Book talk with Michael Kazin, author of “What it Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party”

Date: 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: 

Virtual event, registration required

Join the Ash Center for an online book talk with Michael Kazin, author of “What it Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party” (Macmillan, 2022). Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School will serve as moderator.

About the Book   

In What It Took to Win, the eminent historian Michael Kazin identifies and assesses the party’s long-running commitment to creating “moral capitalism”—a system that mixed entrepreneurial freedom with the welfare of workers and consumers. And yet the same party that championed the rights of the white working man also vigorously protected or advanced the causes of slavery, segregation, and Indian removal. As the party evolved towards a more inclusive egalitarian vision, it won durable victories for Americans of all backgrounds. But it also struggled to hold together a majority coalition and advance a persuasive agenda for the use of government.

About the Author

Michael Kazin is a Professor in the Department of History. He is an expert in U.S. politics and social movements, 19th and 20th centuries. His most recent book is "War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918" (Simon and Schuster, 2017) which was named an Editor's Choice by the New York Times Book Review and was awarded the Elise M. Boulding Prize for the best book in peace history by the Peace History Society. His previous books include "American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation" (Knopf, 2011), which was named a Best Book of 2011 by The New Republic, Newsweek/Daily Beast, and The Progressive.

Virtual Event Recording