Book Reviews : The End of Innocence: A Suburban Reader. Edited by CHARLES M. HAAR. (Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1972. Pp. 271. $2.95.) / North American Suburbs: Politics, Diversity and Change. Edited by JOHN KRAMER. (Berkeley: Glendessary, 1972. Pp. 330. $7.95.) / Suburbia in Transition. Edited by LOUIS H. MASOTTI and JEFFREY K. HADDEN. (New York: New Viewpoints, 1974. Pp. 345. $3.95.) / On the City's Rim: Politics and Policy in Suburbia. By FREDERICK M. WIRT, BENJAMIN WALTER, FRANCINE F. RABINOVITZ and DEBORAH R. HENSLER. (Lex ington: D. C. Heath, 1972. Pp. 252. $3.95.)

• Author: Gerald L. Houseman
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• Date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591297402700419
• Subject Matter: Articles

746

As

President

and

leader

of

the

Republican

party

Taft

wanted

to

maintain

a

united

and

effective

party.

He

believed

in

responsible

party

government.

But

the

growing

progressive

movement

with

its

intensely

ideological

nature

and

a

man

so

principled

as

Taft

soon

came

into

conflict.

At

first,

he

tried

to

work

with

both

sides

but

eventually

he

attempted

to

rid

the

party

of

the

extreme

progressives.

Much

of

Taft’s

problems

as

party

leader,

and

as

president,

were

made

more

difficult

because

of

Theodore

Roosevelt,

his

one-time

friend

and

later

most

severe

critic

and

political

enemy.

Taft

was

chained

to

TR

and

the

popular

expectations

he

had

created

about

the

presidency.

He

did

continue

many

of

the Roosevelt

policies

and

he

achieved

some

successes

of

his

own.

The

falling

out

between

the

two

is

well

told

in

the

chapter

detailing

Taft’s

experiences

as

Chief

of

Party.

The

final

split

between

the

two

and

Taft’s

disastrous

defeat

in

the

1912

election

is

related.

Disheartened

by

the

unfolding

events

Taft

did

not

campaign

after

receiv-

ing

the

nomination

in

the

bitter

convention

fight.

Dismayed

by

it

all

he

said,

&dquo;The

Republican

party

needs

the

discipline

of

defeat.&dquo;

Only

by

this

method

of

a purify-

ing

defeat

did

he

feel

that

the

Republican

party

would

be

saved.

Mr.

Anderson

has

done

a

fine

thorough

job

and

what

emerges

is

an

authorita-

tive

objective

presentation.

The

personal

papers

of

Taft

were

made

available

to

the

public

in

1960

and

Mr.

Anderson

has

made

full

use

of

them.

The

author

has

fully

mastered

his

sources.

Here

is

a

balanced

and

fair

assessment

that

is

a

contri-

bution

to

the

literature

of

the

Progressive

Era - the

story

of Taft’s

years

as

President.

California

State

University

at

Los

Angeles

TULLY

E.

WARREN

The

End

of

Innocence:

A

Suburban

Reader.

Edited

by

CHARLES

M.

HAAR.

(Glenview:

Scott,

Foresman,

1972.

Pp.

271.

$2.95.)

North

American

Suburbs:

Politics,

Diversity

and

Change.

Edited

by

JOHN

KRAMER.

(Berkeley:

Glendessary,

1972.

Pp.

330.

$7.95.)

Suburbia

in

Transition.

Edited

by

LOUIS

H.

MASOTTI

and

JEFFREY

K.

HADDEN.

(New

York:

New

Viewpoints,

1974.

Pp. 345.

$3.95.)

On

the

City’s

Rim:

Politics

and

Policy

in

Suburbia.

By

FREDERICK

M.

WIRT,

BEN-

JAMIN

WALTER,

FRANCINE

F.

RABINOVITZ

and

DEBORAH

R.

HENSLER.

(Lex-

ington:

D.

C.

Heath,

1972.

Pp. 252.

$3.95.)

The

Supreme

Court

decision

in

Bradley

v.

Milliken,

the

Detroit

busing

case,

has

dramatically

focused

attention

upon

one

of

America’s

most

important

and

perennial

problems

-

the

suburbs.

Unless

suburban

resistance

can

be

attacked

through

a

new

approach

or

framing

of

the

issue,

an

option

the

Court

presumably

left

open,

the

effects

of

Bradley

will

be

an

intensification

of

the

&dquo;Algerian

ring&dquo;

dilemma

and

a

further

polarization

of

black

central

cities

and

the

white

suburbs

which

surround

them.