Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper will argue that Harry Truman’s decision to recognize Israel fits into a classical realist framework for diplomatic recognition. It will first establish a classical realist theory of recognition using the work of E.H. Carr, Hans J. Morgenthau,

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In the historiography on the Cold War, a common assertion is that the Truman administration had to use overheated rhetoric to shock the public into supporting its containment policy. Ideological excess aside, however, what stands out about the Cold War is the relatively forthright way in which the Truman administration escalated the conflict. One finds few of the evasions and distortions that characterize American entry into World War II or Vietnam. The argument of this paper is that the administration was able to wage the Cold War honestly because, in contrast with the latter cases, it was not looking to provoke a fight with its adversary. However aggressive its containment strategy, it was the Soviet side that made the first overt move by giving the green light to the Korean War. Responding to what was widely seen as blatant aggression, Truman was able to deploy forces to Korea with little pushback from Congress or the public, even though he had failed to consult with them. Indeed, popular fears of a �garrison state� gave way to a massive military buildup and stronger commitments to NATO. If Truman had to contend with any opinion problem at the time, it was not isolationist sentiment but its opposite, as 1950 marked the high tide of preventive war agitation. In all these ways, the case attests to the political advantages of absorbing the first blow, advantages that Roosevelt and Johnson had to do largely without as they were mobilizing support for war.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the role of the Truman administration in the early development of fair housing policy in the United States based on archival documents from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and National Archives II.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the post World War II development of a civil rights “support structure” for plaintiffs. Previous scholarship, such as Charles Epp's, The Rights Revolution, has highlighted the importance of a litigation support structure for the growth of civil rights litigation. In this paper, I plan to build on this work by focusing my archival research on the records of the Committee on Civil Rights. _x000d__x000d_In addition, I examine the views of the NAACP, the ACLU, and other leading civil rights groups, concerning the advantages of plaintiff-led civil rights suits compared with DOJ enforcement of criminal violations.