Leah Wright Rigueur - The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power

The Loneliness of the Black Republican

POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA

S ERIES E DITORS

William Chafe, Gary Gerstle, Linda Gordon, and Julian Zelizer

The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power BY LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR

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Between Citizens and the State: The Politics of American Higher

Education in the 20th Century BY CHRISTOPHER P. LOSS

Philanthropy in America: A History BY OLIVIER ZUNZ

The Loneliness of the Black Republican

PRAGMATIC POLITICS AND THE PURSUIT OF POWER

Leah Wright Rigueur

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Princeton and Oxford

Copyright 2015 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW

press.princeton.edu

Jacket art: Photograph of Jewel Lafontant taken during the 1960 Republican National Convention. Courtesy of the Oberlin College Archives.

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wright Rigueur, Leah, 1981

The loneliness of the Black Republican : pragmatic politics and the pursuit of power / Leah Wright Rigueur.

pages cm (Politics and society in twentieth-century America)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-691-15901-0 (hardcover : acid-free paper)

1. African AmericansPolitics and government20th century. 2. African American politiciansHistory20th century. 3. African American political activistsHistory20th century. 4. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854 )History20th century. 5. ConservatismUnited StatesHistory20th century. 6. Politics, PracticalUnited StatesHistory20th century. 7. Power (Social sciences)United StatesHistory20th century. 8. United StatesPolitics and government19331945. 9. United StatesPolitics and government19451989. I. Title.

E185.615.W85 2015

323.1196'0730904dc23

2014013056

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in Sabon

Printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Austin Vladimir

Contents

Acknowledgments

FINDING THE PERFECT WAY TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT helped me with this project has been a difficult task because words cannot fully capture the extent of my gratitude. Still, its important for me to articulate how thankful I am to be surrounded by the vibrant intellectual and creative communities that ultimately shaped this book, by guiding me through the process and encouraging me, every single step of the way.

The bones of this project first emerged during my tenure as a graduate student at Princeton University. To call my time there challenging would be an understatement; the invigorating intellectual environment was crucial to my development as a writer and scholar. I benefited tremendously from the mentorship and wisdom of the faculty members in the History Department and at the Center for African American Studies, particularly Margot Canaday, Joshua Guild, Hendrik Hartog, Tera Hunter, Emmanuel Kreike, Nell Painter, Robert Tignor, Christine Stansell, and Sean Wilentz. I want to extend a special thank you to Daniel Rodgers, whose advice and moral support always provided clarity at precisely the right moment throughout my graduate career. I continued to be awed by Karen Jackson-Weaver; while at Princeton, she served as my mentor and advocate and was truly an inspiration. And even now, though I am years removed from the university, she continues to help me develop as a scholar and leader. The members of my dissertation committee devoted a generous amount of time, energy, and resources to my work (and still do!). Eddie Glaude offered shrewd direction and continues to advocate on my behalf. From day one, Timothy Thurber served as both a friend and scholarly adviser. His groundbreaking research motivates me to push the boundaries of my own scholarship. I was extremely fortunate to have an opportunity to work with Julian Zelizer before I left New Jerseyhis outlook on politics and history completely reshaped the way that I thought about multiple scholarly fields. He consistently pushed me to develop abstract ideas into rigorous and thoughtful arguments. Hes also quick to lend a helping hand and provide candid advice (and hes always right). Julians intellectual determination and dedication to his craft are dazzling to watch and have greatly influenced my own scholarly drive.

Trying to summarize what Kevin Kruses friendship and mentorship means to me is an impossible charge. From my first day of graduate school, when he sent me a cheerful Welcome! e-mail, Kevin has been steadfast in his support. He was an exceptional dissertation adviser and advocate, reading multiple draft chapters (including the truly terrible ones), pains-takingly combing through every line of my dissertation, offering line-by-line feedback, and providing dozens of pages of notes and comments. Part of Kevins brilliance is his gift for language and the written word; he has the ability to help you turn a clunky underdeveloped concept into a sophisticated and complex ideaand he does it all effortlessly. He was involved with the production of this book, every step of the wayassessing project proposals, fellowship applications, and chapters. He was, and still is, good for a much-needed pep talk, which I appreciate for so many hard- to-articulate reasons. Im so grateful that I have such a magnificent mentor and friend who refuses to let me doubt my work or myself.

Wesleyan University warmly welcomed me as I transitioned from graduate student to professor. During my first year on campus, all of the faculty members in the History Department and the Program in African American Studies went out of their way to dole out sage wisdom about the inner workings of academia. It was (and still is) excellent advice that helped me forge an ambitious path at the university and beyond. To the entire faculty in History and African American Studies, especially Lois Brown, Paul Erickson, Demetrius Eudell, Nat Greene, Courtney Fullilove, Patricia Hill, Cecilia Miller, Vijay Pinch, Laurie Nussdorfer, Ashraf Rushdy, Gary Shaw, Victoria Smolkin-Rothrock, and Ann Wightmanthank you. I am also grateful for the wise counsel and friendship of Erness Brody, Alex Dupuy, Renee Johnson Thornton, Rashida Shaw, Gina Ulysse, and Krishna Winston. Ann duCille is the model of intellectual prowess; she is also one of the kindest people I know. I am fortunate to call her my friend. I am indebted to Rick Elphick, who read book proposal drafts, offered general feedback on the project, and once spent more than six hours with me, on a hazy summer evening, discussing the framework of the book. Likewise, Ronald Schatz and Magda Teter both generously offered constructive suggestions on the manuscript on multiple occasions, while the spring 2012 cohort at the Wesleyan Center for the Humanities offered sharp insights into the third chapter of this manuscript. Joan Chiari, Lori Flannigan, and Ann Tanasi are at the cusp of sainthood. They have endured nonstop questions and requests from me with patience, grace, and, of course, humor. My undergraduate research assistants, Spencer Hattendorf, Christian Hosam, Hannah Korevaar, CaVar Reid, and Amber Smith did a tremendous amount of work on my behalf, showcasing their scholarly thoughtfulness and impressive work ethic.