Mark Mclay – författare

Mark Maclay examines the part the Republican Party played in shaping and eventually curtailing President Johnson’s War on Poverty. Republican politicians and presidents consistently influenced how the ‘war’ was fought, before President Reagan symbolically ended the effort with his social welfare cuts in 1981. Drawing on original archives of Republican politicians across the United States, the author sheds light on the important dynamic that existed between the Republican Party, Congress and the White House throughout those years, and provides a fresh perspective on the GOP and their presidents during a period that witnessed its rise from its nadir in 1964 to becoming the ascendant force in US politics.

Reassesses how presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Ronald Reagan dealt with the politics of the War on PovertyTraces the evolution of the modern Republican party through its approach to povertyExamines the roots of Republican opposition to antipoverty legislation, giving an insight into contemporary debates over public policyGrounded in substantial archival research undertaken across the United States, including the presidential libraries of Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, and Ronald W. ReaganDraws on the public and private papers of leading Republicans from different geographical regions and ideological factionsUses political science tools such as public and private polling data, poverty and crime statistics, demographic studies, election analyses, and the presidential tapes of Lyndon Johnson and Richard NixonEngages with and contributes to history and political science, supplemented by insights from sociological research on antipoverty programmesMark Mclay examines the part the Republican Party played in shaping and eventually curtailing President Johnson's War on Poverty. Republican politicians and presidents consistently influenced how the 'war' was fought, before President Reagan symbolically ended the effort with his social welfare cuts in 1981.Drawing on original archives of Republican politicians across the United States, the author sheds light on the important dynamic that existed between the Republican Party, Congress and the White House throughout those years, and provides a fresh perspective on the Republican Party and their presidents during a period that witnessed its rise from its nadir in 1964 to becoming the ascendant force in US politics.

Midterm elections have forced presidents to adjust course, reshaped their relationship with the party they lead, and heralded the rise or fall of new electoral coalitions. This book presents a fresh perspective on the American presidency by analysing how midterms modify in crucial ways the mandate that a president gained at the time of their election to the White House. Midterms not only provide an important opportunity for voters to evaluate the record of a president so far, but also have consequences for an administration's pursuit of the president's agenda over the two years that follow. Bringing together political scientists and historians, this collection presents a multidisciplinary understanding of the interplay between midterm elections and the American presidency.Patrick Andelic is Senior Lecturer in American History at Northumbria University.