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86 books match the query 'Governors' and 5 start with w

cover of Why Not the Best?: The First Fifty Years

Why Not the Best?

The First Fifty Years

Jimmy Carter

University of Arkansas Press, 1996

Why Not the Best?, originally published in 1975, is President Carter’s presidential campaign autobiography, the book that introduced the world to Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and asked the American people to demand the best and highest standards of excellence from our government.
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cover of Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark

Wilderness Journey

The Life of William Clark

William E. Foley

University of Missouri Press, 2005

Strange as it may seem today, William Clark—best known as the American explorer who joined Meriwether Lewis in leading an overland expedition to the Pacific—has many more claims to fame than his legendary Voyage of Discovery, dramatic and daring though that venture may have been. Although studies have been published on virtually every aspect of the Lewis and Clark journey, Wilderness Journey is the first comprehensive account of Clark’s lengthy and multifaceted life.
Following Lewis and Clark’s great odyssey, Clark’s service as a soldier, Indian diplomat, and government official placed him at center stage in the national quest to possess and occupy North America’s vast western hinterland and prefigured U.S. policies in the region. In his personal life, Clark had to overcome challenges no less daunting than those he faced in the public arena. Foley pays careful attention to the family and business dimensions of Clark’s private world, adding richness to this well-rounded and revealing portrait of the man and his courageous life.

Coinciding with the bicentennial in 2004 of the departure of Lewis and Clark’s famed Corps of Discovery, Wilderness Journey fills a major gap in scholarship. Intended for the general reader, as well as for specialists in the field, this fascinating book provides a well-balanced and thorough account of one of America’s most significant frontiersmen.

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cover of Winthrop Rockefeller, Philanthropist: A Life of Change

Winthrop Rockefeller, Philanthropist

A Life of Change

John Ward

University of Arkansas Press, 2004

As grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller Sr. and son of philanthropist John D. Jr., Winthrop Rockefeller was born into one of the most affluent and influential families in the world. But he was a nonconformist and often felt isolated from the rest of his family. Still, he amazed many when he left the New York elite for a farm in rural Arkansas, where he would ultimately serve two terms as governor and create a philanthropic legacy all his own. In Winthrop Rockefeller, Philanthropist, John L. Ward draws from his years as Rockefeller’s speech writer and campaign advisor to create a remarkably readable and comprehensive narrative. Ward provides valuable insights into Rockefeller’s complicated relationships with his father and brothers and convincingly argues that Rockefeller’s extraordinarily innovative approach to philanthropy changed the way Arkansas was viewed by its citizens and by the rest of the world. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in twentieth-century philanthropy.
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cover of Wizards: David Duke, America's Wildest Election, and the Rise of the Far Right

Wizards

David Duke, America's Wildest Election, and the Rise of the Far Right

Brian Fairbanks

Vanderbilt University Press, 2022

A corrupt old Democrat.

A surging Republican populist.

The Democrat, hounded by corruption allegations; the Republican, dogged by business failures and ties to white supremacists.

The Republican turned out thousands of screaming supporters for speeches blaming illegal immigrants and crime on the Democrats, and the Democrat plummeted in the polls.

Sound familiar?

The '91 Louisiana Governor's race was supposed to be forgettable. But when former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke shocked the nation by ousting incumbent Republican Governor Buddy Roemer in the primary, the world took notice. Democrat Edwin Edwards, a former three-term governor and two-time corruption defendant, was left alone to face Duke in the general election—and he was going to lose.

Then a little-known state committeewoman stepped in with evidence of Duke's nefarious past. Could her evidence be enough to sway the minds of fired-up voters, or would Louisiana welcome a far-right radical into the highest office in the state?

Journalist Brian Fairbanks explores how the final showdown between Duke and Edwards in November 1991 led to a major shift in our national politics, as well as the rise of the radical right and white supremacist groups, and how history repeated itself in the 2016 presidential election. The story of these political "wizards," almost forgotten by history, remains eerily prescient and disturbingly relevant, and a compulsive page-turner.
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cover of Wounded Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Michigan Governor John Swainson

Wounded Warrior

The Rise and Fall of Michigan Governor John Swainson

Lawrence M. Glazer

Michigan State University Press, 2010

Few people today remember John Swainson. As a teenage soldier he lost both legs in a WWII landmine explosion. Back in the United States, following a meteoric political rise in the Michigan State Senate, Swainson was elected as Michigan's youngest governor since Stevens T. Mason.
In 1970 Swainson was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court, becoming one of the few public officials to have served in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government. Then, in 1957, he was indicted on federal charges of bribery and perjury, and convicted of lying to a federal grand jury. Forced to leave the state Supreme Court and disbarred from practicing law, he became a pariah, sinking into depression and alcoholism. He virtually disappeared from public view.
Lawrence M. Glazer re-examines the FBI's investigation of Swainson and delves into his 1975 trial in detail. He reveals new information from eye-witnesses who never testified and, in a poignant coda, relates the little-known story of Swainson's rehabilitation and return to public life as a historian.

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