In most accounts of the 1960s, Washington is portrayedas a target of reform—a reluctant group of politicianscoaxed into accepting the radical spirit the day demanded. In the newest volume in the Penguin History ofAmerican Life, Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot arguethat the most powerful agents of change in the 1960s were, infact, those in the traditional seats of power, not the counterculture. A masterly new interpretation of this pivotal decade, TheLiberal Hour explores the seismic shifts that led to an era whendemands that had lingered on the political agenda for yearsfinally entered the realm of possibility. By the time John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, the political system that had prevailed for most of the centurywas based on crumbling economic, social, and demographicrealities. The growth of the suburbs meant power had shiftedout of the cities, rendering urban political machines and partybosses increasingly irrelevant, which in turn allowed younger, more independent-minded politicians to rise. In Congress, Democrats retained their long held control, but the Southernwing of the party was finally loosening its grip. Postwar prosperityled many Americans to believe there was enough wealthto go around, an optimism that lent powerful support to antipovertyprograms, not to mention civil rights. And for once theSupreme Court, which has traditionally served the country’sdominant interests, was aligned with the progressive spirit ofthe age. The 1960s all in all represented a rare convergence—apublic ready for change, and a government ready to act. Liberal reform may have begun with JFK’s NewFrontier, but his assassination only gave emotional urgency tohis agenda. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, knew he had a briefwindow of opportunity before the forces of reaction would setin, an awareness that may have fostered his occasionally bullyingtactics to push legislation through Congress. Still, the resultwas a burst in government initiatives—for civil rights, consumerprotection, and environmental reform, among others—thathas not been matched in American history. Ultimately, asour authors reveal, the liberal hour promised too much, andcouldn’t afford both a costly and unpopular war abroad and aGreat Society at home, but when it passed it left in its wake avastly altered American landscape. With elegant and accessible prose, The Liberal Hourcasts one of the most dramatic periods in American history ina new light, revealing that for all that has been written aboutthe more attention-grabbing protest movements, the mostpowerful engine of change in that tumultuous decade wasWashington itself.
