Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy [Paperback]

Jeffrey Taylor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826216617 | ISBN-13: 978-0826216618 | Publication Date: June 19, 2006

 

It doesn’t take a pundit to recognize that the Democratic Party has changed. With frustrating losses in the last two national elections and the erosion of its traditional base, the party of Jefferson and Jackson has become something neither would recognize.

            In this intriguing book, Jeff Taylor looks beyond the shortcomings of individual candidates to focus on the party’s real problem: its philosophical underpinnings have changed in ways that turn off many Americans. Rank-and-file party members may still hold to traditional views, but Taylor argues that those who finance, manage, and represent the party at the national level have become nothing less than Hamiltonian elitists—a stance that flies in the face of the party’s bedrock Jeffersonian principles.

            Where Did the Party Go? is a prodigious work of scholarship that converts extensive research into an accessible book. Taylor offers up a unique twelve-point model of Jefferson’s thought—as relevant to our time as to his—and uses it to appraise competing views of liberalism in the party during two key eras. Bypassing the well-worn assessments of high-profile Democratic presidents, he shows instead how liberalism from 1885 to 1925 was distinctly Jeffersonian as exemplified by the populism of William Jennings Bryan, while from 1938 to 1978 it became largely elitist under national leaders such as Hubert Humphrey who embraced a centralized state and economy, as well as imperial intervention abroad. 

In the first book to look closely at the ideologies of these two midwestern liberals, Taylor chronicles Bryan’s battles with the conservative wing of the party—putting today’s conflicts in sharp historical perspective—and then tells how Humphrey followed those who rejected Jeffersonian principles. By demonstrating how Jefferson’s legacy has gradually weakened, Taylor clearly shows why the party has lost its place in Middle America and how its transformation has led to widespread confusion. His provocative look at the post-Humphrey era considers why so many of today’s voters on both the Left and the Right agree on issues such as economic policy, foreign relations, and political reform—united against elitists of the Center while rarely recognizing their common kinship in Jeffersonian ideals.

If party leaders have wondered where their traditional supporters have gone, they might well consider that those very voters have asked what became of the party they once knew. As the Democrats look ahead to 2008, Taylor’s book will force many to question where the party of Jefferson has gone . . . and whether it can ever come back.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Powerful and engaging. . . . A valuable contribution to our greater understanding of the meaning of the Jeffersonian tradition in American political life.”—John Rensenbrink, Professor Emeritus of Government, Bowdoin College

About the Author

 Jeff Taylor teaches political science at the community college in Rochester, Minnesota.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: University of Missouri (June 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826216617
• ISBN-13: 978-0826216618
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book is revolutionary, September 9, 2006

By 

Robert Barta - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy (Paperback)

Jeff Taylor's book is an excellent history of the Democratic party, exploring its history through the ideologies of Jefferson, William Jennings Bryan and Hubert Humpherey. Taylor views Bryan as the last of the populist, middle America Democrats, the type of isolationist, anti-Supreme Court, pro-direct democracy and pro-small government Democrat that is very rare in today's world. Humpherey, and by implication the usual nominees of the Democrats of today, represents a pro-globalist, pro-mass immigration (in spite of its impact on wages), often pro-war, pro-corporate pro-big government, pro-activist Supreme Court. Concerning religion, Bryan also represented a pro-Christian, albeit a populist, "social" Christian outlook that is sorely lacking among current Democratic nominees, though not among its electorate, as is proven by the votes of Democratic leaning voters in referenda and opinion polls on issues as diverse as immigration, abortion and same sex marriage.
Taylor argues that Democratic leaders of today are "Hamiltonians", believers in the concept of a strong central government. Democrats of today would argue that they might be Hamiltonians, but for Jeffersonian ends, i.e. they are for a big federal government but because of the good it will do for the common man. Taylor addresses the validity of this issue somewhat, though I'd like to see more disscussion of just who benefits from big government. I love his analysis of why Democrats have lost their way in terms of their hiding behind the activist Warren courts of the 50's and 60's to get their legislative dirty work accomplished. Taylor points out that it represents a dangerous approach, something that Bryan, with his support of direct democracy (i.e. initiative and referendum) and his opposition to what was at the time considered a conservative, anti-labour judiciary, would have shied away from.
I also enjoyed his discussion about the WW2 era, where liberals such as Sen. Wheeler of Montana, or Lafollette of Wisconsin, became "conservatives" just because they were opposed to our intervention.
Taylor argues that conservative populists such as Buchanan and liberal populists such as Jerry Brown and Ralph Nader actually have a lot in common, far more in common with each other than Buchanan would have with, say, Arlen Specter, or Dennis Hastert, or Nader would have in common with a typical DLC Democrat like Clinton. In France this has been the case in the opposition to France's deepening involvement with the European Union. There, rightist groupings such as the National Front and leftist movements from the Communist Party to other leftist splinter groups have successfully mobilized a majority to vote against the most recent European Union constitution.
I urge anyone who wonders why just because someone is pro-life that means they must be pro-Iraq war, or just because someone is pro-2nd Amendment that means they must be for tax cuts for the rich, or why someone who supports immigration reduction should be anti-union, to read this book. Taylor gives a great overview of a compelling, pro-middle America, pro-common people, pro-conservative values, pro direct democracy heritage in the Democratic party, a Jeffersonian heritage best represented in the 20th Century by William Jennings Bryan.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Democrats Need to Know, October 10, 2006

By 

Chad Israelson "Chad" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy (Paperback)

Jeff Taylor's book is a must read for anyone who is interested in answering the question why the Democratic Party has struggled so much in national elections since 1950. His analysis of the terms Liberal and Conservative and how little they truly mean these days helps to clear away the misconceptions that are perpetuated by most pundits. Taylor is able to cut through the glossy veneer of platitudes used by both parties and substantiate that the Democratic Party of today has become disconnected from its populist origins. This is an outstanding work of scholarship. As a history professor, I highly recommend this book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As a Student of the author, January 21, 2011

By 

Dawn Mendolia - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy (Paperback)

This book is very knowlageable in the comparison between Bryan and Humphrey. This book makes you think. I don't agree with everything in the book but as Dr. Taylor has a middle of the road ideology and I have a more liberal one we wouldn't agree on some of his reasoning.

Each chapter goes indepth of different aspects of the idologies of Bryan and Humphrey. In the final chapter Taylor compares the Democratic Party's present stance and future. He states that the Democratic party, even though it started out with a Jeffersonian approach, has now turned into a Hamiltonian party. I disagree with the exception of FDR.

This is a very good book. It gives you the tools to use your brain and come up with your own conclusions. Great read for students and political scientists.