The Significance and Impact of Women
THE SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF WOMEN ON THE RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXAS Kristi Throne Strickland, B.B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2000 APPROVED: Ronald E. Marcello, Major Professor and Chair Donald K. Pickens, Committee Member Randolph B. Campbell, Committee Member Alexandra Leavell, Committee Member Elizabeth Esterchild, Committee Member Richard M. Golden, Chair of the Department of History C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Strickland, Kristi Throne, The Significance and Impact of Women on the Rise of the Republican Party in Twentieth Century Texas. Doctor of Philosophy (History), August, 2000, 267 pp., references, 180 titles. During the early twentieth century, the Democratic party dominated the conservative political landscape of Texas. Through the 1920s, members of the Republican party focused on patronage and seemed content to maintain the position of minority party. A growing dissatisfaction with the liberal policies of the New Deal during the 1930s created opportunities for state Republicans to woo dissenting Democrats to their side. With a change of leadership within the state GOP after 1950, the Republicans waged serious campaigns for offices for the first time. Republican men exercised their political yearnings through leadership positions. Women, on the other hand, were shut out of the leadership ranks, and, as a consequence, they chose a traditional female strategy. They organized clubs in order to support the new leadership and rising candidates. Against formidable odds, Republican women acted as foot soldiers and worked diligently to attain their objectives.
[Show full text]