Robert C. Smith is Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University. He is the author of several books, including Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same; African American Leadership (with Ronald W. Walters); We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era; Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Now You See It, Now You Don't; and Race, Class, and Culture: A Study in Afro-American Mass Opinion (with Richard Seltzer), all published by SUNY Press.

"Smith provides an important comparative and historical assessment of the elections of John Kennedy and Barack Obama." — CHOICE"This book is a major contribution to the study of the presidency and ethnic, religious, and race relations. The scholarship is careful, nuanced, discerning, and learned." — Randall Kennedy, author of The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

• TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Understanding Ethnicity and Ethnic Incorporation in the United States2. The Subordination of Irish Catholics and African Americans3. Identity, Consciousness, Solidarity, and Culture: Irish Catholics and African Americans4. Boston, Chicago, and the Rise of Kennedy and Obama5. Ethnic Men: The Al Smith and Jesse Jackson Campaigns6. The Incorporation of the Catholic Irish and the Semi‑Incorporation of African Americans7. Kennedy and Obama: Charisma, Character, and Ethnic Identity8. Religion and the Election of 19609. Race and the Election of 200810. The Politics of Ethnic Avoidance in the Kennedy and Obama Administrations11. ConclusionNotesAbout the AuthorIndex

Robert C. Smith is Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University. He is the author of several books, including Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same; African American Leadership (with Ronald W. Walters); We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era; Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Now You See It, Now You Don't; and Race, Class, and Culture: A Study in Afro-American Mass Opinion (with Richard Seltzer), all published by SUNY Press.

"Smith provides an important comparative and historical assessment of the elections of John Kennedy and Barack Obama." — CHOICE"This book is a major contribution to the study of the presidency and ethnic, religious, and race relations. The scholarship is careful, nuanced, discerning, and learned." — Randall Kennedy, author of The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

• TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Understanding Ethnicity and Ethnic Incorporation in the United States2. The Subordination of Irish Catholics and African Americans3. Identity, Consciousness, Solidarity, and Culture: Irish Catholics and African Americans4. Boston, Chicago, and the Rise of Kennedy and Obama5. Ethnic Men: The Al Smith and Jesse Jackson Campaigns6. The Incorporation of the Catholic Irish and the Semi‑Incorporation of African Americans7. Kennedy and Obama: Charisma, Character, and Ethnic Identity8. Religion and the Election of 19609. Race and the Election of 200810. The Politics of Ethnic Avoidance in the Kennedy and Obama Administrations11. ConclusionNotesAbout the AuthorIndex

Robert C. Smith is Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University. He is the author of several books, including Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same; African American Leadership (with Ronald W. Walters); We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era; Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Now You See It, Now You Don't; and Race, Class, and Culture: A Study in Afro-American Mass Opinion (with Richard Seltzer), all published by SUNY Press.

"Smith provides an important comparative and historical assessment of the elections of John Kennedy and Barack Obama." — CHOICE"This book is a major contribution to the study of the presidency and ethnic, religious, and race relations. The scholarship is careful, nuanced, discerning, and learned." — Randall Kennedy, author of The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

• TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Understanding Ethnicity and Ethnic Incorporation in the United States2. The Subordination of Irish Catholics and African Americans3. Identity, Consciousness, Solidarity, and Culture: Irish Catholics and African Americans4. Boston, Chicago, and the Rise of Kennedy and Obama5. Ethnic Men: The Al Smith and Jesse Jackson Campaigns6. The Incorporation of the Catholic Irish and the Semi‑Incorporation of African Americans7. Kennedy and Obama: Charisma, Character, and Ethnic Identity8. Religion and the Election of 19609. Race and the Election of 200810. The Politics of Ethnic Avoidance in the Kennedy and Obama Administrations11. ConclusionNotesAbout the AuthorIndex