Political History Commons^™

The 1985 Move Bombing: A Study In Perspectives, Kaci Delisle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a military grade bomb on 6221 Osage Avenue, a row house in a Black neighborhood in West Philadelphia. This home was occupied by a revolutionary group called MOVE. The bomb started a fire that the police and firefighters decided to “contain” rather than put out, resulting in the deaths of eleven people and the destruction of sixty-one homes. Only two MOVE members survived the fire. Using court records, documents from the investigation conducted by the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (PSIC), and other interviews regarding MOVE and the bombing, this paper reconstructs different perspectives …

President Reagan's Rhetorical War Against Nicaraugua, 1981-1987, Donald Morton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Reagan administration launched a two term campaign to win support for the Contra rebels fighting Nicaragua. The rhetorical war began in secrecy and ended in scandal. With Reagan's reputation as a "great communicator" and the priority he assigned to the Contra cause it seemed surprising to find virtually nothing on the topic in a search of the communication journals through mid 1992.

The central research question of this thesis is whether President Reagan used rhetorical strategies and similar depictions to other presidents in his prowar rhetoric against Nicaragua. A common theme of war rhetoric is the dehumanizing of the …

German Foreign Policy & Diplomacy 1890-1906, Lee Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

From 1871 to 1914, Germany experienced its first taste of world power and the failure of controlling and retaining that power. German power after 1871 had sought only a dominance of continental politics and a maintenance of a status quo in Europe favorable to Germany. Following 1890, however, the German course deviated to include a vision of world power. German foreign policy until 1890 was based on two things: hegemonic control of the heart of Europe and the force of will of one man, Otto von Bismarck. Yet despite relative control of the European situation and a cautious and able …

The Public Career Of Maurice Hudson Thatcher, Randy Ream

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The public career of Maurice Hudson Thatcher was wedded to one of the most interesting epochs in Kentucky history and Kentucky politics. From 1895, with his election as county clerk of Butler County, to his defeat for the United States Senate in 1932, Maurice Thatcher was intimately involved in almost every statewide political campaign. He participated in the rise of the Republican party to a point where it was a definite force in state politics and won almost as many statewide races as it lost. He also participated in the party’s relegation to minority status with the advent of the …

The American Liberalism Of Eleanor Roosevelt, Janet Wolfe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A biographical study of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt was undertaken to explore the various obstacles she was required to overcome as she grew to become an influential figure in the world of liberal politics. During the New Deal years her influence was most visible as she traveled across the country and relayed to her husband the concerns of the average man. As a delegate to the United Nations, after the death of her husband, Eleanor's devotion toward attaining a United Nations which would keep peace among all nations and her ability to carry out tasks in a patient and …

The 1938 Kentucky Senate Election: Alben Barkley, The New Deal & The Defeat Of Governor A.B. "Happy" Chandler, Walter Hixson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Analysis showed that the 1938 Kentucky State primary became the focal point of a national political struggle over the New Deal. The Kentucky campaign was the most significant of the mid-term elections which represented a major test of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's political strength. Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley gave unwavering support to Roosevelt and the New Deal while his opponent, Kentucky Governor Albert B. Chandler, represented conservative Democrats who sought to wrest control of the party from Roosevelt. The clash of two powerful Kentucky politicians and the widespread use of federal and state patronage distinguished the campaign. Barkley's …

Thomas Jefferson And The West, Denise Baker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

From his childhood on the fringe of the Virginia frontier until his years of retirement at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson displayed a special interest in the vast expanse of land stretching westward. The land provided the ideal place for the expansion of Jefferson’s dream of an American empire for liberty. He viewed the continent as the home of an agrarian nation living under the principles of democracy.

Chapter one is introductory in nature, linking Jefferson’s ideals to his interest in the West. Chapter two concentrates on his early contributions to the West. Emphasis is placed on land speculation, the western land …

A Study Of The Political Activity Of Mexican University Students, Angela Rodriguez Fernandez

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An overview of the political activity of Mexican university

students during the 1968 disturbances in Mexico was compared with data

taken from a 1964 attitudinal survey conducted by the International

Research Associates, Incorporated of university students from nine

Mexican universities in an attempt to find possible trends and attitudes

that could have predicted the 1968 and subsequent riots. The population

for the analysis came from three of the nine universities based on the

levels of activity shown during the 1968 riots ranging from most active

to least active. Three main variables; activism as of 1968, ideological

self-designation as of 1964 …

Luke Pryor Blackburn: The Good Samaritan, Nancy Baird

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Luke Pryor Blackburn, Kentucky’s only physician governor, is one of the forgotten public health figures of the 19^th century. As health officer of Natchez in the 1850s he instituted the first effective quarantine used in the Mississippi Valley and became a strong advocate of its use as a preventive measure in the control of yellow fever. During his lifetime Blackburn also became well known for his unselfish aid to communities stricken with the disease.

In March 1878 announced his candidacy for governor of his native state. Local politicians scoffed at his chances for election, but his actions during the …

White Attitudes Toward Racial Tolerance & The Perception Of Party Differences: 1956-1969, Paul Messick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine attitude change toward a particularly salient political and social issue "over time." A second purpose is the examination of the perception of party differences in their positions toward the aforementioned issues "over time."

Glover Cary: A Political Biography, Doris Brenner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The elements of contrast within the character of an individual and the heights of attainment in a lifetime of activities appear sometimes unexpectedly and serve to distinguish that person from the rest of mankind. Indeed, if personality, intelligence, physical attractiveness, and the love for political life were the only attributes of Kentucky Congressman Glover Cary, although they are unquestionably magnetic qualities, his life and works might deserve their repose from the critical observations of the historian. He, however, demonstrated an unusual concern for his constituents and a certain devotion to humanity, rare qualities if one applies the general connotative meaning …

The Constitutional Union Party In Kentucky, John Lawrence Kelly

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

During the period immediately preceding the Civil War, there arose a new political party, the Constitutional Union party. While nearly every other phase of the era around the Civil War has been covered exhaustively, comparatively, very little has been written about the Union movement and its attempt to prevent the war. What has been written about the Union party deals primarily with the movement at the national level. It is the goal of this author to present a history of the Union movement in Kentucky and the part played in the national party by Kentuckians.

The Effect Of Presidential Action On Popular Support Of Foreign Policy: The Case Of Vietnam, William Hines Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Explicitly stated the hypothesis that was tested was as follows: The relationship between Presidential action and an increase in public support for the President on matters of Vietnam policy is equal to zero.

Presidential action was viewed as any major development in Policy (whether it be military or political) toward the war. Furthermore, any major speech by the President or other high governmental official reaffirming the government's course of action was posited into the category of Presidential action. In order for the speech to be considered "major" it either had to have been broadcast over nationwide television or widely disseminated …

The Indonesian Army 1950-1958, James Bigelow

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

If a man could somehow snap a picture of the world today, a viewer one hundred years hence would certainly notice its many revolutionary characteristics. Perhaps the most important of these relates to the growth of non-Western nationalism and modernization, the "revolution of rising expectations," which has resulted in the formation of many new nations within the last twenty years, led by Western-trained intellectuals in many cases. These new leaders have been faced with the problem that their fellow countrymen do not necessarily share their beliefs in or understanding of nationalism.

The leaders, many of them young, have had to …

United States-Russian Relations, 1917-1933, Raymond L. Cravens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

“One should doff one’s cap to the statue of Jupiter, in case he returned to power.” – Lord Byron

Our task in this study is to determine whether the words of Lord Byron are true in the realm of International Power Politics. This is a study of the application of the principle of non-recognition – the refusal of acknowledgement – to Russo-American relations during the period from 1917 to 1933.

The year was 1917, and the Gladiator of Capitalism stood over the prostrate form of Russian Bolshevism and appealed for the decision of “life” or “death” to be meted out …

Amos Kendall In Kentucky, Kenneth Lam

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the writing of this thesis, I have endeavored chiefly to depict the character and public works of Amos Kendall in Kentucky. In so doing, it has been my purpose to give the reader some conception of the important political questions of the time and the relation of Kendall to them. His life was one of bitter controversies, of humiliating defeats followed by brilliant victories, and toward the end, one of peace vitalized by the promotion of worthwhile public institutions. His place in history, whether good or bad, has been little understood or appreciated; and it is my sincere desire …

Kentucky In The Election Of 1896, John Dickey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The story of the election of 1896 and the part played by Kentucky in that great conflict offers no parallel, so far as interest in a national election is concerned, in the annals of the political history of the state. Perhaps in no other nationwide campaign did both Kentucky's leaders and her citizenry as well take such an active and intensive part. State and national leaders were extolled on the one hand, and degraded on the other. Party principles were invoked to bear witness to the truth by one group, and condemned as the diabolical instruments of the money power …

Trends Of Municipal Expenditures In Second Class Cities Of Kentucky From 1926 To 1933, Howard Taylor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The increase of city expenditures was noticeable for the past two decades. During the depression there arose a greater demand on the part of both tax payers and city officials for some information concerning the costs of city government, what was responsible for the increase, for what municipal funds were expended, and where the cost of city government was headed.

The question of how expenditures in certain departments compared with those of other departments was also a pertinent one. Education suffered an enormous reduction as compared to what had been spent from 1928 to 1932. There was a wide-spread belief …

The Attitude Of The Presidents Of The United States Toward Education As Revealed In Their Messages To Congress, Kelsey R. Cummins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis is undertaken with the intention of studying the attitude of the Presidents of the United States toward education as revealed in their messages to Congress. The writer chose this subject because he felt that the messages and speeches reflect their attitude toward education and to some extent at least reflect the national attitude. Since this group has included some of America’s ablest leaders, education may find in their works arguments of great weight.

Since the study was restricted to the messages of Presidents, naturally Richardson’s “Messages and Papers of the Presidents of the Presidents to 1908” is the …

The Origin, Development & Present Status Of County Government In Kentucky, Walton Reynolds

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is the purpose of this study to investigate the origin and development of our present county government and to give the essentials of the present status. It is intended to present a brief outline history of the growth and changes in the administrative organization of the county from the days of the shire and the Norman Invasion of England to the reign of the Stuarts; and then to transplant that form of local government into the forested wastes of James River, and there watch it adapt itself to the frontier environment of a new world. In the process of …

Matthew Lyon In Kentucky, Lyda Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

“Men at some time are masters of their fate:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Thus Shakespeare has the wily Cassius speak, and thus Matthew Lyon must have believed; else he had not contended so fiercely, so incessantly, and so interminably against such adverse circumstances as the average individual would have submitted to sooner or later. Many may have thought so; the facts often indicated so; yet never in a true sense was Matthew Lyon an underling. His fierce spirit was supreme over material things. Even while an indentured servant …

The Career Of Edward Ward Carmack And The Cooper-Sharp Trial, Robert Franklin Crutcher

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The subject of this thesis was suggested to the writer in October 1931, by the History Department of the Western Kentucky State Teachers College. The writer at that time was considering a number of other subjects, but seeing that material could be located easily, and that the field suggested by the subject had not been covered, this subject was chosen. When much of the material had been located and examined it was clearly seen that the material in the field could be grouped under two heads and given this title, “Career of Edward Ward Carmack and the Cooper-Sharp Trial”.

Most …