Item Detail
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31785
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1
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7
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English
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From New Deal to New Right
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Thunder From the Right : Ezra Taft Benson in Mormonism and Politics
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Urbana, IL
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University of Illinois Press
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"This essay seeks to flesh out the standard interpretation by focusing on a conservative agent for change, close to the grassroots. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ezra Taft Benson, a leading figure in the hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, persistently hammered at federal programs and a liberalism he defined as “creeping socialism.” Using his church authority and grounding his arguments in Mormon scripture and culture, he called his flock to a moral crusade to right America. Benson’s efforts, which included embracing the John Birch Society and the movements of the New Right, had effect. He did much to wean Mormons from their Democratic loyalties and firm their support for the Republican Party. Meanwhile, Benson forged alliances with other wings of the conservative cause. His work opened the conservative tent to Mormons and made them key players in the gathering right-wing coalition. Benson’s activities thus reveal not only how political change at the grassroots occurs but also that the political is both personal and local." [Author]
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Building the City of God : Community and Cooperation among the Mormons
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
Ezra Taft Benson : A Biography
Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts
Seeking the Promised Land : Mormons and American Politics
The Mormon Quest for the Presidency : From Joseph Smith to Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman
Vernacular Mormonism : The Development of Latter-day Saint Apocalyptic—1830–1930