United States - World War II - Homefront, Civil Liberties, Armed Forces - United States - General & Miscellaneous, 20th Century American History - World War II, United States - World War II Armed Forces, Constitutional History, United States - Legal Histo

Free Speech in the Good War

Name: Free Speech in the Good War
Author: Richard W. Steele
ISBN: 9780312173364

by Richard W. Steele

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

Troubled by the repression unleashed by World War I, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. insisted that the functioning of the democratic system depended on the right of all Americans to be heard, regardless of how obnoxious their views, provided their words posed no "clear and present danger." This ideal, which became a defining aspect of the nation's political culture in the generation following the war, was put to the test during World War II by the "un-American" rhetoric of Communists, Bundists, Christian fundamentalists, Black nationalists, and others. Idealism faltered as private citizens and government officials, including erstwhile civil libertarians, demanded a new, "realistic" definition of free speech. This book tells how FDR’s three attorneys general and their staffs struggled to adjust and apply the Holmesian ideal in the face of demands from the president and the public for ideological conformity and total security. It examines how the ideal postulated by Holmes and generally accepted by liberals and intellectuals in the interwar period fared during its first real test in the conflict widely known as the "good war."

About the Author, Richard W. Steele

Richard W. Steele is Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University, and has worked as an Archivist for the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and as a historian for the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Library Journal

A professor, archivist, and historian, Steele has worked in a research capacity for two federal agencies. His investigative power lays the foundation for the theme of the book. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's three wartime attorneys general were lawyers with a reformist bent, and all shared a high regard for free expression. What made their stance unique was the limited framework in which they articulated their libertarian ideology. Enjoying their support were sweatshop workers, sharecroppers, and migrant laborers who coalesced as a group of marginalized Americans protesting workplace exploitation. They were joined by racial and religious minorities who were demanding protection from organized intolerance. Conspicuously absent were political organizations and groups that espoused views at variance with the war effort. The public's negative perception of the various opposition movements combined with the power of a popular president to produce a Justice Department that selectively enforced the First Amendment. Rights and liberties are often strained during wartime, Steele notes, and World War II was no exception. Especially useful for students analyzing the effects of foreign conflict on domestic affairs and free speech.--Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Tells how FDR's three attorneys general and their staffs struggled to adjust and apply the free speech ideals of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in the face of demands from the president and the public for philosophical conformity and total security during WWII. Examines how the ideal postulated by Holmes and generally accepted by liberals and intellectuals during the interwar period fared during its first real test in the conflict widely known as the "good war." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)