| The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War Contributor(s): Hackney, Sheldon (Author), Jordan, Vernon E. (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 1588380688 ISBN-13: 9781588380685 Publisher: NewSouth Books OUR PRICE: $23.36 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2002 Annotation: Historian and former university president Sheldon Hackney recounts how he became an unwitting combatant in the culture wars when his nomination to become President Bill Clinton's chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities came under fire from right-wing conservatives. Hackney meticulously describes the background of ideological maneuvering that was behind not only the attacks on him but also the fierce campaign to bring down Clinton. He says, "I believe my story illustrates how the Culture War and the current media environment combine to polarize discussion until the public has no chance to understand complex issues. Not only are moderates trampled underfoot, but the great gray areas where life is actually lived, the areas of ambiguity and tradeoffs between competing values, are rendered toxic to human habitation. This is not healthy for a democracy." |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science |
| Dewey: 353.001 |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.5" W x 8.94" (0.96 lbs) 248 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Historian and former university president Sheldon Hackney recounts how he became an unwitting combatant in the Culture Wars when his nomination to become President Bill Clinton's chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities came under fire from right-wing conservatives. Hackney meticulously describes the background of ideological maneuvering that was behind not only the attacks on him but also the fierce campaign to bring down Clinton. He says, "I believe my story illustrates how the Culture War and the current media environment combine to polarize discussion until the public has no chance to understand complex issues. Not only are moderates trampled underfoot, but the great gray areas where life is actually lived, the areas of ambiguity and tradeoffs between competing values, are rendered toxic to human habitation. This is not healthy for a democracy." |
Contributor Bio(s): Hackney, Sheldon: - Sheldon Hackney served as a Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he served four years as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1993-97); from 1981 to 1993 he was President of the University of Pennsylvania; from 1975 to 1981 he was President of Tulane University. He was on the history faculty at Princeton University from 1965 to 1975, serving as Provost of the University the final three of those years. He is the author of Populism to Progressivism in Alabama (Princeton Press, 1969), which was awarded the Beveridge Prize by the American Historical Association as the best book in American History that year, and the Sydnor Prize by the Southern Historical Association as the best book in southern history in that two-year period. He died in 2013 and is survived by his wife, Lucy Durr Hackney, their three children, and eight grandchildren. |