Photo de l'auteur
19 oeuvres 190 utilisateurs 2 critiques

A propos de l'auteur

Sidney Fine was Andrew Dickson White Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Michigan and the author of numerous books and articles.

Œuvres de Sidney Fine

Frank Murphy: The Detroit Years (1975) 11 exemplaires
Frank Murphy: The New Deal Years (1979) 9 exemplaires
Frank Murphy in World War I (1968) 2 exemplaires
Labor History 1 exemplaire

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1920-10-11
Date de décès
2009-03-31
Sexe
male

Membres

Critiques

The second volume of Sidney Fine's monumental biography of Frank Murphy is a book of two parts. The first part begins with his appointment as governor of the Philippines soon after Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration as president in 1933. Murphy took the position in a time of transition, as the United States moved towards granting the island nation their independence. Already harboring ambitions for the presidency, Murphy sought to make his tenure one of considerable achievement, yet while Fine describes (often at considerable length) the range of administrative reforms Murphy undertook, his efforts at a "Philippine New Deal" foundered before the sheer amount of poverty in the islands, the paucity of resources available to him, and the determination of the island's elites to maintain their position in Philippine society.

Nevertheless, Murphy's accomplishments were such that Roosevelt asked him to run for the Democratic nomination for the governorship of Michigan in 1936, arguing that Murphy's presence on the ballot was necessary if the president hoped to win the state in the November election. Murphy's time as governor forms the second part of the book, one that recounts the politics of the state in full. Formerly a Republican bastion, Michigan was in the early stages of a transformation that would create a much more competitive political environment. Murphy returned to face a Democratic state party long dominated by conservatives, who often found themselves at odds with Murphy's goals. Fine makes the case that Murphy's governorship was one of the few that attempted to implement New Deal-inspired reforms at the state level, meticulously describing the wide range of efforts his administration undertook to modernize the state government and provide honest, efficient services to the people. Such reforms, however, angered many of the conservatives within the state's Democratic party organization, who were disappointed in being denied the spoils of office; the resulting split within the party, along with a series of sit-down strikes that eroded Murphy's popularity, led to his defeat for reelection in 1938.

Thoroughly researched and cogently argued, Fine's book is a masterpiece of the historian's craft. The detail in which he analyzes his subject's career and the events surrounding it makes this book an indispensable source not just on Murphy's life but the times as well. Yet the narrative suffers from too much of a good thing, as the reader can get bogged down in the minutiae of administrative reform and strike negotiations. This may dampen the readability of the book a little, but it does not detract from Fine's considerable achievement with this biography, which with its preceding and successor volumes, Frank Murphy: The Detroit Years and Frank Murphy: The Washington Years, is the definitive work on this amazing public servant.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
MacDad | Mar 27, 2020 |
 
Signalé
lrenaj | Jan 7, 2020 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
19
Membres
190
Popularité
#114,774
Évaluation
½ 3.6
Critiques
2
ISBN
20

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