First published 2001
George Packer examines the evolution of American liberalism by following three generations of his politically engaged family. His maternal grandfather George Huddleston served as a populist congressman from Alabama in the early 1900s. This agrarian liberal followed the Jacksonian tradition but rejected New Deal policies. Packer's father embodied Kennedy-era liberalism as a law professor and dean at Stanford University. The campus protests of the 1960s severely challenged his beliefs, ultimately with tragic consequences. Packer inherited conflicting elements from both liberal traditions. He analyzes how political ideals played out in the lives of his father and grandfather while wrestling with his own relationship to progressive politics. The book explores how these family members tested their convictions against real-world events. Packer connects their personal struggles to broader questions about liberalism's role in contemporary American politics. Through intimate family history, he examines what political commitment means in individual lives.
Genres: history, family, 20th-century, american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, generational-conflict, personal-struggle
Setting: Alabama, Stanford University
Period: Early 1900s, 1960s
416 pages · Paperback · Farrar, Straus and Giroux