Once again, in this quintessentially American story, Richard Lowitt shows us his sensitive historian's feel for the impact of man upon events and events upon man. His subject: the meteoric national career of Oklahoma's U.S. Senator Fred Harris, who enthralled official Washington with his brilliance and independence of mind before risking it all in two spirited but under-financed races for ... Read morethe presidency. The populist ideals to which Fred Harris gave such eloquent expression are rooted as deeply in our culture as Andrew Jackson and have special relevance as America seeks to fulfill its destiny in the 21st century.
James C. Wright, Jr., former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Richard Lowitt—through exhaustive research in primary sources—has tendered a compelling story about a politician, liberal in outlook and policies, who was willing to brave constituency wrath on behalf of his dreams for all Americans. This book will be of utmost importance to historians and scholars investigating U.S. history during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ben Procter, Texas Christian University Richard Lowitt's Fred Harris provides an interesting portrait of a man whose importance in American politics in the 1960s and 1970s has heretofore been greatly underappreciated.
Robert S. McElvaine, Millsaps College Richard Lowitt has written a very readable political biography. Drawing on Harris's papers housed in the Carl Albert Center at the University of Oklahoma, other archival sources, and the public record, Lowitt provides a very objective account of Harris's career. He eschewed interviewing Harris, wanting to "come to my own conclusions." That he has, and here they are.
Booknotes
...This is a very worthy book about one of Oklahoma's favorite sons and one of the more interesting politicians of recent American politics. Leaders and citizens alike would greatly benefit from reading this book and following the fine example of Fred Harris.
Journal of Southern History
Richard Lowitt's highly readable biography of Fred Harris offers a new perspective on the politics of the 1960s and makes clear that the causes Senator Harris championed—on behalf of the rural poor, of Native Americans, and of others who are disadvantaged—are as salient today as they were then.
William E. Leuchtenburg, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, author of The Supreme Court Reborn As Richard Lowitt makes clear, Fred Harris is important because, despite his failure to persuade the American people to adopt his populist views, the issues he raised remain pertinent thirty years later. [Lowitt's] work consistently reflects thorough research, an eye for the telling anecdote, and graceful prose, and this work is no exception. Overall, the book is highly readable and a good reminder that the United States was not always as conservative as it appears to be now.
New Mexico Historical Review
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