The Liberal Dilemma

This study of the liberal response to McCarthyism is the first book to analyze the negative political consequences of the liberal embrace of pragmatism and disdain for ideology in their contest with 1950s conservatives.

Jonathan Michaels teaches history at the University of Connecticut, Hartford Campus, and is the author of McCarthyism: The Realities, Delusions and Politics Behind the 1950s Red Scare.

Introduction 1. Student v. Student: Two Episodes 2. War by Other Means 3. Homer G. Richey and the Political Power of a Symbol 4. Mapping the Liberal Mind: Paul Wilson Sullivan Conclusion: Vital Center or Excluded Middle?