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This course covers United States politics, political thought, and social movements since 1945. We will discuss pivotal elections and political figures (Truman, Nixon, Reagan) as well as politics from below (civil rights, labor, women’s activism). Emphasis will be placed on political ideas such as liberalism, conservatism, and radicalism and on the intersection between domestic politics and the Cold War.

COURSE CONTENT

• Twelve lectures
• Primary source readings to complement the lectures
• A certificate of completion for 15 hours of professional development credit

Readings: The suggested readings for each session will be listed in the “Resources” link on the course site. You are not required to read or purchase any print materials. The quizzes are based on the lectures.

Course Access: After your purchase, you may access your course by signing into the Gilder Lehrman website and clicking on the My Courses link, which can be found under My Account in the navigation menu.

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LEAD SCHOLAR: Beverly Gage

Beverly Gage is the John Lewis Gaddis Professor of History at Yale University. Her courses focus on American politics, government, and social movements of the twentieth century. She is the author of The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror, which examines the history of terrorism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on the 1920 Wall Street bombing. Her book, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Bancroft Prize in American History, among other awards. In addition to her teaching and research, she writes for numerous journals and magazines, including the New Yorker, New York Times, and Washington Post.