About the Author

Kevin J. McMahon is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the State University of New York, Fredonia.

Reviews

"[McMahon] argues that Roosevelt worked to advance the civil rights cause through the two institutional means he had at his disposal in the face of entrenched segregationist power in Congress. These were the presidency itself, which FDR consistently sought to strengthen at Congress's expense, and his executive ability to nominate judges to the federal bench. McMahon's treatment of both is skillful, as he adds innovative use of evidence to theoretical tools developed in political science."--Gerard Alexander "Virginia Quarterly Review" (6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM)

"[McMahon] presents a wealth of information demonstrating that Roosevelt's record of judicial and executive appointments as well as his policy initiatives were instrumental in creating the political climate from which the Brown decision emerged."-- "Journal of Blacks in Higher Education"

"McMahon's compelling and provocative book aggressively interrogates the conventional wisdom on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's civil rights legacy. . . . The book dissects Rooseveltian hagiography, revealing a profoundly nuanced causal chain connecting the failure of the first New Deal to the Warren Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education."--Benjamin Ponder "Rhetoric & Public Affairs"

"McMahon successfully employs a presidency-centered focus to link elected officials and judicial activism on behalf of the powerless. McMahon maintains that Brown v. Board of Education was as rooted in decisions made by the Roosevelt Administration as in the litigation campaign against segregated schools."--Mark A, Graber "AR Reviews in Advance"