David E. Kyvig

In time for the 225th anniversary of the Bill of Rights, David Kyvig completed an Afterword to his landmark study of the process ofamending the US Constitution. The Afterword discusses the many amendments, such those requiring a balanced federal budget or limitingthe terms of members of Congress, that have been proposed since the book was originally published and why they failed of passage. Ata time when prominent scholars and other public figures have called for a constitutional convention to write a new constitution, arguingthat our current system of governance is unsustainable Kyvig reminds us of the high hurdles the founders created to amending the constitution and how they have served the country well, preventing the amendmentprocess from being used by one faction to serve the passions of the moment.

In this magisterial new work, Bancroft Prize - winning historian David Kyvig chronicles the rise of a culture of impeachment since 1960 - one that extends far beyond the infamous scandals surrounding Presidents Richard Nixon (Watergate) and Bill Clinton (Monica Lewinsky) and has dramatically altered the face of American politics.A buzz word in today's public life, ""impeachment"" was anything but that before 1960. Since then it has been transformed from a historically little-known and little-used tool of last resort into a political weapon of choice. By examining the details and consequences of impeachment episodes involving three Supreme Court justices, a vice president, five federal judges, and four presidents, Kyvig explores this seismic shift in our constitutional culture and gauges its ongoing implications for American political life.Beginning with the John Birch Society's campaign against Chief Justice Earl Warren, impeachment efforts became far more frequent after 1960, with eight actually ending in resignation or removal. In describing these efforts, Kyvig recounts stories and subplots about key political actors and the controversies they inspired. He argues that judicial cases are as important as the better-known presidential ones and shows why those cases that did not proceed - against not only Warren, but also Abe Fortas, William O. Douglas, Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush - are as illuminating as those that did.Kyvig demonstrates that impeachment has been the bellwether of a changing - and increasingly toxic - political climate. Perhaps most important and ominous, the increasing threat of impeachment has encouraged presidents to hide potentially impeachable actions behind a thick veil of executive secrecy, while dramatically expanding executive power beyond the reach of either Congress or the courts.Combining political and legal history at their best, Kvyig also explores the cultural impact of journalist David Frost, editorial cartoonist Herblock, and filmmakers Alan Pakula, Robert Altman, and Oliver Stone. A gifted storyteller, he presents a cautionary tale that should be read by all who care about our national government and its ability to survive and thrive in perilous times.

The twenties and thirties witnessed dramatic changes in American life: increasing urbanization, technological innovation, cultural upheaval, and economic disaster. In this fascinating book, the prize-winning historian David E. Kyvig describes everyday life in these decades, when automobiles and home electricity became commonplace, when radio and the movies became broadly popular. The details of work life, domestic life, and leisure activities make engrossing reading and bring the era clearly into focus.

During the 1920s and 1930s, changes in the American population, increasing urbanization, and innovations in technology exerted major influences on the daily lives of ordinary people. Explore how everyday living changed during these years when use of automobiles and home electrification first became commonplace, when radio emerged, and when cinema, with the addition of sound, became broadly popular. Find out how worklife, domestic life, and leisure-time activities were affected by these factors as well as by the politics of the time. Details of matters such as the creation of the pickup truck, the development of radio programming, and the first mass use of cosmetics provide an enjoyable read that brings the period clearly into focus. Centering its attention on the broad masses of the population, this animated reference resource emphasizes the wide variety of experiences of people living through The Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression. Readers will be surprised to discover that some of the assumptions we have about the lives of average Americans during these eras are historically inaccurate. A final chapter provides a unique look at six American communities and gives a vivid sense of the diversity of American experience over the course of these tumultuous years.