Conservative Coalition
The Conservative coalition was a coalition in American politics bringing together the convervative majority of the Republicans and a conservative, mostly Southern minority of the Democrats. The coalition largely controlled Congress from 1939 to 1963 and continued as a potent force until the mid-1980s. In its heyday, its most important Republican leader was Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, and the chief Democrats were Senator Richard Russell, Jr. of Georgia and Congressmen Howard W. Smith of Virginia and Carl Vinson of Georgia. Between 1939 and 1963, the coalition was able to exercise virtual veto power over domestic legislation, and only quite limited liberal legislation was passed during this entire quarter century (most notably the very partial success of Truman's Fair Deal). Under Lyndon Johnson liberals breached the power of the coalition by passing the Civil Rights Act and electing a liberal Congress in 1964, but it regained strength in the 1966 election. After 1994 the Republicans took control of most of the conservative southern districts, so the Southern Democratic part of the coalition evaporated.
References
- Caro, Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: vol 3: Master of the Senate (2002).
- Fite, Gilbert. Richard B. Russell, Jr, Senator from Georgia (2002)
- Goldsmith, John A. Colleagues: Richard B. Russell and His Apprentice, Lyndon B. Johnson. (1993)
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- Moore, John Robert. "The Conservative Coalition in the United States Senate, 1942-45." Journal of Southern History 1967 33(3): 369-376. ISSN 0022-4642 Fulltext: Jstor, uses roll calls
- James T. Patterson. "A Conservative Coalition Forms in Congress, 1933-1939," The Journal of American History, Vol. 52, No. 4. (Mar., 1966), pp. 757-772. in JSTOR
- Patterson, James. Congressional Conservatism and the New Deal: The Growth of the Conservative Coalition in Congress, 1933-39 (1967)
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- Schickler, Eric. Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress (2001)
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- Rohde, David W. Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House (1991)