Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights
Samuel G. Freedman
(Author)
Description
From one of the country's most distinguished journalists, a revisionist and riveting look at the American politician whom history has judged a loser, yet who played a key part in the greatest social movement of the 20th century. "Riveting. . . . A superbly written tale of moral and political courage for present-day readers who find themselves in similarly dark times." -The New York Times During one sweltering week in July 1948, the Democratic Party gathered in Philadelphia for its national convention. The most pressing and controversial issue facing the delegates was not whom to nominate for president -the incumbent, Harry Truman, was the presumptive candidate -but whether the Democrats would finally embrace the cause of civil rights and embed it in their official platform. Even under Franklin Roosevelt, the party had dodged the issue in order to keep a bloc of Southern segregationists-the so-called Dixiecrats-in the New Deal coalition. On the convention's final day, Hubert Humphrey, just 37 and the relatively obscure mayor of the midsized city of Minneapolis, ascended the podium. Defying Truman's own desire to occupy the middle ground, Humphrey urged the delegates to "get out of the shadow of state's rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights." Humphrey's speech put everything on the line, rhetorically and politically, to move the party, and the country, forward. To the surprise of many, including Humphrey himself, the delegates voted to adopt a meaningful civil-rights plank. With no choice but to run on it, Truman seized the opportunity it offered, desegregating the armed forces and in November upsetting the frontrunner Thomas Dewey, a victory due in part to an unprecedented surge of Black voters. The outcome of that week in July 1948-which marks its 75th anniversary as this book is published-shapes American politics to this day. And it was in turned shaped by Humphrey. His journey to that pivotal speech runs from a remote, all-white hamlet in South Dakota to the mayoralty of Minneapolis as he tackles its notorious racism and anti-Semitism to his role as a national champion of multiracial democracy. His allies in that struggle include a Black newspaper publisher, a Jewish attorney, and a professor who had fled Nazi Germany. And his adversaries are the white supremacists, Christian Nationalists, and America Firsters of mid-century America - one of whom tries to assassinate him. Here is a book that celebrates one of the overlooked landmarks of civil rights history, and illuminates the early life and enduring legacy of the man who helped bring it about.Product Details
Price
$34.95
$32.50
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Publish Date
July 14, 2023
Pages
504
Dimensions
6.53 X 9.28 X 1.56 inches | 1.83 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780197535196
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About the Author
Samuel G. Freedman is an award-winning professor, columnist, and author of nine acclaimed books. Freedman was a staff reporter for The New York Times from 1981 through 1987. From 2004 through 2008, he wrote the paper's "On Education" column, winning first prize in the Education Writers Association's annual competition in 2005. From 2006 through 2016, Freedman wrote the "On Religion" column, receiving the Goldziher Prize for Journalists in 2017 for a series of columns about Muslim-Americans that had been published over the preceding six years. As a professor of journalism at Columbia University, Freedman has been named the nation's outstanding journalism educator by the Society of Professional Journalists and received Columbia's coveted Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Reviews
"Riveting. . . . A superbly written tale of moral and political courage for present-day readers who find themselves in similarly dark times." - Khalil Gibran Muhammad, The New York Times
"Compelling...Freedman offers an intimate and fine-grained depiction of Humphrey's early life and fledgling political career, as well as a revealing portrait of Minneapolis, a city of both gut-wrenching racism and creative civil rights initiatives." -- Aram Goudsouzian, The Washington Post
"A powerful and captivating read." --Richard Aldous, The Wall Street Journal
"A strong step in rehabilitating Humphrey's image as a practical politician and civil rights activist." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Freedman enlarges the reader's understanding of Humphrey while also offering vivid, rich, and unsettling details about politics, society, racism, and antisemitism in mid-twentieth-century America...An illuminating look at an important yet overlooked facet of American history." -- John Rowen, Booklist
"With insight and grace, Samuel G. Freedman has given us a compelling and important account of Hubert H. Humphrey's critical role in the freedom struggles of the mid-20th century. It takes nothing away from the sacrifices and bravery of Black Americans to note Humphrey's commitment to achieving justice for all-the great goal of America's still-unfinished journey." -- Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
"At the 1948 Democratic Convention, Hubert Humphrey implored the Party and nation to make civil rights the cause of the 20th century. Samuel Freedman's insightful book provides a critical account of not only Humphrey's path to that moment but also of the Minneapolis leaders and activists who fought for justice in Minnesota and who shaped the man who would become one of our nation's greatest champions for equality. Freedman's book reminds us that while so much progress has been made, all of us must continue to walk 'towards that bright sunshine of human rights.'"
--Senator Amy Klobuchar
"Sam Freedman's work consistently elevates the craft of writing and Into the Bright Sunshine is no exception. His characteristically graceful prose and meticulous research illuminate not only Hubert Humphrey's life but the promise and peril of his political moment. The result is an adroit chronicle of a giant obscured by the passage of time and a key entry in the history of American liberalism and the roots of its current predicament."
--Jelani Cobb
"Into The Bright Sunshine accomplishes that rare triumph of being two books at once: Freedman has crafted both a definitive biography of Hubert Humphrey so vivid that we can almost hear H.H's heart thump on the page, as well as a rigorous investigation into the moral, spiritual and political forces that have shaped the best of liberalism in America."
--Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity
"In a lively, eloquent, deeply human way, Samuel Freedman brings his lifelong passion for social justice to a key turning point in our still-unfinished battle for true equality. Even people like me who disagreed with Hubert Humphrey over Vietnam will come away from this book with a deepened respect for the man who dragged his reluctant party to take a stand for civil rights."
--Adam Hochschild
"Samuel Freedman, one of the great chroniclers of modern America, provides us with a fascinating history of racial liberalism in Cold War America, unpacking the origin story of Hubert Humphrey's pathbreaking speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Capturing a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights politics, Freedman's book is a significant contribution to the literature on American politics."
--Julian Zelizer, Princeton University, author of The Fierce Urgency of Now
