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Fighting Bob la Follette: The Righteous Reformer

Name: Fighting Bob la Follette: The Righteous Reformer
Author: Nancy C. Unger
ISBN: 9780870204265

by Nancy C. Unger

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Overview

With his fiery, inspirational speeches, tireless championing of workers, and strong support for grassroots organizations, Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette is an almost mythical figure in politics, the type of idealized leader that unfortunately appears more often in fiction than in real government. As a U.S. representative, governor, and U.S. senator, La Follette left enduring political legacies: direct election of senators, child labor laws, environmental protections, women's suffrage, and workers' compensation. La Follette led the opposition to American entry into World War I and made a remarkable third-party bid for the presidency in 1924. Under his leadership, Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to enact many reforms, cementing a lasting reputation for progressive leanings among its citizens and government. But Fighting Bob's righteous fervor was not without consequence, and he suffered financially, physically, and emotionally from the enormous pressure he exerted on himself.

Nancy C. Unger's comprehensive biography examines the private life of the public figure-from the death of his father when La Follette was eight months old, to his college years at the University of Wisconsin where he met his feminist wife, Belle Case, to the illnesses that left him unable to work for months. What's revealed is the man himself-hot-tempered, insecure, overworked, and extremely self-righteous, but also principled, passionate, and courageous, a leader who dared to speak out and act against overwhelming odds to reverse the corrupt stream of American politics. Thoroughly researched and documented, Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer is a testament to the unconventional manwho personified the progressive movement.

Winner of the Wisconsin History Society 2001 Award of Merit

Synopsis

Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette (1855-1925), the Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator, was one of the most significant leaders of American progressivism. Nancy Unger integrates new details from La Follette's personal life with important events from his storied political career, revealing a complex man who was a compelling mixture of failure and accomplishment, tragedy and triumph.

New York Times Book Review

Unger's voice remains subdued and objective throughout the book, but La Follette manages to leap from its pages.

About the Author, Nancy C. Unger

Nancy C. Unger is Associate Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies at Santa Clara University. She has published several articles and essays on the La Follette family and the progressive era. Her op-eds applying the progressive tradition to the present are syndicated by the History News Service and have appeared in major newspapers across the country. Professor Unger has been a guest on Air America and Wisconsin Public Radio and has served as a consultant for PBS.

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Editorials

American Historical Review

Nancy C. Unger's biography gives us a survey of the public life and private struggles of this flawed giant, who, in many ways, is a case study of the strengths and weaknesses of charismatic moral leadership.

Choice

An interesting and notably personal account of the life and times of Wisconsin's famed Progressive reformer.

Donald A. Ritchie

Nancy Unger has produced a convincing portrait of 'Fighting Bob' that does justice to both the man and his political movement.

New York Times Book Review

Unger's voice remains subdued and objective throughout the book, but La Follette manages to leap from its pages.

New York Times Book Review

Unger's voice remains subdued and objective throughout the book, but La Follette manages to leap from its pages.

Publishers Weekly

One of America's most important Progressive-era leaders, Robert Marion La Follette (1855-1925) was an uncompromising advocate for workers and the poor--both in Washington, D.C., as a senator and representative, and in Wisconsin, as governor. This new biography, by historian Unger (Santa Clara University) elegantly weaves together the story of La Follette's family life with his heralded career. The two strands of his life merge best through Unger's account of his marriage to Belle Case La Follette, whom Unger calls "[o]ne of the most... politically influential spouses in American history." Although that may overstate the case (Belle doesn't really appear to be in the same league as Eleanor Roosevelt or even Abigail Adams), her independent spirit did help shape her husband's career. Having refused for years to commit to marrying Bob--opting for the women's suffrage lecture circuit instead--she was instrumental in getting her husband to think about women's rights. Unger's narrative is riveting even when she is considering political history straightforwardly--that is, without the charms of family anecdotes. Under La Follette's governorship, she recounts, Wisconsin led the nation in Progressive reform--the state adopted the direct primary, passed an antilobby law, reformed civil service statutes, enacted land conservation regulations and reined in the railroads and utilities. A politician who put the well-being of the American people over petty party politics, La Follette, Unger argues, prefigured the New Deal era. This passionate, engaging and scholarly book may not alter the fact that Americans have largely forgotten about La Follette and his legacy, but it does a good job trying. Illus. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Robert M. La Follette (1855-1925), Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator, was a giant among progressive-era (1880s-1920s) reformists. He and Belle Case La Follette, his wife, relentlessly championed the political and economic rights of workers, women, minorities, farmers, and the poor while assailing racial and sexual discrimination and industrialists' overwhelming influence in Congress. Unger (history, Santa Clara Univ.) mines voluminous collections of private papers and documents to reveal La Follette's dynamism, childhood, married life, recurring illnesses, and sense of righteous perfection and his progressive ideas (e.g., the direct election of senators), which are now part of American civic culture. Unger also explains how events like the Titanic disaster and the 1912 presidential election influenced La Follette's political plans. A worthwhile purchase for academic and public libraries, Unger's critical biography hints that today's America desperately needs democratic, grass roots- oriented politicians of high caliber like La Follette. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\