American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace - Hardcover

Culver, John C.; Hyde, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393046451 ISBN 13: 9780393046458

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2000

Synopsis

Culver, former US senator and representative, and journalist Hyde note the paradox that Wallace (1885-1965) was the son of prominent midwestern Republicans but became the emblematic leftist politician of his time. They portray him as an agriculturalist of international renown, a prolific author, groundbreaking economist, successful businessman, and shy politician. They place him in the social and political milieu of turn-of-the-century Iowa and of Washington politics between the wars. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

About the Author:

John C. Culver is a former U.S. senator from Iowa. John Hyde is a former reporter for the Des Moines Register.

Review:

"A warm and comprehensive account of a remarkable public servant, with an especially revealing narrative about his rise and fall as Vice President, and his gallant but doomed candidacy for President as a progressive. A fine contribution to twentieth-century American history. -- James MacGregor Burns, author of Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation

"In this masterly work, Culver and Hyde have captured one of the more fascinating figures in American history. American Dreamer is a wonderful tale of the rich and varied life of a good man whose rightful place in history is now assured." -- Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of No Ordinary Time

A formidable achievement. . . . Culver and Hyde remind us that once upon a time an eminently decent and brilliant man almost made it to the White House. In this engrossing account of a rich life, Henry Wallace emerges as a forgotten hero of our bloody and wretched century. -- Kai Bird, author of The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy & William Bundy, Brothers in Arms

At long last a lucid, balanced and judicious narrative of Henry Wallace of Iowa: America's colorful agrarian idealist. We owe John C. Culver and John Hyde our deep gratitude for reclaiming this remarkable man-who served as FDR's vice president during World War II and was Truman's liberal Cold War nemesis-for posterity. American Dreamer is a first-rate biography. -- Douglas Brinkley, co-author of Witness to America and author of The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House

Henry A. Wallace has at last found his biographers. John Culver and John Hyde have brought us a fascinating, thoughtful, incisive and well-researched life of the mysterious and complicated figure who might have become President at the moment when World War II was about to give way to the Cold War and who then championed one of the most important third-party movements in American history. -- Michael Beschloss, author of Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964

Henry Wallace was an American original. Culver and Hyde have faithfully reconstructed the record of this uncommon man whose life partly shaped our century. Everyone interested in twentieth-century American history will want to read this book. -- Robert Dallek, author of Flawed Giant

In this eminently readable biography, John C. Culver and John Hyde have put together a captivating chronicle of American politics from the Depression through the 1960s. The remarkable life of Henry Wallace is one of the most profound and extraordinary chapters in the history of American liberalism. Many of the dramatic scenes so vividly painted by Culver and Hyde will make you feel you're there in person. American Dreamer is a fascinating narrative that deserves to be read by all who care about the American Dream. -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Roosevelt alone excepted, Henry Wallace was the most interesting and in many ways the most effective of all New Dealers. . . . Under Wallace as Secretary, the Department of Agriculture became the economic and political focus of the New Deal. . . . This book, by two admirably informed authors, wonderfully researched and very well-written, is an indispensable document on both the man and the time. It truly holds one's attention from beginning to end. -- John Kenneth Galbraith

This is a great book about a great man. I can't recall when--if ever--I've read a better biography. -- George McGovern

This is the most balanced, complete, and readable account of a figure who transformed agriculture world wide and (in part as Vice President of the United States) tried to transform US politics and foreign policy. Its publication is nicely timed: just as Americans celebrate 'the middle way' at home and triumphalism abroad, they are reminded of this different, colorful person who committed himself to Roosevelt's New Deal, the Progressive Party in 1948, and-for a pivotal time-searching for an alternative to a Cold War he believed would be long and bloody. -- Walter LaFeber, author of Inevitable Revolutions

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0393046451
• ISBN 13: 9780393046458
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 608