"This valuable book illuminates Spiro Agnew?s role in the genesis of the modern Republican Party. The shift of upwardly mobile white ethnic Americans into the GOP, starting in the 1960s, has been crucial to the party's emergence as a conservative populist juggernaut. The authors show expertly how Agnew's career dramatized that shift."
Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics
[A] thoughtful, deeply researched and considered analysis of the evolution of the modern Republican Party, and the central role in that transformation played by Vice President Agnew.
Washington Times
Spiro T. Agnew was a reactionary comet who streaked across the American political firmament. Vice-President to Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973, when Agnew resigned in disgrace, he is now almost completely unremembered.... Republican Populist recaptures Agnew?s moment and makes the case for his lasting significance.
New York Labor History
In Republican Populist, a trio of academics?Charles J. Holden, Zach Messitte and Jerald Podair?argue that Agnew warrants scholarly reconsideration, not because they see anything positive in his legacy but because they observes similarities between Agnew?s style and thrust and those of the current president.
Skillfully drawing on Agnew?s archival papers, the authors show that his serrated rhetorical style dated to his earliest political forays.
Wall Street Journal
Republican Populist traces the emergence of the dramatic shift in America from Goldwater to Trump. It is argued with clarity and a confidence which renders the book significant. As Trump heads out for his next rally, no doubt the spirit of Spiro Agnew will be with him on the dais.
The Spectator
