Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy

Historian Shenk (Maurice Dobb) spotlights in this immersive account politicians and activists who have “a power that’s unique to modern democracies: the ability to form electoral coalitions that bind millions of people together in a single cause.” The “realigners” profiled span U.S. political history from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to Barack Obama. Also included are Charles Sumner, whose fervent abolitionism captured the hearts and minds of his fellow Republicans; W.E.B. Du Bois, whose quest to “compel Americans to live up to their supposed ideals” laid the groundwork for the civil rights era; and anti-feminist crusader Phyllis Schlafly, “the First Lady of the American right.” The formation of white majorities at the expense of Black Americans’ political ambitions is a recurrent theme: Democratic Party founder Martin Van Buren fashioned an alliance between “the planters of the South and the plain republicans of the North” in the 1820s, while “Dollar” Mark Hanna and other Republican leaders accepted “the restoration of white supremacy” in the South with Jim Crow. Though Shenk offers a valuable framework for analyzing American politics, his choice of realigners feels somewhat arbitrary—Franklin Roosevelt gets sidelined in favor of Du Bois and journalist Walter Lippman in chapters on the New Deal coalition. Still, this is an astute and stylish history that speaks to present-day concerns over partisan polarization. Illus. Agent: Edward Orloff, McCormick Literary. (Oct.)