Reubin O'd. Askew and the Golden Age of Florida Politics

by Dyckman, Martin A.; Colburn, David R.; Macmanus, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780813035710
• ISBN10: 0813035716
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-22
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

Inside the reinvention of Florida politics "If I were asked to recommend just one book about my state that would remind us all of the power of real policy and real leadership, I would recommend this one. This is a fascinating history, with lessons for all of us, written by one of the best journalists this state has ever known." --David Lawrence Jr., publisher, Miami Herald(retired) "Perhaps no one alive has a better vantage point to write this book than Martin Dyckman. As Florida#x19;s premier legislative reporter in the 1960s-1980s, Dyckman covered the people and policies discussed here, and his skilled, smooth, fast-paced writing style shines through." --James M. Denham, director, Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History, Florida Southern College Reubin Askew was swept into the governor#x19;s office in 1970 as part of a remarkable wave of progressive politics and legislative reform in Florida. A man of uncompromising principle and independence, he was elected primarily on a platform of tax reform. In the years that followed, Askew led a group of politicians from both parties who sought-and achieved-judicial reform, redistricting, busing and desegregation, the end of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, the Sunshine Amendment, and much more. This period was truly a golden age of Florida politics, and Martin Dyckman#x19;s narrative is well written, fast paced, and reads like a novel. Dyckman also reveals how the return of special interests, the rise of partisan politics, unlimited campaign spending, term limits, gerrymandering, and more have eroded the achievements of the Golden Age in subsequent decades. Martin A. Dyckman, retired associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times,is the author of Floridian of His Century: The Courage of Governor LeRoy Collinsand A Most Disorderly Court: Scandal and Reform in the Florida Judiciary. His series on Florida prison conditions circa 1971 won the Distinguished Service Award of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, the Silver Gavel of the American Bar Association, and the Associated Press Managing Editors Association Public Service Award. In 1984, the Florida Bar Foundation recognized his writing on judicial reform with its Medal of Honor Award.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
The Big Bang	p. 1
Claudius Rex (1966-1970)	p. 8
The Double Cross (1969-1970)	p. 23
A Mother's Son	p. 38
Reubin Who? (1968-1970)	p. 49
Baptism by Fire (1970-1971)	p. 65
ôCurse You, Red Baronö (1971)	p. 77
ôAnd Rightly Soö (1971)	p. 89
ôSome Nut with a Huey Long Outlookö (1971)	p. 94
Promises Fulfilled (1971)	p. 102
Bus Wreck (February-April 1972)	p. 123
The Politics of 1972	p. 137
Down on the Farm (Spring 1973)	p. 151
Scandals in the Capitol (1972-1975)	p. 163
Scandals in the Court (1973-1976)	p. 172
Only in Florida (Politics of 1974)	p. 176
ôMy Senateö (1975)	p. 192
Justice Hatchett (1975-1976)	p. 203
Two Innocent Men and a Crook (1975-1976)	p. 209
Sunshine and Strife (1975-1976)	p. 215
Lame Duck? (1976)	p. 224
Culture Wars (1977)	p. 234
Triumph and Tragedy (1978)	p. 245
Eight Years Too Late (1976-1984)	p. 262
The Shortest Campaign (1987-1988)	p. 275
Epitaph for the Golden Age	p. 293
Acknowledgments	p. 293
Notes	p. 295
Bibliography	p. 319
Index	p. 329
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.