Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968

In Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865?1968, Heersink and Jenkins examine how National Convention politics allowed the South to remain important to the Republican Party after Reconstruction, and trace how Republican organizations in the South changed from biracial coalitions to mostly all-white ones over time. Little research exists on the GOP in the South after Reconstruction and before the 1960s. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865?1968 helps fill this knowledge gap. Using data on the race of Republican convention delegates from 1868 to 1952, the authors explore how the 'whitening' of the Republican Party affected its vote totals in the South. Once states passed laws to disenfranchise blacks during the Jim Crow era, the Republican Party in the South performed better electorally the whiter it became. These results are important for understanding how the GOP emerged as a competitive, and ultimately dominant, electoral party in the late-twentieth century South.

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The Republican Party and the South: some preliminaries; Part I. The South and National Republican Party Politics, 1865–1968: 3. The rise and fall of a Republican South, 1865–1877; 4. The attempt to rebuild the Republican Party in the South, 1877–1896; 5. The system of 1896 and Republicanism in the South, 1897–1932; 6. Towards a modern Southern strategy, 1933–1968; Photos; Part II. Southern Republican Party Politics at the State Level: 7. Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, and Alabama; 8. Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, and Tennessee; 9. South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi; 10. Conclusion. The relevance of the South in the Republican Party.

Boris Heersink is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, New York. His research focuses on American political parties, and campaigns and elections.
Jeffery A. Jenkins is Provost Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on federal lawmaking, separation-of-powers, political economy, and American political development.