This 5 page paper is a book report on Lisa McGirr's book, Suburban Warriors. Chronicles the rise of middle class activism in the 1960's and its impact on right wing power. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_MBgirr.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
a sense of duty. For others it is a way of life. But for those who lived in Orange County, California, it was fear that drove the activism. In Lisa
McGirrs book, Suburban Warriors, the pivotal moment that sparked off the organized and mobile activism in this smaller California suburb in the sixties is examined. Most history books do
not mention any group called the birchers but they should be mentioned. According to McGirr, Jonn Birch and others were significant factors in the revamping of the Republican party in
1964. Like a carefully constructed house of cards, the John Birch event kicked off a series of compounding events which eventually led to Barry Goldwaters presidential bid, as well as
the election of Ronald Regan (a few years later) as Californias governor. McGirr goes on to show how those who led the serious movements toward
activism were not hippies or beatniks but were ordinary citizens, who feared communist overthrow. This sounds foreign to more modern ears, but during that period in history Sputnik had placed
an unreasonable fear into the hearts and minds of every American citizen. This unreasoning fear coupled with disposable income made this rising and mobile middle to upper class citizenry a
force to reckon with. During this period in history, of course, America was enjoying an economic boom that the rest of the world was
envious of. Having suffered only minimal damage from World War II, America prospered heavily from the restructuring of the European front and the attention that was paid toward technological developments.
It was this technological fervor that, in part, fueled the development of John Birch societies throughout California. What, in particular, makes Orange County such