan Report and the Politics of Controversy
(Cambridge, Mass., 1967), which reprints the highly debated report and much illuminating commentary about it; and Robert Conot, Rivers
of Blood, Years of Darkness: The Unforgettable Classic Account of the Watts Riot
(New York, 1968).

Lyndon Johnson:
Books that focus on LBJ and his domestic policies include Paul Conkin,
Big Daddy from the Pedernales: Lyndon Baines Johnson
(Boston, 1986), a balanced study; Bruce Schulman,
Lyndon Johnson and American Liberalism: A Brief Biography with Documents
(New York, 1995); Doris Kearns,
Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
(New York, 1976), which explores personal sources of LBJ's policies; Joseph Califano,
The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years
(New York, 1991), a sympathetic account by a former adviser; and Robert Divine, ed.,
Exploring the Johnson Years
(Austin, 1981), which brings together well-researched essays. Robert Caro's two volumes of biography,
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power
(New York, 1982), and
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent
(New York, 1989), offer a very hostile treatment of LBJ from his birth through 1948. Robert Dallek,
Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908–1960
(New York, 1991), carries Johnson's story to 1960.

Vietnam:
George Herring,
America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975
(2d ed., Philadelphia, 1986) is a remarkably disciplined general history. Larry Berman,
Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam
(New York, 1989), focuses critically on Johnson's policies. Neil Sheehan, A
Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
(New York, 1988), offers an epic account of shattered hopes and assumptions. Frances FitzGerald,
The Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam
(Boston, 1972), emphasizes cultural misunderstandings. Loren Baritz,
Backfire: A History of How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did
(New York, 1985), stresses the deep historical roots of American policy. General accounts include Guenter Lewy,
America in Vietnam
(New York, 1979); Stanley Karnow,
Vietnam: A History
(New York, 1991); and Marilyn Young,
The Vietnam Wars
, 1945–1990 (New York, 1991). D. Michael Shafer, ed.,
The Legacy: The Vietnam War in the American Imagination
(Boston, 1990), contains excellent essays on aspects of the war. For studies of the draft, see George Flynn,
Lewis B. Hershey, Jr.: Mr. Selective Service
(Chapel Hill, 1985); and Lawrence Baskir and William Strauss,
Second Chance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation
(New York, 1978). Christian Appy,
Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers in Vietnam
(Chapel Hill, 1993); and Wallace Terry, ed.,
Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans
(New York, 1984), discuss recruitment and experiences in the field.