The Star That Set: The Vermont Republican Party, 1854-1974

(Paperback)

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Description

For over a century, from 1854, the year the party was organized, until 1958, Vermonters never failed to elect Republicans to its state and national offices, and every four years they returned a slate of electors pledged to the Republican presidential nominee. The Vermont GOP was trumpeted as the star that never set in the Republican Party's political firmament, until the decline of family farms and the influx of Democrat-leaning urbanites in the 1960s and 1970s eroded the bedrock of Vermont's GOP base. Encompassing the years 1854 to 1974, Samuel Hand's superb historical study documents the rise and fall of Vermont republicanism, exploring the personalities and the religious, political, and social institutions that constituted the Vermont Republican Party. More than simply the authoritative telling of a remarkable century of hegemony for the Vermont GOP, The Star That Set is a compelling story of the waning importance of party in modern American political life.

Reviews

Hand has used his vast knowledge of Vermont history to craft a detailed book filled with information as well as lively anecdotes and quotes. . . . Hand's book will become the standard for studying Vermont political history, and it will also add to the literature of one-party state politics, which heretofore hs been mainly devoted southern states. * The Oral History Review *
Hand has used his vast knowledge and insight skillfully to write a book with fascinating material, lively anecdotes and quotes, and extensive footnotes. The book is complex, though, with many names, facts, and figures. . . [a] significant contribution to our understanding of Vermont history. * Vermont History *

Author Bio

Samuel B. Hand is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Vermont. He is the author of a number of books on Vermont's history, as well as Counsel and Advise: A Political Biography of Samuel I. Rosenman.