Election 2008 made American history, but it was also the product of American history. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin smashed through some of the most enduring barriers to high political office, but their exceptional candidacies did not come out of nowhere. In these timely and accessible essays, a distinguished group of historians explores how the candidates both challenged and reinforced historic stereotypes of race and sex while echoing familiar themes in American politics and exploiting new digital technologies.Contributors include Kathryn Kish Sklar on ClintonAEs gender masquerade; Tiffany Ruby Patterson on the politics of black anger; Mitch Kachun on Michelle Obama and stereotypes about black womenAEs bodies; Glenda E. Gilmore on black womenAEs century of effort to expand political opportunities for African Americans; Tera W. Hunter on the lost legacy of Shirley Chisholm; Susan M. Hartmann on why the U.S. has not yet followed western democracies in electing a female head of state; Melanie Gustafson on Palin and the political traditions of the American West; Ronald Formisano on the populist resurgence in 2008; Paula Baker on how digital technologies threaten the secret ballot; Catherine E. Rymph on PalinAEs distinctive brand of political feminism; and Elisabeth I. Perry on the new look of American leadership.

Book Information
ISBN 9780252078309
Author Liette Gidlow
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press