Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party (Studies in Postwar American Political Development) [Hardcover]

Geoffrey Kabaservice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2012 | Series: Studies in Postwar American Political Development

As the 2012 elections approach, the Republican Party is rocketing rightward away from the center of public opinion. Republicans in Congress threaten to shut down the government and force a U.S. debt default. Tea Party activists mount primary challenges against Republican officeholders who appear to exhibit too much pragmatism or independence. Moderation and compromise are dirty words in the Republican presidential debates. The GOP, it seems, has suddenly become a party of ideological purity.

Except this development is not new at all. In Rule and Ruin, Geoffrey Kabaservice reveals that the moderate Republicans' downfall began not with the rise of the Tea Party but about the time of President Dwight Eisenhower's farewell address. Even in the 1960s, when left-wing radicalism and right-wing backlash commanded headlines, Republican moderates and progressives formed a powerful movement, supporting pro-civil rights politicians like Nelson Rockefeller and William Scranton, battling big-government liberals and conservative extremists alike. But the Republican civil war ended with the overthrow of the moderate ideas, heroes, and causes that had comprised the core of the GOP since its formation. In hindsight, it is today's conservatives who are "Republicans in Name Only."

Writing with passionate sympathy for a bygone tradition of moderation, Kabaservice recaptures a time when fiscal restraint was matched with social engagement; when a cohort of leading Republicans opposed the Vietnam war; when George Romney--father of Mitt Romney--conducted a nationwide tour of American poverty, from Appalachia to Watts, calling on society to "listen to the voices from the ghetto." Rule and Ruin is an epic, deeply researched history that reorients our understanding of our political past and present.

Today, moderates are marginalized in the GOP and progressives are all but nonexistent. In this insightful and elegantly argued book, Kabaservice contends that their decline has left Republicans less capable of governing responsibly, with dire consequences for all Americans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Rule and Ruin, his wonderfully detailed new history of moderate Republicanism, Geoffrey Kabaservice makes a strong case that moderate Republicanism was hardier than we remember." --Timothy Noah, The New York Times Book Review

"The good guys lost; the bad guys won. That's the story Kabaservice sets out to tell in Rule and Ruin. He tells it in strong and engaging prose, often with a literary flair." --The National Interest

"Kabaservice is a wonderfully straightforward historian who does not layer on a lot of interpretive gloss...Rule and Ruin is a wonderful reminder of what was once -- not very long ago -- a vital tradition in American politics." --The New Republic

"An audacious and important history that rediscovers a great political tradition at exactly the moment when it is again needed most." --David Frum, author of Comeback: Conservatism that Can Win Again

"The radical turn of the Republican Party into a voice of right-wing extremism is one of the major themes of modern American political history. Rule and Ruin tells the whole story in stunning detail, and in prose that is as balanced as it is lucid. No study of our recent politics could possibly be more timely on the eve of the 2012 elections." --Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Age of Reagan

"Meticulously researched and compellingly written, Rule and Ruin is more than an account of the demise of moderate Republicans; it is a penetrating history of the modern Republican Party over the past half century. This is an exceptional book, and must reading for anyone who will follow with interest (or dread) the Republican race to a presidential nomination in 2012." --Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, The American Enterprise Institute

"In this timely work, Geoffrey Kabaservice successfully combines thorough historical research and a gripping narrative. The result is a comprehensive account of an ideological and political contest which, played out over half a century, has had a profound influence on the Republican Party and modern American politics." --Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution

"Kabaservice's book is a painstaking and well-argued attempt to resurrect the losers in the GOP's fratricidal war, the liberal and moderate Republicans, including many from the northeastern states where today their influence still lingers." --Sam Tanenhaus, The New York Review of Books

"Kabaservice ably narrates the Republican Party's fifty-year conversion from a diverse political organization into an exclusively conservative 'ideological vehicle.'...Kabaservice is
as moderate as his subject matter; he resists proposing an implausibly easy solution. He believes that third-party projects are likely "foredoomed to failure," and redistricting reforms will be "a slow process" at best."--Commonweal

"Kabaservice approaches his subject with a dispassionate objectivity and provides an incredibly balanced account. Though it would be easy to criticize the Right for pushing the GOP down such a divisive and counterproductive path, Kabaservice holds his fire on most
occasions. He concedes that the populist strategy aimed at the sun belt paid dividends for the Republicans, but he correctly argues that an ideologically driven party makes campaigning easy and governing difficult. Even though the years from 1972 through 2010 are dealt with in two synthetic chapters, Kabaservice has given us an indispensible book and one of the best accounts of the post-Goldwater Republican party to date."--Journal of American History

About the Author

Geoffrey Kabaservice is the author of the National Book Award-nominated The Guardians: Kingman Brewster, His Circle, and the Rise of the Liberal Establishment. He has written for numerous national publications and has been an assistant professor of history at Yale University. He lives outside Washington, DC.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199768404
• ISBN-13: 978-0199768400
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Elections & Political Process > Political Parties
  • #60 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Democracy

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Just brilliant January 4, 2012

By gormenghast

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved this book, to the point where I can't stop talking about it and will corner anyone who appears even mildly receptive and launch into a detailed description of some aspect of the book - for example, the differences between moderate Republican George Romney (who features prominently in this work) and his son, Mitt Romney, or the fact that Republicans Eisenhower and Nixon, if they were in office today, would be regarded by some conservatives as dangerously left-leaning. This book has given me a whole new level of insight into the way in which the Republican party has evolved over time. I think both Democrats and Republicans would enjoy this book and learn a great deal from it.

I struggled a little with the first chapter, which covers a lot of ground, providing an overview of moderate and conservative factions within the Republican party from 1854 to the present. However, from the second chapter onward the book has a wonderful narrative flow. Although this is a scholarly work it reads as easily as a novel, and author Geoffrey Kabaservice has an elegant style that incorporates both wit and depth. Most of the book focuses upon the 1960s. When you think about the anti-establishment protests of the `60s, you usually think of liberal college-age students dropping acid and protesting the Vietnam War. This book made me realize that another revolt was taking place during those years, on the opposite side of the political spectrum. An arch-conservative minority within the Republican party was fomenting rebellion, determined to bring down the moderate, progressive Republicans who had been in power since the days of Eisenhower.

There always had been a conservative element within the Republican party, of course, but Kabaservice argues that the rebellious conservatives of the `60s -- militant right-wingers who had been strongly influenced by Joe McCarthy -- were a different breed. Republicans of the time period considered them "a totally new element" in the party and regarded their value system as a "weird parody" of traditional Republican beliefs. Their appearance had coincided with McCarthy's rise to power, and they became a more vocal and determined group in the late `50s and early `60s. Like Joe McCarthy, these new conservatives believed that the US was run by "a traitorous elite"of wealthy Eastern intellectuals. In their minds, moderate Republicans, also known as progressive or liberal Republicans, were part of this hated elite. Since its founding, the Republican party had included liberal Republicans as well as conservatives, but the New Right believed that any kind of liberalism "led inexorably to socialism and Communism, and that the smallest government effort to provide for the general welfare constituted the first step on `The Road to Serfdom'..." Unlike previous generations of conservative Republicans, who had respected intellect, kept their religious views private, sought to preserve the existing political system, and were not bound by any particular ideology, the New Right was anti-intellectual, ideologically-driven, and ultimately came to be dominated by the religious right. Most importantly, the new conservatives wanted to overthrow the existing system, getting rid of the moderate Republicans even at the risk of damaging the Republican party irreparably.

Kabaservice says that the New Right was so intent upon ridding the party of its moderate members that it pursued a "rule or ruin" strategy, supporting the opponents of moderate Republican politicians even if they were liberal Democrats. Their efforts to destroy moderate Republicanism were successful, in part due to weaknesses inherent in the moderate stance - by its nature, moderation is less passionate and less driven than extremism, and its adherents are less likely to adopt a "take-no-prisoners, ends-justify-the-means" approach to politics. Kabaservice writes that in recent years, "movement conservatism finally succeeded in silencing, co-opting, repelling, or expelling nearly every competing strain of Republicanism from the party, to the extent that the terms `liberal Republican' or `moderate Republican' have practically become oxymorons."

This book provides a lot of historical perspective. I'm so accustomed to thinking of the Republican party as a mostly white, non-racially inclusive political organization that I often forget that this is the party of Lincoln, founded out of opposition to slavery. This book reminded me that Republicans have a strong civil rights heritage. It was interesting to learn that the vast majority of mid-`60s Republicans were infuriated by Goldwater's segregationist views and regarded him as a demagogue and dangerous zealot. It also was interesting to learn that a greater percentage of Republicans than Democrats supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1960, way before the civil rights movement had really caught fire, GOP nominee Richard Nixon's civil rights plank was as strong as the Democrats', supporting sit-ins and promising federal intervention in securing job equality for African-Americans. In fact, African-Americans didn't start defecting to the Democratic Party in droves until 1964 -- Eisenhower received 39% of the black vote in 1956. All of this seems strange to me because it's so different from the Republican party I know.

Also strange, as mentioned earlier, is the fact that Eisenhower would have been considered liberal in many respects by today's standards. He invested heavily in education and public works. He decried unnecessary military spending, which he considered out of keeping with fiscal conservatism and which he felt often came at the expense of human needs. Here's a great Eisenhower quote from 1953: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." Can you imagine a Republican today saying that?

I could go on and on, but I'll stop now. Obviously, I'm enthusiastic about this book. It's an important historical work and the timing for its appearance could not be better. Five stars.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant look at recent history that seems to be largely forgotten January 24, 2012

By W. V. Buckley

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Democrat. I've been a Democrat for the past three decades, but before that I was an Independent. So what pushed me from the middle of the political road into the Democratic camp? Exactly the sort of thing in the Republican party that Geoffrey Kabaservice describes in Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party - the utter annililation of moderation in the GOP.

From today's standpoint it's difficult to imagine the word "moderate" linked with the Republican Party. But as Kabaservice notes, Eisenhower was the epitome of moderation. It was he, afterall, who warned of the dangers of the military-industrial complex, something that would likely get a modern Republican branded as a closet liberal or worse. Even the red-baiting Nixon opened relations with Communist China and signed off on classically liberal concerns such as environmental issues. From arch-conservative Goldwater's disasterous presidential bid to Reagan's inclusion of the one-time apolitical evangelicals to the rise of the Tea Party, Rule and Ruin gives us a ring-side seat to the sweeping changes that have occurred in the Grand Old Party in the span of a single lifetime.

Kabaservice traces the steps between a Republican Party concerned about civil rights and dedicated to traditional conservative issues such as promoting business and small government to today's GOP with its obsession over social issues such as abortion, gay rights and the Second Amendment. It makes for fascinating reading and Kabaservice has done in-depth research using a wide variety of resources.

What makes the book even more relevant is to read it in the midst of the Republican battle to choose a presidential nominee when each candidate is seeking to lay claim to the mantle of conservatism while painting his opponents as moderate and therefore unworthy of the nation's highest office. Rule and Ruin puts the battle (and, indeed, past electorial battles) into perspective.

I remember years ago during the Reagan administration that is was claimed Reagan "made 'liberal' a dirty word." After reading Rule and Ruin it seems that modern Republicans, with their demands for ideological orthodoxy, have made moderation another expletive to be deleted. This is a book that should be read by persons of all political stripes, from the most reactionary conservative to the most knee-jerk liberal.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The long, slow death of Republican moderates February 7, 2012

By Jon Hunt

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Much of the country this spring will be, or already has been, watching the Republican presidential hopefuls go through their primary and caucus exercises with our jaws agape at the procedure. It's not just the candidates themselves (who create their own reality show) but the wonderment at how the Republican party ever ended up this way. One way to find out is to read Geoffrey Kabaservice's extraordinary new book, "Rule and Ruin". It is one of the best political offerings in memory.

It is fitting that the book begins during the Eisenhower years, Ike being the last Republican moderate to occupy the White House and govern in that fashion. For those of us born in the early 1950s, "Rule and Ruin" takes on added meaning and nostalgia in that we tend to remember most of the players. When I was growing up at the time in Fairfield County Connecticut, our neighbors were "Rockefeller Republicans"...fiscally conservative and socially moderate. Those people have all but disappeared...not from sight but from the GOP. The vast majority of them became Democrats or Independents.

This book centers around the decades of the 60s and 70s when the bottom really began to fall out for GOP moderates. Kabaservice introduces "Advance" magazine, a publication dedicated to moderate causes and candidates. While the magazine didn't last long it showed the frustration of those who wished to carry out the politics, if not the spirit, of the Eisenhower administration. Moderates, buried by the conservative wrench to the right with Goldwater, nonetheless had a hard time in coalescing around candidates and nominees to be. They flirted with Rockefeller, were dazzled by Scranton and Percy, followed John Lindsay, but had to cave in to Richard Nixon's centrist appeal in 1968. While Nixon became increasingly hostile to moderates during his first term they began to peel off in large numbers. The Ripon Society, an outgrowth of "Advance", became a spiritual and practical home to many of them. Even after the Watergate debacle, moderation was rarer to be found in the GOP.

By Reagan's time there were few moderates left. And thirty years later there are practically none...at least those who are in positions of governmental power. Kabaservice's concluding chapter signifies the death knell with the defeat of Delaware's Mike Castle...a thoughtful, intelligent former governor and representative, who was a shoo-in to become the next senator. The Tea Party got a hold of him, nominated a woman who had dabbled in witchcraft and that senate seat was picked up by the Democrats. For those of us who remember a video replay of the town hall-style meeting Castle tried to hold in 2009...well, it reminded many of us of how the GOP had become the party of extremists.

The author presents some fascinating things I didn't know. Richard Nixon won almost a third of the black vote in 1960...an impossible feat today by any stretch of the imagination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was made possible by Republican support....80% of the GOP voted for it while only 60% of Democrats did so. He reminds us that many early and young Republicans started out as moderates. To be reminded that Spiro Agnew was originally a huge Rockefeller supporter is to take a walk down memory lane. And young turks like Newt Gingrich (also a Rocky supporter) and Karl Rove were much more moderate than they turned out later to be. In a poignant entry, Kabaservice introduces the name of William Steiger, whom I admit not to have known. He was a moderate Wisconsin Republican elected to Congress in the Republican year of 1966 and was a rising star until his untimely death at age forty, twelve years later. How he might have had a continuing voice for moderation we'll never know.

"Rule and Ruin" is an exceptional and timely book...one not to be missed in this highly charged year. As Mitt Romney tries to shed his moderate image and wear adopted conservative garb he may just have found his Emperor's new clothes. And Newt Gingrich will continue to pull people right off the edge. Perhaps Kabaservice is at his best when he says, (referring to the George W. Bush presidency) "conservatives were skilled at politics but deficient at governing, and that a Republican party without moderates was like a heavily muscled body without a head." Bingo! I most highly recommend this book and commend Geoffrey Kabaservice for his in-depth analyses and thoughtful presentation.