Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past [Hardcover]

Bruce Bartlett (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 023060062X | ISBN-13: 978-0230600621 | Publication Date: January 8, 2008 | Edition: 1st

In Wrong on Race, Bruce Bartlett sets the record straight on a hidden past that many Democrats would rather see swept under the carpet. Ranging from the founding of the Republic through to today, it rectifies the unfair perceptions of America's two national parties. While Nixon's infamous "Southern Strategy" is constantly referenced in the media, less well remembered are Woodrow Wilson's segregation of the entire Federal civil service; FDR's appointment of a member of the KKK to the Supreme Court; John F. Kennedy's apathy towards civil rights legislation;  and the ascension of Robert Byrd, who is current President pro tempore of the Senate, third in line in the presidential line of succession, and a former member of the KKK.
For the last seventy years, African Americans have voted en masse for one party, with little in the end to show for it. Is it time for the pendulum to swing the other way? With the Republican Party furiously engaged in pre-2008 soul searching, this exhaustively researched, incisively written exposé will be an important and compelling component of that debate as we head towards November.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bruce Bartlett brandishes a damning history of the Democratic Party, which for 100 years after the Civil War provided a fertile ground for Jim Crow and white supremacy. Democrats have long acted behind an ethos of racial equality, yet, as Bartlett powerfully illustrates, the reality of their patchy record over the last two centuries in fact lends little credibility to that claim. Compelling and incisive."--Grover G. Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

"Wrong on Race is an important contribution to the study of party politics in America. Bartlett offers a thorough, well documented account of the racial roots of the Democratic party. This book should be a required reading for African-Americans of all ages, and especially for the nation's youth."--Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and Law, Vanderbilt University, and editor of Debating Immigration

"Wrong on Race powerfully recapitulates a twentieth century journey into racial pettifogging and outright confusion, and in doing so shines a light as clear as the meridian sun on the realities of racial politics…Bruce Bartlett has done what no one before him has done, and it is all the more remarkable, therefore, to say that it will probably never be better done."--Professor William B. Allen, Michigan State University; and former chairman, U.S. Civil Rights Commission

"The Democratic party is widely credited, not least by black writers, as the party that has done the most for civil rights. Yet for most of its history it has been the other way around. As Bruce Bartlett points out in Wrong on Race, Democratic icons like Woodrow Wilson worked to impose segregation on blacks, and even Franklin Roosevelt did little for equal rights."--Michael Barone, syndicated columnist, co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, and author of Our First Revolution

Praise for Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the American Legacy:

"It's a fairly devastating indictment of the current administration's economic policies from a conservative-to-libertarian perspective."--Chris Suellentrop, The Washington Post
"Liberal commentators gripe so frequently about the current administration that it's become easy to tune them out, but when Bartlett, a former member of the Reagan White House, says George W. Bush has betrayed the conservative movement, his conservative credentials command attention."

--Publishers Weekly
"Bruce Bartlett is no impostor. He's the real thing--a reality-based conservative who searches for supportable truths and then speaks them loudly and clearly."

--Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Price of Loyalty
"Bruce Bartlett has long been one of Washington's most searching, thoughtful, and uncompromisingly candid analysts. That's a view shared not only by those who agree with him, but also by people like me, who differ with him about 80 percent of the time. This book is a perfect reflection of Bruce's gifts: he cares far more about being honest and consistent than about following anyone's party line."

--E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Stand Up Fight Back and Why Americans Hate Politics

About the Author

Bruce Bartlett has had a nationally syndicated newspaper column for the last ten years, and has written for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The National Review, and Fortune. He was a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and a treasury official under President George H.W. Bush.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (January 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 023060062X
• ISBN-13: 978-0230600621
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #738,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Bartlett is a columnist for The Fiscal Times, an online newspaper covering public and personal finance, and Tax Notes, a weekly magazine for tax practitioners and policymakers. He also contributes a weekly post to the Economix blog at the New York Times, and writes regularly for the Financial Times. Bartlett was previously a columnist for Forbes magazine and Creators Syndicate. His writing often focuses on the intersection between politics and economics and attempts to inform politicians about economics, and economists about the current nature of politics.

Bartlett's work is informed by many years in government, including service on the staffs of Congressmen Ron Paul and Jack Kemp and Senator Roger Jepsen, as executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House, and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush administration.

Bruce is the author of eight books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006). His last book was The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). His new book, The Benefit and the Burden, will be published by Simon and Schuster in 2012 and is a history and review of issues related to tax reform.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tracking down hypocrisy, June 17, 2008

By 

W. Wirtanen "Wild Wil" (St. Louis MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past (Hardcover)

Bruce Barlett states that his investigation of race found that virtually all of the virulent racists were Democratics. This countered the legend of them being the paragons of race. He succeeds in backing his view.
The book starts with Jefferson and ends at the present time. He provides a fair assessment of individuals and provides the notes to back up his assessment.
His section on Woodrow Wilson was eye opening. Definitely tarnishes the image of this former president.
He also explodes the the myths of FDR and JFK. Mostly flash and no action.
I find his explanation of the Southern Strategy plausible. There are many factors to former Democrats becoming Republicans and saying it is purely racial is a sign of obtuse thinking.
The book provides a good review of the racial policies since the founding of this nation. It is a key component to help in our understanding of our nation's history in regards to race.

20 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, January 24, 2008

By 

lumindanu (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past (Hardcover)

The book was interesting, I learned much I didn't know. For a student of politics and history, it is always good to have as much information as possible, in order to draw one's own opinions. The information the book presents was certainly new to me, history is an avocation and so I am more informed than a casual reader,nevertheless the book provided me with much new information and food for thought.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIE TO SURVIVE - The ends always justify the means., December 25, 2010

By 

Mitch Graves "Mitman" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past (Hardcover)

This is a great addition to the DVD "American History in Black and White".
All ten parts can be viewed on YOUTUBE.

The book go into greater detail and breaks the wall of lies and silence imposed by the leftists.
The libs/progressives/Dems can not survive this knowledge getting into the minds of the people of color.
If even half of them learned the truth the entire nation would change for the good.

About 50 yrs ago I was a Senate page in IL due to my fathers high 'rank' in the Democratic party.
As the eldest child I was raised to follow him into political power.
Though I thought my dad was amazing I became disgusted with what I saw.
The leftists didn't even try to hide their cynicism and disregard for honor.
BTW - I am not trying to say they were all evil and the Republicans were all good!
But a retarded child could tell the difference if he spent a few days around them.

The libs are still the ones feeding off the people of color.
The so called 'liberal' policies they push for keep the people down.
My father was appointed by the Gov of IL to head up the 'revitalization" of East St Louis for the Dem's.
After months of study he wrote a paper with the help of
the black leadership PROVING how the DEM policies were enslaving the blacks.
He gave copies to every single IL congressman and all the top execs in the IL statehouse.
He said it pretty much ended his political career.
The blacks are nothing but a people to step on and use to gain and keep power to the Dem party.

Expect this book to be ignored and if mentioned lied about and dismissed.
At least one of the previous reviewers lied about this and made comments proving he didn't read it.
I have given Copies of the previously mentioned DVD to everyone who will watch it.
Now I have another tool.