Whistling Dixie

“For anyone who wants to understand how reactionary populism took root in the Republican Party, Jonathan Bartho’s Whistling Dixie is required reading. Bartho’s history of white southerners’ tempestuous love affair with Ronald Reagan explains the GOP’s southern ascendency, the Republican Party’s ongoing fight between economic libertarians and ‘America First’ populists, as well as the social conservatism that has only deepened its hold over the GOP’s base.”—David Farber, author of The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism: A Short History

“Accessible, engaging, and frequently insightful, Jonathan Bartho’s Whistling Dixie is a surprisingly fresh contribution to the tidal wave of literature that has been produced on the rise of modern American conservatism over the past three decades. By acutely focusing on Ronald Reagan’s relationship with the white South—before and during his presidency—Bartho says something new about the reciprocal nature of ideological and cultural politics. More simply, this is a story about how Reagan changed the South and how the South changed the Republican Party. If you think you already know this story, think again.”—Sean Cunningham, author of Bootstrap Liberalism: Texas Political Culture in the Age of FDR, and Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right, and American Politics in the Postwar Sunbelt: Conservative Growth in a Battleground Region

“Jonathan Bartho’s Whistling Dixie offers a nuanced, even-handed analysis of a controversial topic and presents a compelling argument that the relationship between Reagan and white southerners was more complicated and contentious than political historians have often assumed. This thoughtful and informative book not only sheds new light on the politics of the 1980s but also gives readers the historical background to understand why the Republican Party eventually abandoned Reagan’s ideology and endorsed the politics of Donald Trump.”—Daniel K. Williams, author of God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right