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There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

This study examines the origins of Willard's Hotel, Washington, D. C.; its growth into first-class status; and its role as a para-political agency during Abraham Lincoln's nine-day sojourn prior to his first inauguration in 1861. The research for this study was based on the Joseph Willard papers and the Willard's Hotel Register, 18601861, located in the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Additional interpretation came from the Indiana Historical Society where staff members demonstrated methods that helped the investigator decipher the names in the Register. Other primary sources mere used to discover Washington, D. C., and Willard's Hotel during this period.In 1861, Washington, D. C., was considered by many journalists and visitors to be a small town plagued with many problems. Numerous uncompleted government and public buildings stood throughout the city. The diverse, transient population was based on the seasonal character of Congress. And the city continued to suffer from annoying diseases and moral bankruptcy.Another problem complicating Washington's environment was the deplorable condition of its streets. Of the numerous thoroughfares, Pennsylvania Avenue was the most popular and most often criticized avenue in the city, especially the mile and a half between the Capitol and the White House. Journalists and visitors desiring overnight room and board rushed to the Avenue in hopes of finding first-class accommodations in one of the four major hotels.The most popular of the four hotels was Willard's at Fourteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Located only two blocks from the White House, Willard's eventually became the center of social, economical and political activity in the capital. Willard's was large and impressive, with a luxurious interior, a well-trained staff and modern services to accommodate the guest. The success of the Willard's was based on the ingenious management of Henry and Joseph Willard.By 1861, Willard's reputation as a first-class hostelry attracted many high ranking politicians. More importantly, on February 23, 1861, President-Elect Abraham Lincoln stayed at Willard's until his inauguration March 4. The tempo of guests arriving at Willard's remained at a high level until the day Lincoln departed for his inaugural speech. Hordes of people crowded Willard's lobby in the short nine days, hoping to see the President-Elect. Among the crowd were sundry office-seekers in search of political patronage and favors.Perhaps most interesting of the guests were the political lieutenants registered at Willard's. Representing state and national political leaders, the lieutenants' main concerns were the distribution of patronage. Indeed, each of them attempted to manipulate the final political appointments that would be determined by the President-Elect. Interestingly enough, Lincoln was more inclined to give ear to political lieutenants than to the common office-seeker.Because of the presence of Lincoln and the political lieutenants, Willard's served as the vital place where political activities could take place. The findings of this study indicate that Willard's provided the nation's capital with a public house where decisions were made and political positions formulated which would later have direct influence in governmental policies.

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During the Reagan years the poverty rate in America rose dramatically. Simultaneously, the rich got richer at the expense of the working and middle classes. Despite this trend towards greater economic inequality, the public expressed its sympathy for the Reagan administration and the conservative political agenda in a variety of ways. The question therefore arises: Why was there no widespread public resistance against Reagan’s policies which took away from the poor and gave to the rich? Three key themes of the American political culture, viz. equality defined in terms of equality before the law, materialistic individualism and racism attribute wealth and poverty to innate personal characteristics rather than to structural causes. Reagan’s rhetoric successfully reinvigorated these themes, defining poverty in terms of individual ineptitude and portraying the poor as undeserving. Thus, the Reagan administration’s policies which took away from the poor and gave to the rich could be enacted without facing broad resistance, in most cases even with support, from the American people. / Master of Arts

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to make a judgment concerning the effectiveness of the selected political actions of certain religious peace groups during the inter-war years. Information was obtained from the Portland State University Library, the Multnomah County Library, the Methodist Episcopal Church of Oregon office, the national offices of the American Friends Service Committee, the National Council of Churches, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Conversations with people who had been involved with the peace movement included Roland Bainton, Jerome Davis, G. Bernhard Fedde, Carlin Kapper-Johnson, and Mark Chamberlin. Periodicals that provided much of the information about events and opinion during the twenties and thirties were: the New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Harper’s Magazine, and The World Tomorrow. A number of books concerning the peace movement were especially useful; those books were: Boeckel’s Turn Toward Peace, Bowman’s The Church of the Brethren and War, 1708-1941, Curti’s Peace or War, Pickett’s For More Than Bread, and Vining’s Friend of Life. Information from those sources showed that the religious pacifists were able to influence the course of events relating to the Mexican Crisis of 1927, the Washington Disarmament Conference, the Peace Pact to Outlaw War, the Russian famine relief effort, and the status of conscientious objectors. In some way the final outcome of each of these issues was affected by the actions of religious pacifists: a possible war with Mexico was avoided, disarmament was attempted, war was outlawed, many lives were saved in Russia, and conscientious objectors were given a legal status that was better than what they had had during the First World War.

This study investigates the phenomenon of ethnic interest groups as domestic sources of influence on the making of foreign policy on a cross-national basis. The attempt is made first to develop a framework for comparing theoretically the role of ethnic groups in various governmental systems. Once completed, the various conceptual assumptions are applied to the activities of domestic ethnic interest groups in the United States and Canada concerned with policy for the Middle East and the Arab-Israel conflict. The focus is primarily on the American and Canadian pro-Israel lobbies during the period between October 1973 and September 1982. Data for domestic Arab ethnic constituencies are also considered where relevant, but more as logical counter-points to the North American Jewish communities than as bases for full and complete cross-ethnic comparison. The principal objective of this study is to compare the political influence of two interest groups of the same faith and fundamental purpose but of different systems of government and political cultures.