Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $30.99
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- $30.99
Publisher Description
The epic 1950s battle that would shape the legal future of the civil rights movement is chronicled here for the first time.
The bitter feud between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Chief Justice Earl Warren framed the tumultuous future of the modern civil rights movement. Eisenhower was a gradualist who wanted to coax white Americans in the South into eventually accepting integration, while Warren, author of the Supreme Court’s historic unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, demanded immediate action to dismantle the segregation of the public school system. In Eisenhower vs. Warren, two-time New York Times Notable Book author James F. Simon examines the years of strife between them that led Eisenhower to say that his biggest mistake as president was appointing that “dumb son of a bitch Earl Warren.” This momentous, poisonous relationship is presented here at last in one volume. Compellingly written, Eisenhower vs. Warren brings to vivid life the clash that continues to reverberate in political and constitutional debates today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Simon (FDR and Chief Justice Hughes) uses twin biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Supreme Court chief justice Earl Warren to illuminate an often-overlooked period of legal history at the start of the civil rights movement. Simon's major focus is the fallout between Eisenhower and Warren over the implementation of the court's mandate to desegregate the country's public school system following the unanimous ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. Despite his support for desegregating the armed forces and for civil rights in the context of federal employment, Eisenhower felt it best to integrate the schools at a pace acceptable to Southern senators and governors. Warren diametrically opposed this position; he held that the Constitution demanded that integration not be delayed. Simon is in top form, creating sympathetic portraits of both protagonists, capturing the historical context of Eisenhower's presidency, thoroughly explaining the dynamics of the Warren Court, and, when necessary, looking past Eisenhower's and Warren's professed positions to expose their underlying motives and goals. This balanced account of the bitter relationship between Eisenhower and Warren presents a new lens through which to view the start of the civil rights movement.
