KC Johnson

Modern US (spring 2024)

This course examines U.S. history since World War II, with a focus on events in politics, public policy, and the law..

All documents and other primary sources, along with articles, will be e-mailed. The course is an online mix class (one synchronous meeting each week; one asynchronous session).

Requirements:

  • Final exam: 50 percent
  • Group oral presentation: 30 percent
  • Participation: 20 percent

My Contact Information:

Schedule:

January 25: Introduction

Asynchronous session. Video links will be posted to Blackboard. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Jan. 29.

No reading this week.

January 30: Organizational meeting. Zoom link below:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84800541924

Meeting ID: 848 0054 1924

week of January 30 (asynchronous session): The Truman Administration

Video links will be e-mailed/posted to Blackboard on Jan. 29. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Feb. 2.

Week of Feb. 4: The 1950s

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by Feb. 4. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Feb. 8.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Fred I. Greenstein, “Eisenhower as an Activist President: A Look at New Evidence,” Political Science Quarterly
  • Anthony Badger, “The South Confronts the Court: The Southern Manifesto of 1956,” Journal of Policy History
  • Michael Klarman, “Brown vs. Board of Education: Law or Politics?,” UVA Public Law Research Paper

Week of Feb. 11 The Kennedy Era

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by Feb. 11. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Feb. 15.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Laura Gifford, “’Dixie is no longer in the bag’: South Carolina Republicans and the Election of 1960,” Journal of Policy History
  • Lawrence McAndrews, “Beyond Appearances: Kennedy, Congress, Religion, and Federal Aid to Education,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (1991).
  • David Coleman, “The Missiles of November, December, January, February . . . : The Problem of Acceptable Risk in the Cuban Missile Crisis Settlement,” Journal of Cold War Studies (2007).

Week of Feb. 18: LBJ’s First Term

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by Feb. 18. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Feb. 22.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Robert Caro, “The Transition,” New Yorker
  • Rick Perlstein, “Thunder on the Right: The Roots of Conservative Victory in the 1960s,” OAH Magazine of History (2006)

Week of Feb. 25: LBJ’s Second Term

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by Feb. 25. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of Feb. 29.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Kenneth O’Reilly, “The FBI and the Politics of the Riots, 1964-1968, ” Journal of American History
  • Dan T. Carter, “Legacy of Rage: George Wallace and the Transformation of American Politics, “ The Journal of Southern History

Week of March 3 Nixon & Political Culture

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by March 3. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of March 7.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Kyle Longley, “Target Number One: The Nixon Administration and Foreign Policy Issues in the Efforts to Unseat Senator Albert Gore, Sr. in 1970,” Diplomatic History (2004).
  • Beverly Gage, “Deep Throat, Watergate, and the Bureaucratic Politics of the FBI,” Journal of Policy History (2012).
  • David Thelen, “Introduction: Remembering the Discovery of the Watergate Tapes,” Journal of American History

Week of March 10: Ford & Carter

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by March 10. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of March 14.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Donald Critchow and Cynthia Stachecki, “The Equal Rights Amendment Reconsidered: Politics, Policy, and Social Mobilization in a Democracy,” Journal of Policy History
  • Daniel Williams, “The GOP’s Abortion Strategy: Why Pro-Choice Republicans Became Pro-Life in the 1970s,” Journal of Policy History (2011).

Week of March 17: The Reagan Era

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by March 17. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of March 21.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Jerome L. Himmelstein and James A. McRae, Jr., “Social Conservatism, New Republicans, and the 1980 Election,” The Public Opinion Quarterly

Week of March 24: Transitioning from Cold War Politics

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by March 24. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of March 28.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Stephen Borrelli, “Finding the Third Way: Bill Clinton, the DLC, and the Democratic Platform of 1992,” Journal of Policy History
  • WJ Rorabaugh, “Critical Perspectives: Did Prosperity Contribute to the South’s Abandonment of the Democratic Party?,” Journal of Policy History
  • Norman Graebner, “The End of Liberalism,” Journal of Policy History

Week of March 31: From Bush to Clinton

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by March 31. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of April 4.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Wm. Gormley, Death of American Virtue, (chaps 1-6).
  • Milkis & Rhodes, George W. Bush, the Party System, and American Federalism,” Publius (2007)

Week of April 7: Political Tumult

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by April 7. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of April 11.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

Benjamin Highton, “Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the 1998 House Elections,” The Public Opinion Quarterly

Week of April 14: 9/11 and American Politics

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by April 14. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of April 18.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

Week of April 28: The Obama Years

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by April 28. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of May 3

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

  • Kevin Donnelly and David Rochefort, “The Lessons of ‘Lesson Drawing’: How the Obama Administration Attempted to Learn from Failure of the Clinton Health Plan,” Journal of Policy History (2012).

Week of May 6: The Trump Era

Asynchronous session. Video links will be mailed/posted to Blackboard by May 6. Quiz/question needs to be emailed back to me by evening of May 10.

Synchronous session: discussion (plus documents)

Week of May 13: Group presentations