Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer

by Nancy C Unger

Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2008
Paper: 978-0-87020-426-5
Library of Congress Classification E664.L16U4 2008
Dewey Decimal Classification 973.8092

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Now in paperback with a new preface, this comprehensive biography weaves the triumph and the tragedy of the public and private lives of the most famous of Wisconsin leaders, Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette. As a U.S. representative, governor of Wisconsin, and U.S. Senator, La Follette's political legacies have been long lasting; among them are the election of senators by constituents, creation of the Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission, women's suffrage, and workers' compensation.

Through the personal letters, diaries, and documents of the La Follette family, Unger uses the private life of La Follette as a means for understanding the public figure. Thoroughly researched and documented, Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer is a testament to the progressive tradition in Wisconsin and its premier leader.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Nancy C. Unger is Associate Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies at Santa Clara University. She has published several articles and essays on the La Follette family and the progressive era. Her op-eds applying the progressive tradition to the present are syndicated by the History News Service and have appeared in major newspapers across the country. Professor Unger has been a guest on Air America and Wisconsin Public Radio and has served as a consultant for PBS.

REVIEWS

"The ideas of La Follette and his fellow progressives are our best hope for countering the reactionary and destructive forces that threaten to dissolve this fragile experiment in self-government which has so much to offer and has so far yet to go." (Bill Moyers, PBS Host and author of Moyers on Democracy)

"In our time of mediocre and timid political leadership, it is good to have a book that reminds us of the unique political courage of Bob La Follette." ( Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present)

"Nancy Unger has produced a fascinating, insightful, and persuasive portrait of Wisconsin's 'Little Giant.' She . . . penetrates into his mind and character." (John Milton Cooper Jr., Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, xi
Introduction:
Dull Tools, 1
1 Beginnings:
Oh, My Idolized Father, 7
2 Civil Wars:
My Name Is La Follette, 20
3 The University Years:
Training for the Duties of Citizenship, 31
4 Belle Case La Follette:
Woman?s Victory, Woman?s Tragedy, 47
5 La Follette and the Law:
Everything Is Not Enough , 69
6 Congressman La Follette:
So Good a Fellow Even His Enemies Like Him, 85
7 Citizen La Follette:
Forced into the Fight, 98
8 Governor La Follette and the Wisconsin Idea:
Wisconsin Is a Happier and Better State to Live In, 120
9 Senator La Follette:
The Bogey-Man of the Senate, 139
10 The Burdens of a Great Name:
You Have Set an Almost Unattainable Goal for Us, 153
11 No Longer the Lonely Man of the Senate:
The Coming of a Ne w Order of Things , 180
12 Incident in Philadelphia:
La Follette?s Political Suicide, 200
13 No Surrender:
One Hardly Knows Whether to Pity La Follette or Admire His Bravery, 221
14 World War I:
A Little Group of Willful Men, 239
15 Resurrection:
Time and Events Are Bringing Things Your Way at Last, 263
16 Final Battles:
I Want to Die . . . with My Boots On, 281
Epilogue:
A Challenge to Youth in America Down All the Future Years, 305
Notes, 311
Bibliography, 353
Index, 371
ILLUSTRATIONS
Image identified as Josiah La Follette, 11
La Follette family portrait, 1858, 13
Bob La Follette, age nine, 28
La Follette captivates a crowd, 39
?Little Lion of the Northwest,? 44
Belle Case La Follette, 1881, 52
Belle La Follette on the stump for woman suffrage, 65
Belle and Bob La Follette in 1925, 67
Dane County?s district attorney, 75
Women endorse La Follette, 89
Congressman La Follette, 1887, 92
Campaigning country-style, 1897, 111
Whistle-stop campaign of 1900, 118
Governor La Follette, 1904, 132
Senator La Follette, 1906, 141
The La Follette family, 1910, 157
La Follette children at statue unveiling, 1929, 163
Passing the torch to Robert Jr., 1924, 174
Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., 176
The Roosevelt?La Follette coalition that wasn?t, 181
On the grandstand with Taft, 1909, 187
La Follette, 1911, 196
?Breakdown,? 1912, 210
GOP tea party, 212
Senator in search of a cause, 1917, 237
La Follette as traitor, 248
The family during the war, 260
La Follette, 1922, 279
In the USSR, 1923, 284
La Follette?s progressive candidacy, 1924, 287
La Follette recorded on sound film, 294
La Follette at Yankee Stadium, 295
Death of a dream, 298
No surrender, 300
Funeral procession, 306
La Follette?s legacy, 309

See other books on: 1865-1933 | Governors | Legislators | Progressivism (United States politics) | United States. Congress. Senate
See other titles from Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Nearby on shelf for United States / Late nineteenth century, 1865-1900 / General: