Cowboy Conservatism
Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right
Publication Year: 2010
Published by: The University Press of Kentucky
Front cover
Copyright
Contents
Maps and Illustrations
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pp. ix-x
Preface
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pp. xi-xiv
I began the preliminary research for this book in the fall of 1988, while a sixth grader at Waters Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas. Of course, “research” might not be the right word, but my love of and interest in postwar American political history—and even my fascination with political imagery, ideology, and iconography...
Acknowledgments
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pp. xv-xvi
Introduction
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pp. 1-11
In May 1968, less than two months after announcing to the world that he would not run for reelection, Lyndon Johnson remained desperate to understand the convergence of political events that had so decisively unraveled his presidency. Surprisingly, no state puzzled Johnson more than his home state of Texas. In seeking to understand the changing political climate of ...
1. The Eyes of Texas
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pp. 12-39
In his seminal 1949 study of southern politics, the esteemed political scientist V. O. Key offered a detailed analysis of the Texas political culture and tradition at midcentury. Assessing the state’s regional identity, he argued that the “changes of nine decades have weakened the heritage of southern traditionalism, revolutionized...
2. Growing Pains
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pp. 40-67
John Tower’s stunning victory in 1961 can and should be seen as a seminal moment in the process of constructing a legitimate two-party Texas. Tower, however, was not the first Republican in the postwar era to make electoral waves in Texas. Coinciding with Dwight Eisenhower’s popularity and a national trend toward fervent anticommunism was the rather anomalous ...
3. Reconstructing Conservatism
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pp. 68-96
On March 26, 1968, Ben Carpenter, then president of the conservative Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, delivered a speech at the organization’s annual membership convention. Carpenter used the occasion to describe what he considered the slippery slope of American moral decline. He delivered a fourteen-page address on the dangers of “liberal ...
4. "I am a Sick American"
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pp. 97-126
On April 15, 1971, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal published an anonymous, full-page advertisement consisting only of text. At the top of the page, in big, bold letters, was a declaration: “I am a Sick American.” The text of the ad, credited to “Author Unknown,” read as follows:There are those that claim ours is a “sick” society; that our country is ...
5. Poisons
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pp. 127-154
Between 1971 and 1974, the political status quo in Texas was challenged from several angles. In these tumultuous years, Texans witnessed widespread scandal and corruption, intraparty factionalism at the national, state, and local levels, intensified challenges to partisan loyalties, and the infusion into the political culture of new and controversial challenges to existing social traditions and moral codes...
6. Civil War
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pp. 155-181
The rise of modern Texas conservatism experienced a critical turning point in 1976. That year, in the midst of a heated primary contest between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, what can best be described as a political civil war broke out within the Texas GOP. The war was essentially a split be-tween the established party leadership, still committed to making Texas a ...
7. The Gathering Storm
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pp. 182-208
As it turned out, Jimmy Carter was one of the best friends the Texas Republican Party could have ever asked for. Between 1977 and 1980, Carter, quite unintentionally of course, not only provided the Texas GOP with the context and ammunition it needed to finally achieve viable second-party status, but also helped lay the groundwork for the Lone Star State’s future ...
8. Revolution
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pp. 209-236
Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980, highlighted by his overwhelming win in Texas, was a culmination of more than two decades of political change, hastened by a host of economic, social, and demographic forces. It also established Texas as a legitimate two-party state and, eventually, as the preeminent bedrock of modern conservatism. For years, the state GOP had ...
Conclusion
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pp. 237-242
Among the notable casualties of Reagan’s revolution in 1980 was Houston’s famously liberal congressman Bob Eckhardt. Eckhardt had represented Houston’s eighth congressional district since 1966, when he carried an astonishing 93 percent of the general election vote. Between 1968 and 1976, Eckhardt ran for reelection every two years, his percentage of the general ...
Notes
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pp. 243-271
Bibliography
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pp. 273-282
Index
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pp. 283-293
E-ISBN-13: 9780813173719
Print-ISBN-13: 9780813125763
Page Count: 320
Publication Year: 2010
Series Title: New Directions in Southern History
