The Austin/Boston Connection: Five Decades of House Democratic Leadership, 1937-1989 - Softcover

." . . describes the contests for party leadership positions in the words of the contestants and their contemporaries. . ."-Barry S./P>--Barry S. Rundquist "University of Chicago " ." . . a noteworthy and serious study of the leadership structure in Congress. . . ."-Patrick Cox, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin--Patrick Cox "Center for American History, University of Texas "

For the more than fifty years that Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, leadership was divided between Massachusetts and Texas. When the Speaker was from Texas (or nearby Oklahoma), the Majority Leader was from the Boston area, and when the Speaker was from Boston, the Majority Leader was from Texas. The Austin-Boston Connection analyzes the importance of the friendships (especially mentor-protégé relationships) and enmities within congressional delegations, regional affinities, and the lynchpin practice of appointing the Democratic Whip. ANTHONY M. CHAMPAGNE is a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. DOUGLAS B. HARRIS is an associate professor at Loyola University in Maryland. JAMES W. RIDDLESPERGER JR. is a professor at Texas Christian University. GARRISON NELSON is a professor at the University of Vermont. All are political scientists.