We begin our look at the New Dominion in Virginia, 1970-present looking at an overview of politics, society and economy in “The New South, 1945-1980”. “The Dynamic Dominion” describing party realignment and the emergence of a two-party system over the same period, and “Virginia in the Vanguard” brings the story forward 1981-2000. The grassroots foundation of “The Silent Majority” in suburbia dismantled the old rural political machine in Virginia.
Three books describe the modernization of Virginia in the face of global economy challenges and the decline of the Cold War defense economy. “The New Economy and the Modern South” focuses on Virginia, “Captives of the Cold War Economy” focuses on those left behind, and finally “Fighting for Fairfax” describes the growth of a rural county of 40,000 to a cosmopolitan economic engine of over 1.000.000.
For more book reviews at TheVirginiaHistorian.com in this historical era addressing other topics, see the webpage for Gilded Age, New South, Civil Rights, New Dominion (1889-present). General surveys of Virginia History can be found at Virginia History Surveys. Other Virginia history divided by topics and time periods can be found at the webpage Books and Reviews.
These titles are all used in bibliographies found in surveys of Virginia history of scholarly merit that are currently used in Virginia university history departments. Additional insights are used from articles in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the Journal of Southern History and the Journal of American History.
The New South, 1945-1980
Numan V. Bartley wrote The New South, 1945-1980 in 1996. It is available from LSU Press and available online used. This eleventh volume in the History of the South series begins with an introduction of the effects of the Great Depression, New Deal and WWII on the region, setting in motion the modern economic and social transformation of the South. The changes include integration of blacks into all facets of Southern life, the end of a caste-based society and one party rule, and the growth of a predominantly educated populace.
Post WWII demographic and economic developments along with middle class black attainments in business and politics signaled a greater change in the South than the period following the Civil War. Bartley takes pains to explain the changes in political alignments that resulted in voting more like national patterns. He not only describes the politics of the region, but attends to developments in institutions, religion, class and race.
Learn more to buy “The New South” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
The Dynamic Dominion
Frank B. Atkinson wrote The Dynamic Dominion: Realignment and the Rise of Two-Party Politics in Virginia, 1945–1980, 2d. ed., in 2006. It is now available on Kindle and online new. This book describes the collapse of the Harry Byrd Democratic Organization and the emergence of the Republican Party in a competitive two-party state system. The changes were gradual, first expressed in voter preference for Republican presidential candidates. Republicans benefited from increased suburbanization and non-unionized industrialization, and the Democratic Party tended more liberal after the death of Harry F. Byrd Sr., allowing Republicans to appeal to broad conservative values.
After substantial Republican success in the 1970s, the political pendulum swung back towards the Democrats. Atkinson describes political in-fighting within both parties, admiring of skilled political leadership in either party, and disapproving of the inept.
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Virginia in the Vanguard
Frank B.Atkinson wrote Virginia in the Vanguard: Political Leadership in the 400-Year-Old Cradle of American Democracy, 1981–2006 in 2006. It is now available online new and used. Atkinson views Virginia politics as transcending the mid-20th century racial divides and emerging as politically relevant to the entire nation. In the 1980s, centrist Democratic governors proved a harbinger for the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. Republican Governor Allen’s welfare reform plan was adopted by the Republican Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton.
Major political trends in the commonwealth include the growing significance of suburban voters who favor fiscally conservative candidates, but not social conservatives such as the Christian Right. Factionalism in the Virginia Republican Party led to their loss of power in the 1980s, factionalism among the Democrats led to their loss of power in the 1990s. After Republican gained control of the General Assembly in 1999, their inability to govern led to Democratic gubernatorial victories in 2001 and 2005.
Learn more to buy “Virginia in the Vanguard” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
The Silent Majority
Matthew D. Lassiter wrote The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South in 2006. It is now available on Kindle and online new in paperback. Lassiter analyses the intersection of southern race relations, metropolitan and suburban growth, and the region’s convergence with residential and voting patterns. Less than some “top-down” southern strategy, the voter changes in the South came more from grassroots, locally developed policy alternatives in the southern school integration and bussing battles.
In Richmond, Virginia a court order invalidated an earlier attempt to achieve racial integration by consolidating city and surrounding county schools. Lassiter gives equal weight to class and race in his exploration of school desegregation. While black voters became empowered and had electoral successes, and political power shifted from the rural to the suburban areas, residential segregation became more entrenched.
Learn more to buy “The Silent Majority” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
*Larry J. Sabato wrote The Democratic Party Primary in Virginia: Tantamount to Election no Longer in 1977. It not in print but is available online new and used. Learn more to buy “Democratic Primary in Virginia” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
*Thomas R. Morris and Larry J. Sabato edited Virginia Government and Politics: Readings and Comments, 4th ed., in 1998. It is out of print but available online used. Learn more to buy “Virginia Government and Politics” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
*Julian Maxwell Hayter wrote The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights and the Politics of Race in Richmond, Virginia in 2017. It is now available on Kindle and online used. Learn more to buy “The Dream is Lost” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
*Margaret Edds wrote Claiming the Dream: The Victorious Campaign of Douglas Wilder of Virginia in1990. It is not in print but available online new and used. Learn more to buy “Claiming the Dream” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
Captives of the Cold War Economy
John J. Accordino wrote Captives of the Cold War Economy: The Struggle for Defense Conversion in American Communities in 1991 and it was reprinted in 2000. It is available on Kindle and new online. The Cold War of the second half of the 20th century led to entire regions being developed to serve the interests of research and manufacturing of military technologies. These included many of Virginia’s prime contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, consultants, universities, technology workers and government installations.
In the drawdown of the 1990s, Virginia government and local growth coalitions sought to re-invigorate local economies. These included municipal governments, developers, chambers of commerce and other civic institutions. Accordino argues that could have been more successful with the development of stronger state and local government markets in environment technologies for example.
Learn more to buy “Captives of the Cold War Economy” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
The New Economy and the Modern South
Michael Dennis wrote The New Economy and the Modern South in 2009. It is now available online. Dennis argues that while Virginia’s economy became more global in a shift away from traditional manufacturing to information and technology and services, it created liabilities for most workers. The shortcomings of the “Silicon Dominion” included surplus workers in declining industries and economically troubled communities in Southside and southwestern Virginia.
While the state as a whole scored well on indicators such as job creation, per capital income growth, average wages and unemployment exceeding national averages, the “new economy” brought about greater economic inequality along with increasing numbers of people who find restrictions on their potential in the workplace.
Learn more to buy “New Economy and the Modern South” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.
Fight for Fairfax
Russ Banham wrote The Fight for Fairfax, A Struggle for a Great American County in 2009. It is now available online new and used. This is a story from the developer’s point of view describing how Fairfax County developed from a rural county of 41,000 in 1940, doubling by 1950, growing to five times at 500,000 in the mid-70s to over 1,000,000 by 2000. The county experienced a dynamic growth driven by well-educated, affluent residents attracted to spacious and verdant DC suburbs.
Economically, Fairfax County is a major contributor to both the metro-Washington area and to Virginia as a whole as well. It is a major employment center in the region, a leader in technological research and development, sustaining George Mason University, and benefitting from a major international airport at Washington Dulles International.
Learn more to buy “Fight for Fairfax” on Amazon.com for your bookshelf.