Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781440841415)

The narrative of Spiro Agnew's rise and fall has never been fully told. This compelling book tells the story of one of the most controversial, high-level politicians of recent American history and explains the importance of Agnew's life and career.

Too often overlooked by students of modern conservatism, Spiro T. Agnew's political career mirrored the transformation of the Republicans from a "big tent" party to a narrower, more conservative, and ideologically purer one in the 1960s and 1970s. Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right traces Agnew's life and career and shows how Agnew was a key figure in American politics--and documents how a powerful politician who looked to be headed to the presidency ended up having to resign from the office of the vice president in shame and fade into the shadows of political history.

This political biography examines how Spiro Agnew's ideological transformation from a moderate liberal to a conservative spearheaded the rise of the Republican Right. Author Justin P. Coffey, PhD, explores the political, social, and racial aspects of Agnew's career and how he both influenced and was himself shaped by each of these parameters. This book offers an unprecedented study of Agnew's legacy in the present-day context, providing information suited for any reader interested in history or politics and filling a void in the scholarship of the rise of the conservative movement.

Author: Justin P. Coffey
ISBN-10: 1440841411
ISBN-13: 9781440841415
Publisher: Praeger
Language: English
Published: 10/26/2015
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.10w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2016