America: A Work in Progress, Volume 2
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2023
Pages: 194
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J. Edward Lee and Susan B. Autry's America: A Work In Progress series provides a fresh glimpse of a nation which continues to evolve, shaped by a multitude of themes and issues.
This volume explores the Gilded Age with its use of monopolies and the Captains of Industry who built the cities of America, with their skyscrapers and bridges. This emphasis on “bigness” continued until the 1901 assassination of William McKinley and the rise of Theodore Roosevelt, who declared war on “bigness.”
Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were champions of the Progressive Era. They created economic competition and various reforms, such as the 1906 Food and Drug Act. At the end of the Progressive Era, 1920, women received the right to vote in federal elections, perhaps the most progressive act of the time.
The Great War established America as a world power. The horrors of the war and the 1918-1919 Influenza turned the nation inward beginning a time of normalcy. The Roaring 20s was the Jazz Age, a period of looseness economically, politically, and socially. Flappers danced the night away at “speakeasies” as the gin flowed and the music played. In 1929, the hangover commenced. It was the Great Depression, engulfing the Greatest Generation, men and women who survived an economic catastrophe and international demons such as Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and the brutal Japanese military.
The world changed in 1945 with President Harry Truman’s decision to “detonate when ready.” The Atomic Bomb ended World War II, but a Cold War followed immediately. The United States and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars around the globe in places like Korea and Vietnam. Society shook with a new form of music, Rock and Roll, and Elvis shocked some and excited others. A modern civil rights movement took to the streets with non-violent marches for justice and equality.
There was division in the 1960s-and deaths in Vietnam and among prominent figures like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Young anti-war protestors demonstrated against the conflict in Southeast Asia, calling for rights for African Americans, women, and gays. This volume closely explores these years of change.
By the 1970s, political scandals, the White House Horrors, brought down the Nixon administration. The economy suffered from “malaise” with high inflation, unemployment, and shortages. Hostages were taken in Iran, and Ronald Reagan vowed that America would not be held hostage if he were elected president in 1980. The Cold War dramatically ended at the conclusion of that decade.
Bill Clinton, a gifted politician, presided over the White House in the 1990s, but became mired in an embarrassing scandal of his own in 1998. His relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky led to his impeachment that year, but he was spared removal from office.
Volume 2 concludes with a review of the first two decades of the 21st century, with the tragedy of 9/11, the economic collapse of 2008, and the Coronavirus which claimed over 1,000,000 American lives. The United States, indeed, is a work in progress. We ventured to the moon in 1969 and demolished the Berlin Wall twenty years later, but we have wrestled with a myriad of social and economic challenges closer to home. It is a story which is far from over.
Chapter 1 – Bold Entrepreneurs
Chapter 2 - Empire
Chapter 3 – Failed Peace
Chapter 4 - Normalcy
Chapter 5 – The Greatest Generation
Chapter 6 – “Detonate When Ready”
Chapter 7 – Rock and Roll
Chapter 8 – Marching for Justice
Chapter 9 – White House Horrors
Chapter 10 - Malaise
Chapter 11 – Evil Empire
Chapter 12 - Bubba
Chapter 13 – 9/11
Chapter 14 - Collapse
Chapter 15 - Covid
A thirty-eight-year veteran of the university classroom, Dr. Lee is professor of history at Winthrop University. He has earned several awards for his teaching, including recognition twenty-five years ago as a pioneer in remote learning. He is the author of nineteen books on a wide range of historical topics. He has lectured internationally in the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and Vietnam. Dr. Lee has served as a media commentator for Fox News, CNN, NBC News, and National Public Radio. He chairs the National Register of Historic Places Review Board in South Carolina. He is a member of the Culture and Heritage Commission in that state’s York County. A former president of the South Carolina Historical Association, Dr. Lee received the State Historic Preservation Award in 2016 from Governor Henry McMaster. For twenty-two years, Dr. Lee served as an elected official in South Carolina.
With over twenty-five years as a passionate educator, Professor Susan Autry has focused her entire professional life on bringing history to life for her students. She has taught at York Technical College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and for fifteen years at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) where she currently teaches full-time. She chaired the History Department at CPCC, receiving several awards for her instruction, including her appointment as a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. Autry was also featured on several episodes of the “Trail of History” docuseries as well as the PBS documentary “Paved with Gold”. Throughout her quarter century career, Autry has presented at numerous conferences, seminars and panels, including Charlotte History Education Day (2013-2015), Constitution Day Panel (2014), Civil Rights Today (2020), and Women’s Rights - Ginsberg (2020), among many others. She served on the Board of Directors at Historic Latta Place where she also volunteered as a costumed docent providing tours and historical lectures. She is a member of the Mecklenburg Historical Society, the North Carolina Association of Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians. Autry is an advocate for history, preservation, interpretation, and public visitation of historic sites. She spends her personal time traveling and visiting the venues of America’s past, seeing firsthand where history took place.
New Publication Coming Soon!
J. Edward Lee and Susan B. Autry's America: A Work In Progress series provides a fresh glimpse of a nation which continues to evolve, shaped by a multitude of themes and issues.
This volume explores the Gilded Age with its use of monopolies and the Captains of Industry who built the cities of America, with their skyscrapers and bridges. This emphasis on “bigness” continued until the 1901 assassination of William McKinley and the rise of Theodore Roosevelt, who declared war on “bigness.”
Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were champions of the Progressive Era. They created economic competition and various reforms, such as the 1906 Food and Drug Act. At the end of the Progressive Era, 1920, women received the right to vote in federal elections, perhaps the most progressive act of the time.
The Great War established America as a world power. The horrors of the war and the 1918-1919 Influenza turned the nation inward beginning a time of normalcy. The Roaring 20s was the Jazz Age, a period of looseness economically, politically, and socially. Flappers danced the night away at “speakeasies” as the gin flowed and the music played. In 1929, the hangover commenced. It was the Great Depression, engulfing the Greatest Generation, men and women who survived an economic catastrophe and international demons such as Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and the brutal Japanese military.
The world changed in 1945 with President Harry Truman’s decision to “detonate when ready.” The Atomic Bomb ended World War II, but a Cold War followed immediately. The United States and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars around the globe in places like Korea and Vietnam. Society shook with a new form of music, Rock and Roll, and Elvis shocked some and excited others. A modern civil rights movement took to the streets with non-violent marches for justice and equality.
There was division in the 1960s-and deaths in Vietnam and among prominent figures like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Young anti-war protestors demonstrated against the conflict in Southeast Asia, calling for rights for African Americans, women, and gays. This volume closely explores these years of change.
By the 1970s, political scandals, the White House Horrors, brought down the Nixon administration. The economy suffered from “malaise” with high inflation, unemployment, and shortages. Hostages were taken in Iran, and Ronald Reagan vowed that America would not be held hostage if he were elected president in 1980. The Cold War dramatically ended at the conclusion of that decade.
Bill Clinton, a gifted politician, presided over the White House in the 1990s, but became mired in an embarrassing scandal of his own in 1998. His relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky led to his impeachment that year, but he was spared removal from office.
Volume 2 concludes with a review of the first two decades of the 21st century, with the tragedy of 9/11, the economic collapse of 2008, and the Coronavirus which claimed over 1,000,000 American lives. The United States, indeed, is a work in progress. We ventured to the moon in 1969 and demolished the Berlin Wall twenty years later, but we have wrestled with a myriad of social and economic challenges closer to home. It is a story which is far from over.
Chapter 1 – Bold Entrepreneurs
Chapter 2 - Empire
Chapter 3 – Failed Peace
Chapter 4 - Normalcy
Chapter 5 – The Greatest Generation
Chapter 6 – “Detonate When Ready”
Chapter 7 – Rock and Roll
Chapter 8 – Marching for Justice
Chapter 9 – White House Horrors
Chapter 10 - Malaise
Chapter 11 – Evil Empire
Chapter 12 - Bubba
Chapter 13 – 9/11
Chapter 14 - Collapse
Chapter 15 - Covid
A thirty-eight-year veteran of the university classroom, Dr. Lee is professor of history at Winthrop University. He has earned several awards for his teaching, including recognition twenty-five years ago as a pioneer in remote learning. He is the author of nineteen books on a wide range of historical topics. He has lectured internationally in the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and Vietnam. Dr. Lee has served as a media commentator for Fox News, CNN, NBC News, and National Public Radio. He chairs the National Register of Historic Places Review Board in South Carolina. He is a member of the Culture and Heritage Commission in that state’s York County. A former president of the South Carolina Historical Association, Dr. Lee received the State Historic Preservation Award in 2016 from Governor Henry McMaster. For twenty-two years, Dr. Lee served as an elected official in South Carolina.
With over twenty-five years as a passionate educator, Professor Susan Autry has focused her entire professional life on bringing history to life for her students. She has taught at York Technical College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and for fifteen years at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) where she currently teaches full-time. She chaired the History Department at CPCC, receiving several awards for her instruction, including her appointment as a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. Autry was also featured on several episodes of the “Trail of History” docuseries as well as the PBS documentary “Paved with Gold”. Throughout her quarter century career, Autry has presented at numerous conferences, seminars and panels, including Charlotte History Education Day (2013-2015), Constitution Day Panel (2014), Civil Rights Today (2020), and Women’s Rights - Ginsberg (2020), among many others. She served on the Board of Directors at Historic Latta Place where she also volunteered as a costumed docent providing tours and historical lectures. She is a member of the Mecklenburg Historical Society, the North Carolina Association of Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians. Autry is an advocate for history, preservation, interpretation, and public visitation of historic sites. She spends her personal time traveling and visiting the venues of America’s past, seeing firsthand where history took place.