Using the academic and journalistic coverage of Richard Nixon’s religious life as a case study, this thesis argues that social scientists and commentators pay insufficient attention to religion, even when it is an important factor. In a sample of biographies of Nixon and specialist studies of Nixon’s life and career, nearly all the authors minimized the influence of Nixon’s religious upbringing on his political life, regardless of the author’s own views on Nixon. In stark contrast to this body of work, this paper finds that Nixon’s birth into the Religious Society of Friends (or “Quakers”) shaped his political career. Nixon’s evangelical brand of Quakerism allowed him to make contacts among powerful Quakers like Herbert Hoover and well-placed non-Quaker Protestants like Billy Graham. Quakerism also served Nixon as an emotional support in times of political crisis—a necessity for Nixon, who reacted poorly to stress—and when he suffered a crisis of faith in 1962, his political tactics became noticeably more amoral and vindictive. On a policy level, the Quaker tradition of altruism influenced Nixon’s racial policies for the better. Despite his own racist views and those of his political allies, Nixon was a relatively strong advocate of civil rights at home and abroad. Although this paper acknowledges alternative explanations for this discrepancy, such as political biases and the unavailability of primary sources, these explanations were found to be insufficient. This conclusion raises troubling questions about academic impartiality. Do academics intentionally avoid discussing religion? If so, is this due to anti-Christian or anti-religious feeling, as some studies suggest? And if not, what drives academic avoidance of religion?

This thesis is essentially about the origin, course, and impact of

The goal of this thesis was to validate journalist Rick Perlstein’s assertion in Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (2008) that the foundational dialectic of the 1960s “has not yet ended.” With Nixon as the principal cultural architect of modern American political discourse, Perlstein defined Nixonland as “the America where two separate and irreconcilable sets of apocalyptic fears coexist in the minds of two separate and irreconcilable groups of Americans.” Perlstein’s grand narrative for the inherited socio-political landscape of the 1960s has conceptually synthesized the nature of the “culture wars” of the 1960s based on Nixon’s imposed hegemonic framework for political discourse through the theatre of television. The central argument of this thesis is shaped by the dialogue in the historiography in that Richard Nixon and Barack Obama appear to be “bookend presidents” of the limits of the modern American kulturkampf- the ongoing conflict between religious and secular elements in American society. While Nixon confined political discourse within the hegemonic framework of the images and rhetoric of modern American conservatism imbibed in the 1960s, Obama expanded the limits of political discourse through the motives and motifs of New Left rationalism established in the 1960s. Within this interpretative framework, this thesis illustrates the foundational dynamic of campaigning and governance within modern American political discourse by demonstrating how presidential elections are structured according to the Republican style of conservative “populist aggression” against the liberal Democratic substance of “fairness issues.”

The goal of this thesis was to validate journalist Rick Perlstein’s assertion in Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (2008) that the foundational dialectic of the 1960s “has not yet ended.” With Nixon as the principal cultural architect of modern American political discourse, Perlstein defined Nixonland as “the America where two separate and irreconcilable sets of apocalyptic fears coexist in the minds of two separate and irreconcilable groups of Americans.” Perlstein’s grand narrative for the inherited socio-political landscape of the 1960s has conceptually synthesized the nature of the “culture wars” of the 1960s based on Nixon’s imposed hegemonic framework for political discourse through the theatre of television. The central argument of this thesis is shaped by the dialogue in the historiography in that Richard Nixon and Barack Obama appear to be “bookend presidents” of the limits of the modern American kulturkampf- the ongoing conflict between religious and secular elements in American society. While Nixon confined political discourse within the hegemonic framework of the images and rhetoric of modern American conservatism imbibed in the 1960s, Obama expanded the limits of political discourse through the motives and motifs of New Left rationalism established in the 1960s. Within this interpretative framework, this thesis illustrates the foundational dynamic of campaigning and governance within modern American political discourse by demonstrating how presidential elections are structured according to the Republican style of conservative “populist aggression” against the liberal Democratic substance of “fairness issues.”

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1948. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves [i]-viii.

Thesis--Purdue University. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-190).

Thesis (M.A.)--San Jose State University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references.

Under 1960 och 1970-talen grep militären makten i en rad latinamerikanska länder. Uruguays förvandling från ”Sydamerikas Schweiz” till en av de hårdaste diktaturerna i regionen skedde inte i isolering utan under en längre process där utomstående aktörer även spelade en avgörande roll. Denna uppsats använder en rad nyligen offentliggjorda amerikanska och brasilianska dokument för att visa hur dessa två länder, ibland på egen hand och ibland med viss koordinering, påverkade Uruguay under den kritiska perioden då landets militär tog makten i landet. / During the 1960s and 1970s, the military seized power in several Latin American countries. Uruguay's transformation from "the Switzerland of South America" to one of the harshest dictatorships in the region did not happen isolation, but during a longer process in which outside actors also played a crucial role. This essay uses a range of recently declassified American and Brazilian documents to demonstrate how these two countries, sometimes independently and sometimes with some coordination, influenced Uruguay during the critical period when the country's military took control of the country.

In this thesis, I seek to undermine the enduring myth that Richard Nixon lost the 1960 televised presidential debates because of John F. Kennedy’s superior looks and overall glamour. Although I do concede that Nixon lost the debates overall, I argue that Nixon gave his best performance in the third debate. Using Nixon’s third debate strategy as a victory paradigm, I show how Nixon could have bested Kennedy in the other debates.

Richard Nixon, the president, has been given little historical credit for the environmental accomplishments of his administration. Indeed, in his post-presidency memoirs Nixon himself shows no interest in the environment and when he does speak to the issue, it is disparagingly. But ironically, my thesis shows that no administration, before or since, has brought such progress to the multiple issues of environmental quality. The thesis explores the political, social, and historical factors that contributed to the "environmental revolution" of the late 60s and early 70s. The quality of the leaders chosen within the administration helps explain the dichotomy between a negative president and the environmental reform accomplished by his government agencies. It was my privilege to serve with or under these men: Walter Hickel, Russell Train, William Ruckelshaus, John Whitaker, and John Ehrlichman. Dedicated civil servants and other bright, young political appointees joined with me on the environmental agenda.