xiii, 479 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm

Throughout the 1988 Presidential campaign, George Bush drew cheers from supporters by attacking Michael Dukakis's membership in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization that he charged was out of the "mainstream" of American life. Indeed, throughout its history, the organization has championed some decidedly unpopular causes, including free speech rights for racist groups and due process for even the most vicious criminals. But as Samuel Walker argues in his provocative new book--the first comprehensive history of the ACLU--the organization has played a leading role in shaping principles of individual freedom that are now a cornerstone of American law and the way all of us conceive of personal liberty. It has been involved in most of the Supreme Court's landmark cases expanding individual rights, and today argues more cases before the Court than anyone but the federal government. In fact, as American Liberties makes clear, the organization has played a central role in creating that mythical American "mainstream" that its opponents so often invoke. In fascinating detail, Walker recounts the ACLU's stormy history since its founding in 1920 to fight for free speech. He explores its involvement in some of the most famous causes in American history, including the Scopes "Monkey Trial," the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the Cold War anti-Communist witch hunts, and the civil rights movement. And he examines its most famous personalities, such as its puritan and autocratic founder Roger Baldwin; Felix Frankfurter, a long-time member who later voted against many ACLU cases while a Supreme Court justice; and Morris Ernst, who won the landmark case involving James Joyce's Ulysses and led the ACLU to take up the cause of free expression for sexually-frank publications. Walker deals candidly with the ACLU's less praiseworthy episodes--such as the expulsion of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn from the Board during the ACLU's anti-Communist phase, and he dissects the organization's constant struggle within itself to define the proper scope of civil liberties, revealing facts that will surprise even members of the ACLU

Includes bibliographical references (pages 449-452) and index

ACLU, civil liberties, and American life: Revolution in American life -- What is the ACLU? -- What is a civil liberty? Origins, 1917-1919: War, repression, and the origins of the free speech fight, 1917-1918 -- "Jails are waiting for them." -- War and repression -- Birth of the Civil Liberties Bureau -- Fight for civil liberty, 1917-1918 -- Free speech in the Supreme Court -- Roger Baldwin and the founding of the ACLU: Baldwin to the fore -- Boston: the roots of reform -- St. Louis: Social work and social reform -- Making of a radical -- Red scare -- Birth of the ACLU -- Lean years, 1920-1932: Civil liberties in the wilderness,1920-1924: Launching of the fight for free speech -- Civil liberties campaigns -- Free speech for everyone? the test of principle -- Inside the ACLU -- Civil liberties at mid-decade -- First victories, 1925-1932: Scopes, the great "Monkey Trial" -- Victory in Paterson -- Breakthrough in the Supreme Court -- New horizons for freedom of expression -- ACLU expands -- Vindication -- Advances and retreats, 1933-1945: New Deal revolution in civil liberties -- Cultural politics and civil liberties -- Wagner Act revolution -- Storm over the Supreme Court -- End of an era -- International currents: Origins of the Cold War: Free speech for Nazis? -- ACLU and the popular front -- Cold War begins -- Crisis in the ACLU -- Civil liberties after twenty years -- Civil liberties in the age of world war, 1941-1945: Preparing for war -- America's concentration camps -- Draft and conscientious objectors -- Freedom of speech in wartime -- Simmering of the Cold War -- New horizons in civil rights -- ACLU at age twenty-five -- American Inquisition: The Cold War: Anti-Communist crusade begins, 1947-1950: Age of suspicion -- Federal loyalty program -- HUAC resurgent -- Smashing the Communist Party: The Smith Act cases -- Compelling conformity: Loyalty oath mania -- FBI and the ACLU -- Public opinion and the ACLU -- McCarthyism and recovery, 1950-1954: McCarthyism -- McCarran Act -- Fifth Amendment communists -- Upheaval in the ACLU -- 1954: Beginning of the end -- Great years, 1954-1964: First amendment as an absolute: Warren Court's constitutional law revolution -- "Wall of separation": Church-state controversy -- Expanding boundaries of freedom of expression -- Revolution in equality and due process: Civil rights revolution and its consequences -- Dismantling the Cold War -- Police misconduct and the due process revolution -- Due process revolution continued -- Rights of labor union members -- Redrawing the political map: Apportionment revolution -- Rights revolution, 1964-1974: "Generation no one knew was there" -- Cutting edge: Southern civil rights movement -- Turning point for the ACLU -- Chuck Morgan and the Southern Regional Office -- Impact of the civil rights movement -- From Vietnam to Watergate: Civil liberties and national security, 1965-1974: War, dissent and the First Amendment -- Unconstitutional war? -- Nixon years: From the Pentagon Papers to Watergate -- Watergate: the greatest constitutional crisis in American history -- Aftermath: From Watergate to Contragate -- New Civil Liberties: Enclaves and victim groups -- Privacy revolution -- Abortion rights -- Women's rights -- Legal assault on the enclaves -- New ACLU and its critics -- Holding the line, 1975-1990: Skokie: Crisis and recovery -- Skokie: " Classic First Amendment case" -- More troubles: ACLU "tested" -- ACLU reorganizes -- ACLU in a time of transition -- Reagan Era's assault on civil liberties: Conservative revolt -- Religion and the schools -- Fight for abortion rights -- Censorship wars -- Assault on civil rights -- War on crime -- Reagan and the national security state -- Reagan years: a civil liberties balance sheet -- Bicentennial, Bork and Bush: 1987-1988: Bicentennial year -- Debate over the constitution -- Battle over Bork -- "Card-carrying member of the ACLU" -- ACLU at seventy

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