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The Politics of Presidential Appointment NewSouth Books Historian and former university president Sheldon Hackney recounts how he became an unwitting combatant in the Culture Wars when his nomination to become Bill Clinton's chairman of the National Endowment of the Humanities came under fire from right-wing conservatives. Hackney meticulously describes the background of ideological maneuvering that was behind not only the attacks on him but also the fierce campaign to bring down Clinton. He says, "I believe my story illustrates how the Culture War and the current media environment combine to polarize discussion until the public has no chance to understand complex issues. Not only are moderates trampled underfoot, but the great gray areas where life is actually lived, the areas of ambiguity and tradeoffs between competing values, are rendered toxic to human habitation. This is not healthy for a democracy."
Reviews “Sheldon Hackney tells a troubling tale of how easily a small clique of right-wingers spun truth into lies, manipulated the mainstream media, and poisoned the debate in the U.S. Senate for its own ideological purposes. Happily, in this case the good guy (Hackney) took on the conservative labyrinth and won.” “Read this engrossing account of Sheldon Hackney’s disemboweling by the Wall Street Journal and the other “true believers” of the conservative establishment media, and you’ll begin to understand why so many Americans of merit, liberal or conservative, are unwilling to drop what they’re doing and come to Washington to serve their country. They’re reluctant to put themselves through the too-often ugly process of confirmation by an excessively partisan Congress.” “A brilliant and readable memoir about politics by an honest non-politician who was caught in the crossfire of a confirmation battle that was part of a culture war. Understanding that the controversy was not about him, Hackney tells the story in a self-effacing, entertaining and compelling manner. A must-read for all Americans who wonder why so few people with Hackney’s credentials are willing to chance a confirmation fight." “Welcome to Planet of the Apes meets Advise and Consent. It’s Newt Gingrich’s Washington, where one of America’s most distinguished scholars and university presidents is transformed into a tribal sacrifice in the neoconservative culture war. Sheldon Hackney’s harrowing and gripping memoir of this bloody political ritual is an essential historical document of a time of primitive madness in the capital.”
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