Barack Obama's America

0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE “John Kenneth White, one of the nation’s foremost political scientists, skill- fully and with deep insight explores in Barack Obama’s America the social and cultural upheavals that have produced a new political era—supplanting 40 years of conservative domination. White’s lively and highly readable ac- count of changing mores culminates in the 2008 election which, in his words, ‘represented a moment when a new demography caught up to a new politics.’ White’s literary skills make his description of how ‘the Rea- gan era has come to a close and the Obama era has begun’ attractive and accessible to both the layman and the specialist. Barack Obama’s America is essential reading for all those seeking to make sense of the transformation of American politics in the past few years.” —THOMAS EDSALL, Columbia Journalism Professor and Huffington Post Political Editor and author of Building Red America “There are only a few authors that are on top of the big themes that de‹ne this country. I put John Kenneth White at the top of the list with Garry Wills, Alan Wolfe, and Richard Florida. I can always count on John for meticulous research, historical context, and the best trend analysis.” —JOHN ZOGBY, President/CEO of Zogby International and author of The Way We’ll Be “John Kenneth White has been well ahead of the rest of us in identifying the societal transformations in progress and then developing their lasting political consequences. Barack Obama’s America is a major contribution to the study of social transformation and political change, one that sets the standard for understanding such developments.” —WILLIAM CROTTY, Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Public Life and Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, Department of Political Science, Northeastern University Barack Obama’s America Barack Obama’s America HOW NEW CONCEPTIONS OF RACE, FAMILY, AND RELIGION ENDED THE REAGAN ERA John Kenneth White THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS • ANN ARBOR Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2009 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2012 2011 2010 2009 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data White, John Kenneth. Barack Obama’s America : how new conceptions of race, family, and religion ended the Reagan era / John Kenneth White. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-472-11450-4 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-472-03391-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-472-02179-6 (ebook) 1. Family—United States—History. 2. Coalitions—United States— History. 3. United States—Social conditions—1980– 4. Obama, Barack. 5. Reagan, Ronald. I. Title. hq535.w47 2009 306.8509730905—dc22 2009018645 For REVEREND DOUGLAS J. SPINA, PH.D. Pastor, Counselor, Friend “Yesterday’s strangest dreams are today’s headlines, and change is getting swifter every moment.” —LYNDON B. JOHNSON, NOVEMBER 7, 1967 Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Politics of Discomfort 1 One • One Family, Two Centuries 13 Two • Twenty-first-Century Faces 47 Three • Redefining Relationships 81 Four • The Gay-Rights Paradox 117 Five • Shrunken Congregations, Soulful Citizens 153 Six • The Death of the Reagan Coalition 185 Seven • Barack Obama’s America 213 Notes 237 Index 285 Acknowledgments DOING A BOOK OF SUCH VAST SCOPE means that my list of debts is unusually large. I especially thank Phil Pochoda, director and ex- ecutive editor of the University of Michigan Press, who guided this book to production and spurred its author to tell him (and you) more about the vast changes taking place in contemporary politics. I am also indebted to Jim Reische, former acquisitions editor at the Press, who commissioned this project and followed it through with helpful advice. I also thank the Press’s Contemporary Political and Social Series editor, Alan Wolfe of Boston College, for his unwavering and steadfast support, helpful feed- back, and continuous encouragement. Anne Lesher, reference librarian at the Catholic University of America’s Mullen Library, ‹elded innumerable requests for books and documents. Carol Therese Young served as my ini- tial research assistant and ably provided the information I sought (and much more). Stergos Kaloudis became my second research assistant and cheerfully handled a barrage of queries. Anne Roan Thomas of Catholic University compiled the index. Ann Kasprzyk, formerly of the Life Cycle Institute at Catholic University, also cheerfully assisted in a number of research tasks. My colleagues at the Life Cycle Institute and in the Politics Department at the Catholic University of America listened to drafts of these chapters and gave plenty of good commentary. I am also indebted to my students at Catholic University, who heard various versions of these chapters in my classes and whose questions helped sharpen my thinking. I am especially beholden to my family, especially my wife, Yvonne, and my daughter, Jeannette. The period in which this book was written was an x • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS especially dif‹cult one, and without their love and constant support, you would not be reading this now. John Kenneth White Washington, D.C., April 2009 Introduction THE POLITICS OF DISCOMFORT “Shall we be a great nation? That is the question for the third century.” —LYNDON B. JOHNSON, NOVEMBER 20, 1967 AT PRECISELY 7:46 A.M. on October 17, 2006, the United States passed an important milestone. According to the U.S. Census Bu- reau, the U.S. population exceeded the magic 300 million mark.1 If people represent power, then the United States remains a world force, with only China and India superseding it in terms of sheer number of people. De- spite the terrible terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the two subse- quent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a widespread perception (at least in hindsight) that the presidency of George W. Bush was a failure,2 the United States continues to grow exponentially. Indeed, surpassing the 300 million mark was an especially speedy occurrence: 139 years elapsed be- tween the nation’s inception and 1915, when the U.S. population hit 100 million; only 52 more years went by before the population surpassed 200 million; and just 39 more years passed until the number of people eclipsed 300 million. Estimates show that by 2045 (a mere 39 years from the 2006 touchstone), the United States will top 400 million.3 But when it came time to honor the arrival of the 300 millionth Amer- ican, the rejoicing was muted, a sharp contrast to the celebrations that 2 • Barack Obama’s America greeted the birth of the 200 millionth American on November 20, 1967, when loud cheers rang through the lobby of the Commerce Department and applause repeatedly interrupted President Lyndon B. Johnson’s speech marking the occasion. Johnson extolled the greatness of America, a splen- dor that he claimed was unequaled in world history: “Today we see a nation that is ready to ›y to the moon and ready to explore the depths of the ocean. We see a nation ‹at, having begun its own climb up the mountain, [that] has neither forgotten nor has it forsaken those people throughout the world who want to grow and who want to prosper in their own ways. To put it in a sentence, we have seen success in America beyond our wildest dreams.”4 Johnson was not the only one in a triumphant mood. Life dispatched a cadre of photographers to ‹nd the 200 millionth American, anointing a baby boy in Atlanta with the title.5 Newsweek welcomed the newborn, pro- claiming, “‘The bigger the better’ is almost an article of faith, as American as turkey on the Thanksgiving table.” The Commerce Department con- curred: “We are a relatively busy and prosperous people . living better and better in a growing economy.”6 In an article marking the occasion, former Census Bureau director Richard M. Scammon predicted that when the 1967 newborn turned twenty-one in 1988, he or she would face a bright future: The bourgeois, accomplishment-oriented middle-class values will still predominate, despite the hippies’ protestations. Most people will still like their creature comforts and the better life and, as they always have, will be trying to get what they can out of them. [A] backyard swimming pool will be as common as a color TV set is today, and central home air conditioning will be the norm. With the shorter work week, most people will be able to get a second job to help them pay their bills. Scammon invented the word demophobia to describe those people who feared a country overgrown with people.7 Among the demophobes was John W. Gardner, secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, who warned, “If our society continues to become less livable as it becomes more af›uent, we shall all end in sumptuous misery.”8 Gardner’s admonition was lost amid the national celebration. Yet his sentiments were commonplace

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