"Young Bob" La Follette

Dust jacket notes: "This volume is the first full-scale biography of Robert M. La Follette, Jr., heir to the political dynasty that wielded great power both in Wisconsin and the nation. Using the massive collection of family papers only recently opened to scholars, interviews with people who worked with La Follette, and manuscript papers, Patrick J. Maney provides a revealing portrait of 'Young Bob,' showing with honesty and clarity his successes and failures. Succeeding his father in the Senate in 1925, La Follette became a transitional figure linking progressivism with urban liberalism. He gained national prominence through his legislative efforts to help the United States pull out of the depression and his involvement in the New Deal. In 1934 he reluctantly abandoned the Republican party to help create the Progressive party, which was successful in state elections in 1934 and 1938 but never expanded beyond Wisconsin. La Follette reached the height of his national fame between 1936 and 1940 when he served as chairman of the Senate Civil Liberties Committee, which investigated antiunion practices. World War II frustrated La Follette, who could find no answers to its complex problems in his progressive philosophy. His final national success was sponsoring and steering through Congress the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Superior as a senator, Young Bob had striking weaknesses as a political leader, failing to give firm leadership to the Progressive party. Large due to his neglect of the party and state affairs, he was defeated by Joseph R. McCarthy in 1946. An exceedingly complex man, La Follette had always regarded public life as something to be endured rather than enjoyed. In the years following his defeat in 1946, La Follette discovered that private life was less congenial than public life and in February 1953 committed suicide."