Fighting Son

by Kasparek, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780870203534
• ISBN10: 0870203533
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society

Summary

Phil La Follette's political journey was incontrovertibly marked by the legacy of his father, "Fighting Bob" La Follette. Like his father, Phil was fiery, confrontational, and unwavering, and his efforts led to the passage of the country's first unemployment compensation act, aid programs for workers and farmers, and the reorganization of state government. His controversial effort to forge an alternative course of action to Roosevelt's New Deal was at once his greatest contribution to American politics and his greatest failure. Phil's is a history of continuing progressivism, of innovative solutions to social problems, and of loyalty to a political ethos that goes far beyond love of country.

Author Biography

A native of Taylor County, Wisconsin, Jonathan Kasparek received his Ph.D. in history from UW–Madison in 2003. Jonathan has published several articles on the history of the state and is the coauthor of Voices and Votes: How Democracy Works in Wisconsin and Wisconsin History Highlights: Delving into the Past, both published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. He has spoken on Depression-era Wisconsin as part of the Voices of the Progressive Tradition program at Taliesin and the state capitol, and currently teaches history at UW–Waukesha. He lives in Madison with his wife and two children.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
CHAPTER ONE A Very Political Beginning	1	(24)
CHAPTER TWO Apprenticeship	25	(38)
CHAPTER THREE The Ghost at the Banquet	63	(26)
CHAPTER FOUR Republican Victory	89	(36)
CHAPTER FIVE The Progressive Party	125	(48)
CHAPTER SIX A Stolen Utopia	173	(24)
CHAPTER SEVEN Third Term Controversies	197	(26)
CHAPTER EIGHT Strange Bedfellows and Failed Crusades	223	(28)
EPILOGUE The Legacy of the Great Experiment	251	(12)
Notes	263	(44)
Bibliography	307	(12)
Index	319