The Secret Coalition

The politics of the 1950s revolved around two primary leaders, one Republican and one Democrat—both moderate, and both willing to compromise to move the nation forward.

The Republican leader was President Dwight Eisenhower. His two administrations changed American politics. Ike’s desire to be president of all the people, to run his administration down the middle of the road, to be a “modern” Republican, set the stage for what the Republican Party would be for decades to come. His politics of moderation triggered a backlash from the party’s right wing that eventually grew into a conservative surge that reached fruition in the following decades.

Standing astride the opposition was the Democratic leader in the Senate, Lyndon Johnson. At age 44, Johnson was the youngest leader in Senate history. His willingness to join forces with Eisenhower in the president’s battles against isolationism and reaction in his own party, along with the willingness of both men to compromise rather than engage in a politics of search and destroy, turned the 1950s into an era of political moderation.

In The Secret Coalition, Gary A. Donaldson insightfully explores a period in U.S. history that many Americans regard as an “Era of Good Feeling”—when the two parties got along, and the nation achieved some sort of equilibrium and cooperation.

Gary A. Donaldson is the Keller Foundation Chair in American History at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. He is the author of numerous books on American political and diplomatic history.

“The book is both insightful and accessible to readers at a variety of levels. Students and casual readers of history will
find much new to them, and professional historians will find a concise overview of 1950s politics.”
—Choice

“Gary Donaldson’s book is a succinct and useful account of the events of Eisenhower’s post-World War II years. Professor Donaldson is to be commended.”
—Fred Greenstein, Professor of Politics Emeritus, Princeton University

“Researched with scholarly precision, yet accessible to readers of all backgrounds, The Secret Coalition [is a] . . . welcome contribution to American History and Political Science shelves.”
—Midwest Book Review