From Publishers Weekly
Whatever one's political persuasion, this breezy, hugely entertaining, opinionated chronicle of the Republican Party will nettle and provoke. Founded in 1854 by opponents of slavery, the party of Abraham Lincoln by 1897 had turned itself into a conservative arbiter that championed the liberty of the American marketplace, according to novelist Batchelor (Father's Day). Yet the Republicans, he maintains, have consistently claimed an obligation to the values of the American people, whether in support of liberty, sound money, trust-busting, anticommunism or family values. Among the Republican presidents he particularly admires are fearless, progressive Theodore Roosevelt, Nixon (whose Watergate-triggered ouster Batchelor blames mostly on vengeful Democrats' partisan politics) and Reagan, whose massive military buildup and aggressive foreign policy hastened the U.S.S.R.'s collapse, in Batchelor's estimate. Contemporaneous political cartoons and illustrations, memorabilia and campaign songs and verses are woven into the colorful narrative. 50,000 first printing.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Don't expect a standard history from the sharp-tongued Batchelor (Father's Day, LJ 8/94), who takes Lincoln's 1860 campaign slogan as his title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
