God's Own Party : The Making of the Christian Right - Daniel K. Williams

God's Own Party

The Making of the Christian Right

By: Daniel K. Williams

Hardcover | 21 October 2010

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When the Christian Right burst onto the scene in the late 1970s, many political observers were shocked. But, God's Own Party demonstrates, they shouldn't have been. The Christian Right goes back much farther than most journalists, political scientists, and historians realize. Relying on extensive archival and primary source research, Daniel K. Williams presents the first comprehensive history of the Christian Right, uncovering how evangelicals came to see the Republican Party as the vehicle through which they could reclaim America as a Christian nation.
The conventional wisdom has been that the Christian Right arose in response to Roe v. Wade and the liberal government policies of the 1970s. Williams shows that the movement's roots run much deeper, dating to the 1920s, when fundamentalists launched a campaign to restore the influence of conservative Protestantism on American society. He describes how evangelicals linked this program to a political agenda-resulting in initiatives against evolution and Catholic political power, as well as the national crusade against communism. Williams chronicles Billy Graham's alliance with the Eisenhower White House, Richard Nixon's manipulation of the evangelical vote, and the political activities of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and others, culminating in the presidency of George W. Bush. Though the Christian Right has frequently been declared dead, Williams shows, it has come back stronger every time. Today, no Republican presidential candidate can hope to win the party's nomination without its support.
A fascinating and much-needed account of a key force in American politics, God's Own Party is the only full-scale analysis of the electoral shifts, cultural changes, and political activists at the movement's core-showing how the Christian Right redefined politics as we know it.
Industry Reviews
''Williams...does as well as any writer to date in answering the basic questions of what went into making up the religious right.'' --The New Republic ''Thoroughly researched and engagingly written...God's Own Party should serve as the standard history of the latest Protestant Right for the foreseeable future.'' --Journal of American History ''A wonderfully thorough account of the Christian Right...A bright example of sound methodology, clear and concise prose, and rigorous analysis. Based on years of painstaking research in a multitude of periodicals, personal and political papers, and organizational records, God's Own Party effectively transports the reader through time, charting the development of Christian right-wing activism over the course of ninety years.'' --Journal of Southern Religion ''The best general study of the Religious Right.'' --Church History "I have long sought a book that would present the history of how the GOP became, in the mind of most conservative Christians, God s Own Party...This is the book I have been waiting for...For an interesting and objective history of the Christian Right, I highly recommend Williams book. --Laurence M. Vance, LewRockwell.com "[T]his book is a needed addition to scholarship on the rise of the New Right."--Religious Studies Review

Other Editions and Formats

Paperback

Published: 26th July 2012

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