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The Making of a Southern Democracy: North Carolina Politics from Kerr Scott to Pat McCrory. By Tom Eamon. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Pp. [xiv], 402. $39.95, ISBN 978-1-4696-0697-2.)
In The Making of a Southern Democracy : North Carolina Politics from Kerr Scott to Pat McCrory, Tom Eamon's purpose is to analyze North Carolina's political development since World War II. He succeeds masterfully. Eamon sets out four themes: the transition from the dominance of white supremacy to the contemporary era of "participatory democracy," the gradual development of two-party competition with clear ideological divisions, the significance of elections, and the importance of candidates and political leaders (p. 1).
Despite their commitment to white supremacy and segregation, North Carolina's leaders cultivated a progressive image for the state in the midtwentieth century. One of Eamon's greatest strengths is his exploration of this hypocrisy and its impact on the state's politics and development. In the 1960 Democratic primary, for example, Terry Sanford, a moderate, defeated I. Beverly Lake, a hardline segregationist. Sanford claimed his moderation was the best defense...