Taking the long view on a groundbreaking electionElection 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 Clinton's gender masquerade; Tiffany Ruby Patterson on the politics of black anger; Mitch Kachun on Michelle Obama and stereotypes about black women's bodies; Glenda E. Gilmore on black women's 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 Palin's distinctive brand of political feminism; and Elisabeth I. Perry on the new look of American leadership.
Introduction: Taking the Long View of Election 2008 / Liette Gidlow Part I. Representations: Is Hillary Man Enough? Is Barack Black Enough? Is Michelle the New Jacqueline Kennedy? 1: Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Race Question, and the ''Masculine Mystique'' / Kathryn Kish Sklar; 2: Barack Obama and the Politics of Anger / Tiffany Patterson; 3: Michelle Obama, the Media Circus, and America's Racial Obsession / Mitch Kachun Part II. Historical Precedents, or How Election 2008 Began Before the Civil War 4: The 2008 Election, Black Women's Politics, and the Long Civil Rights Movement / Glenda Gilmore; 5: The Forgotten Legacy of Shirley Chisholm: Race v. Gender in the 2008 Democratic Primaries / Tera W. Hunter; 6: Hillary Clinton's Candidacy in Historical and Global Context / Susan Hartmann; 7: Defining a Maverick: Putting Palin in the Context of Western Women's Political History / Melanie Gustafson; 8: Populist Currents in the 2008 Presidential Campaign / Ronald Formisano Part III. Unintended Legacies: Democracy Undermined, Feminism Redefined 9: Obama 2.0: Farewell to the Federal Campaign Finance System and the Secret Ballot? / Paula Baker; 10: Political Feminism and the Problem of Sarah Palin / Catherine Rymph Conclusion: The Difference that ''Difference'' Makes / Elisabeth I. Perry Historical Timeline; Contributors
''This readable collection brings together a distinguished group of scholars to offer reflections that place the galvanizing candidacies of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin in historical perspective.''--Eileen Boris, coeditor of Intimate Labors: Cultures, Technologies, and the Politics of Care''These stimulating essays draw meaning from the 2008 campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin at a critical juncture in U.S. history--a topic worthy of serious reflection and tackled here from a variety of interesting angles.''--Louise Newman, author of White Women's Rights: Racial Origins of Feminism in the United States
