In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU

By Samuel E. Walker

Book Overview

Throughout the 1988 Presidential campaign, George Bush drew cheers from supporters by attacking Michael Dukakis's membership in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization that he charged was out of the "mainstream" of American life. Indeed, throughout its history, the organization has championed some decidedly unpopular causes, including free speech rights for racist groups and due process for even the most vicious criminals.
But as Samuel Walker argues in his provocative new book--the first comprehensive history of the ACLU--the organization has played a leading role in shaping principles of individual freedom that are now a cornerstone of American law and the way all of us conceive of personal liberty. It has been involved in most of the Supreme Court's landmark cases expanding individual rights, and today argues more cases before the Court than anyone but the federal government. In fact, as American Liberties makes clear, the organization has played a central role in creating that mythical American "mainstream" that its opponents so often invoke.
In fascinating detail, Walker recounts the ACLU's stormy history since its founding in 1920 to fight for free speech. He explores its involvement in some of the most famous causes in American history, including the Scopes "Monkey Trial," the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the Cold War anti-Communist witch hunts, and the civil rights movement. And he examines its most famous personalities, such as its puritan and autocratic founder Roger Baldwin; Felix Frankfurter, a long-time member who later voted against many ACLU cases while a Supreme Court justice; and Morris Ernst, who won the landmark case involving James Joyce's Ulysses and led the ACLU to take up the cause of free expression for sexually-frank publications.
Walker deals candidly with the ACLU's less praiseworthy episodes--such as the expulsion of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn from the Board during the ACLU's anti-Communist phase, and he dissects the organization's constant struggle within itself to define the proper scope of civil liberties, revealing facts that will surprise even members of the ACLU.
As Walker's engrossing story demonstrates, the history of the ACLU embodies some of the most important changes in American society in the twentieth century. The principles for which the organization has fought--such as free speech, fair play, equality, and privacy--are now accepted and cherished by Americans from all walks of life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195045394
• ISBN13: 9780195045390
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A History of Why Americans Have Civil Liberties

Samuel Walker wrote IN DEFENSE OF AMERICAN LIBERTIES which is a good history of the ACLU which was started in 1920. Walker's book is an honest assessment of the ACLU including both the ACLU's successes and failures.Those who cherish their civil liberties will have a better appreciation of the work of the ACLU and those civil libertarians who demanded their rights via The Bill of Rights. Walker started this book by citing incidents of mob violence during the 19th. century. There were vigilante mobs who attacked those who were "different." Walker cited attacks on Catholics in an 1856 attack in Chaleston, SC led by "pillars of the community." As bad as these mob attacks were, they were sporadic and not sanctioned by the U.S. government as a matter of policy. According to Walker that changed with the entry of the U.S. into W.W. I. U.S. government officials "deputized" vigilante groups who conducted slacker raids against those who were not drafted or expressed dissent.Such high-handed violence was actually sanctioned by both state and federal government officials. Mr. Walker could have asked why those who conducted the slacker raids were not in the military themselves. An interesting anecdote concerned Roger Baldwin who helped found the ACLU. He resisted the draft, produced himself in court, and admitted what he did. Judge Julius Meyer stated he appreciated Baldwin's class, manners, and courage. The judge politely scolded Baldwin, but also told Baldwin that what was considered wrong in one historical era could be considered right and honorable later. Baldwin did well the short time he was in prison where he "converted" fellow prisoners and befriended the warden who was Irish and did not like the fact that U.S. forces were assisting the British. In dealing with political oppression during and immediately after W.W. I, ACLU spokesmen clearly stated that democracy and individual rights were NOT the same thing. In other words, magoritarian tyranny could suppress individual rights. For example, some of the dissenters who opposed U.S. entry into W.W. I were literally placed in concentration camps without formal charge and without due process often with public approval. Given this background, Some conscientious Americans actually believed that U.S. citizens should be free people and that the U.S. was actually a free country. The ACLU tried to assist Duquesne, Pennsylvania steel workers' rights to assemble in meeting halls. When Al Smith was governor of New York, he vetoed many stupid state laws. One of Pres. Harding's first official acts was to pardon Eugene Debs from a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia. Debs was convicted for exercising his First Amendment rights in opposing U.S. entry into W.W. I. As an aside, Debs' critics went to Europe and discovered that Debs was right after all. They were gracious upon their return to apologize to Debs and admit he was right. During the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan did well in the U.S. They exhibited polit

A Sprawling, Wonderful History of ACLU, Warts and All

Samuel Walker has created a wonderful book on the history of the ACLU, In Defense of American Liberties, that is a must for anyone concerned with the history of freedom of speech and the men and women who fought for them in America. This book shows the development from fringe to mainstream of the ideas shared by a group of people in the 1910's. The book is by no means hagiography as the darker moments of the ACLU are presented with clarity, such as their hounding and forcing out of Communist members simply for their beliefs. It is both very informative and truly entertaining. A wonderful book that demonstrates the importance the ACLU has had in the twentienth century shaping political ideas.