Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-285) and index.

The day they drove old Dixie down -- The incongruities of reform : rights-centered liberalism and legal realism in the early New Deal years -- FDR's constitutional vision and the defeat of the court-packing plan : the modern presidency and the enemies of institutional reform -- Approving legislation for the people, preserving liberties--almost rewriting laws : the politics of creating the Roosevelt court -- A constitutional purge : Southern democracy, lynch law, and the Roosevelt Justice Department -- The commitment continues : Truman, Eisenhower, and the civil rights decisions -- The road the court trod.

Many have questioned FDR's record on race, suggesting that he had the opportunity but not the will to advance the civil rights of African Americans. Kevin J. McMahon challenges this view, arguing instead that Roosevelt's administration played a crucial role in the Supreme Court's increasing commitment to racial equality--which culminated in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. McMahon shows how FDR's attempt to strengthen the presidency and undermine the power of conservative Southern Democrats dovetailed with his efforts to seek racial equality through the federal courts. By ap.

Description based on print version record.