Presidents and civil liberties from Wilson to Obama: a story of poor custodians

Introduction: Presidents and civil liberties : Scenes from the White House ; Poor custodians of American liberties ; Presidents and America's core values pt. I. The early years. Woodrow Wilson and the suppression of civil liberties in World War I : "Such creations ... must be crushed out" ; Wilson, progressivism, and civil liberties ; War and repression begin, 1917 ; Wilson's role in the repression ; The mind of the progressive reformer ; The final orgy: the Red Scare, 1919-1920 ; An ominous legacy: origins of the national security state ; Moving backward on race ; A reluctant path to women's suffrage ; Brandeis to the Supreme Court ; End of a presidency: dawn of the civil liberties era 2. Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover: civil liberties in the wilderness : Civil liberties in a changing America ; The Red Scare "hangover" ; Amnesty for the victims of wartime prosecutions ; Political spying continues ; Keeping dangerous ideas out of the United States ; A national campaign for racial justice ; Alice Paul, the ERA, and a new direction for women's rights ; Sex and censorship: the Post Office and the Customs Bureau ; Attacking the First Amendment rights of organized labor ; Lawless policing: prohibition enforcement ; Freedom to teach: the Scopes case ; Straws in the wind: the Supreme Court shifts ; End of the Republican era 4. Franklin D. Roosevelt: the mixed legacy of a strong president : "The greatest violation of civil liberties in American history" ; The Japanese-American tragedy: FDR decides ; FDR, the Constitution, and presidential power ; The tragedy unfolds ; The rights of working people: a casual indifference ; Federal protection for civil rights: origins of the Civil Rights Division ; Unleashing FBI spying: the permanent national security state ; Troubling claims of presidential power ; A march on Washington? FDR confronts the civil rights movement ; Freedom of speech in peace and war ; Creating the Roosevelt court ; President Roosevelt versus the Roosevelt years

pt. II. Civil liberties in the cold war and civil rights eras. 5. Harry Truman: courage and contradictions : Cold war contradictions ; Truman and civil liberties ; Anti-communism at home and abroad ; The loyalty program in operation ; Attacking the Communist Party and "dangerous" ideas ; Truman, J. Edgar Hoover, and the FBI ; The rise of government secrecy, and challenges ; McCarthyism arrives ; Unmatched political courage: Truman and civil rights ; Korea: three crucial decisions on presidential power ; A divisive church-state controversy ; Last gasp (for a while) for the ERA ; Mediocrity on the Supreme Court ; The ambiguity of strong presidential leadership 6. Dwight D. Eisenhower: a failure of presidential leadership : "My biggest mistake" ; Silence on Joe McCarthy ; Civil rights: a leadership failure ; Ike, Communism, and domestic security ; Secrecy, executive privilege, and the CIA ; A weak record on women's issues ; Creating the Warren Court ; The end of the fifties 7. John F. Kennedy: the failed promise of the new frontier : A walk in the Rose Garden ; A voice for religious tolerance ; "Bystander": Kennedy's failure on civil rights ; JFK's historic speech and a Civil Rights Bill ; Robert Kennedy's Justice Department ; The press, secrecy, and the CIA ; Standing firm on church and state: the school prayer decision ; A forgotten initiative on women's rights ; Initiating immigration reform ; A mixed record on judicial appointments ; A presidency cut short 8. The glory and the tragedy of Lyndon Johnson : "We ... shall ... overcome" ; Presidential leadership: the 1964 Civil Rights Act ; Selma and the Voting Rights Act: LBJ seizes the moment ; LBJ's vision of a truly egalitarian society ; Blind spot: LBJ and women's rights ; Finessing the wall of separation ; Wiretapping, the FBI, and crime ; LBJ's dark side: abuse of the FBI and the CIA ; The end of the liberal moment: riots and the war on crime ; Civil libertarians to the Supreme Court ; The tragedy of Vietnam ; A presidency ruined, dreams destroyed 9. Richard Nixon: a singular abuse of presidential power : "I am not a crook" ; The conversative reaction, 1968 ; Nixon takes office: the abuses begin ; "Law and order" politics ; A different vision of progress on race ; Nixon confronts the sexual revolution ; Parochaid: attacking the wall of separation ; A surprising stand on women's rights ; The Nixon court: the conservative revolution delayed ; The road to Watergate ; The Watergate break-in and the end of a presidency ; An abuse of presidential power unlike any other

pt. III. The post-Watergate era. 10. Gerald Ford: a minor president in very interesting times : The Nixon pardon ; Between Watergate and neoconservatism ; Edward H. Levi: integrity in the Attorney General's office ; The Watergate hangover ; Reform: curbing the abuses of power ; Confusion on civil rights ; In the crossfire on women's rights and abortion rights ; Stepping up the war on crime ; Stevens to the Supreme Court ; A minor president in very interesting times 11. Jimmy Carter: good civil libertarian, failed president : A blurred vision for America ; An independent attorney general ; Faith and politics: a tiger by the tail ; The lonely middle of the road on abortion ; Dilemmas on civil rights ; Forward and backward on women and family issues ; Opening the White House door to lesbian and gay rights ; The new world of national security politics ; The hostage crisis: backtracking on national security ; An unhappy end ; A failed president, with a decent record 12. Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush: the neoconservative assault on civil liberties : "I wear their indictment like a badge of honor" ; The advent of Reagan and the New Right ; The powerful new Religious Right ; Understanding Reagan and Reaganism ; A woman on the Supreme Court: Sandra Day O'Connor ; The politics of abortion ; A deadly silence on AIDS ; Attorney General Meese's right-wing agenda ; Storming the wall of separation ; War on crime, and on civil liberties ; Rolling back civil rights enforcement ; Iran-Contra: the issue of presidential power returns ; Transforming the Supreme Court ; The first George Bush ; Twelve years of neoconservatism 13. Bill Clinton: the divided soul of a "New Democrat" : A "New Democrat" in the White House ; Taking office: initiatives and crises ; A special rapport: Bill Clinton and African Americans ; Fighting crime, eroding civil liberties ; Standing firm on abortion rights and women's rights ; Preserving the wall of separation in public schools ; Clinton and the First Amendment ; Troubling assertions of presidential power ; Confronting international terrorism ; Moderate libertarians to the Supreme Court ; A contradictory president

pt. IV. Civil liberties in the age of terrorism. George W. Bush: a systematic assault on the Constitution : Over to "the dark side" ; 9/11: the world of civil liberties changes ; Secret, and not secret, abuses of presidential power ; The world, America, and Vice President Cheney ; Asserting presidential power: three avenues ; The dark side: rendition, detention, and torture ; An international disgrace: torture ; The Supreme Court confronts presidential power ; Authorization to go to war ; A religious crusade at home ; An antihomosexual agenda, with some odd compromises ; "Bush league science": the war on science ; Politicizing the Justice Department ; The Supreme Court: the conservative revolution finally arrives ; The most sweeping assault on the Constitution

15. Conclusion: reflections on presidents, civil liberties, and democracy: with observations on Barack Obama : America transformed: the rights revolution ; Presidents and the rights revolution ; Presidents and civil liberties ; Civil liberties and democracy ; An alternative interpretation of democracy and rights ; Final thoughts: a conversation about America.