Fighting Bob la Follette: The Righteous Reformer » (2nd Edition)

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.

Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette (1855-1925), the Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator, was one of the most significant leaders of American progressivism. Nancy Unger integrates new details from La Follette's personal life with important events from his storied political career, revealing a complex man who was a compelling mixture of failure and accomplishment, tragedy and triumph.

New York Times Book Review

Unger's voice remains subdued and objective throughout the book, but La Follette manages to leap from its pages.

List of Illustrations     ix
Preface to the Paperback Edition     xi
Acknowledgments     xix
Introduction: Dull Tools     1
Beginnings: Oh, My Idolized Father     7
Civil Wars: My Name Is La Follette     20
The University Years: Training for the Duties of Citizenship     31
Belle Case La Follette: Woman's Victory, Woman's Tragedy     47
La Follette and the Law: Everything Is Not Enough     69
Congressman La Follette: So Good a Fellow Even His Enemies Like Him     85
Citizen La Follette: Forced into the Fight     98
Governor La Follette and the Wisconsin Idea: Wisconsin Is a Happier and Better State to Live In     120
Senator La Follette: The Bogey-Man of the Senate     139
The Burdens of a Great Name: You Have Set an Almost Unattainable Goal for Us     153
No Longer the Lonely Man of the Senate: The Coming of a New Order of Things     180
Incident in Philadelphia: La Follette's Political Suicide     200
No Surrender: One Hardly Knows Whether to Pity La Follette or Admire His Bravery     221
World War I: A Little Group of Willful Men     239
Resurrection: Time and Events Are Bringing Things Your Way at Last     263
Final Battles: I Want to Die ... with My BootsOn     281
Epilogue: A Challenge to Youth in America Down All the Future Years     305
Notes     311
Bibliography     353
Index     371