The Fierce Urgency of Now
*This event is by invitation only.
The Aspen Institute Democracy Series cordially invites you to a lunchtime book talk featuring Julian E. Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, discussing his book “The Fierce Urgency of Now.”
About the Book:
Between November 1963, when he became president, and November 1966, when his party was routed in the midterm elections, Lyndon Johnson spearheaded the most transformative agenda in American political history since the New Deal, one whose ambition and achievement have had no parallel since. In just three years, Johnson drove the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, the War on Poverty program, Medicare and Medicaid, immigration liberalization, a raft of consumer and environmental protection acts, and major federal investments in public transportation. Collectively, this group of achievements was labeled by Johnson and his team the Great Society.
In The Fierce Urgency of Now, Julian E. Zelizer takes the full measure of the story in all its epic sweep. Before Johnson, Kennedy had tried and failed to achieve many of these advances. Our practiced understanding is that this was an unprecedented “liberal hour” in America, a moment after Kennedy’s death when the seas parted and Johnson could simply stroll through to victory. As Zelizer shows, this view is off base: in many respects America was even more conservative then than it seems now, and Johnson’s legislative program faced bitter resistance. The Fierce Urgency of Now animates the full spectrum of forces at play during those turbulent years, including religious groups, the media, conservative and liberal political action groups, unions, and civil rights activists.
Above all, the great character in the book whose role rivals Johnson’s is Congress—indeed, Zelizer argues that our understanding of the Great Society is too Johnson-centric. He discusses why Congress was so receptive to passing these ideas in a remarkably short span of time, and how the election of 1964 and the burgeoning civil rights movement transformed conditions on Capitol Hill. Zelizer brings a deep, intimate knowledge of the institution to bear on his story; the book is a master class in American political grand strategy. Finally, Zelizer reckons with the legacy of the Great Society. Though our politics has changed, the heart of the Great Society legislation remains intact fifty years later. In fact, he argues, the Great Society shifted the American political center of gravity—and our social landscape—decisively to the left in many crucial respects. In a very real sense, we are living today in the country that Johnson and his Congress made.
About the Author:
Julian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and a fellow at New America. He is the author or editor of numerous books that examine U.S. political leaders, policies, and institutions since the New Deal. His most recent books are Jimmy Carter, Arsenal of Democracy, and Governing America: The Revival of Political History. He is also a weekly columnist for CNN.com.
About the Moderator:
Evan Thomas is the author of many books and was a writer, correspondent and editor for 33 years at Time and Newsweek, including ten years (1986-1996) as Washington Bureau Chief at Newsweek, where he was editor at large when he retired in 2010. He wrote more than 100 cover stories and in 1999 won a National Magazine award for reporting on the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He wrote Newsweek’s 50,000 word election specials in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. The 2004 election special issue won a National Magazine Award.
The Aspen Institute Democracy Series cordially invites you to a lunchtime book talk featuring Julian E. Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, discussing his book “The Fierce Urgency of Now.”