Highlights Archives
Fighting Son: A New Biography from WHS Press
As a member of Wisconsin's most famous political family, Phil La Follette's political journey was unquestionably marked by the legacy of his father, Senator Robert La Follette. Like his father, Phil was fiery, confrontational and unwavering, and his efforts led to the passage of the country's first unemployment compensation act, aid programs for workers and farmers, and the reorganization of state government. His controversial effort to forge an alternative course of action to Roosevelt's New Deal was at once his greatest contribution to American politics and his greatest failure.
Fighting Son: A Biography of Philip F. La Follette, just released from Wisconsin Historical Society Press, is the first full biography of the three-term Wisconsin governor. Author Jonathan Kasparek examines La Follette's life from his politically charged childhood to his abandonment of politics in 1939 to pursue his own personal crusades. He details La Follette's role in Wisconsin's Progressive politics by exploring his path through political office, active duty in the Pacific, return to law practice, and the end of the Progressive Era. La Follette's story is one of continuing progressivism, of innovative solutions to social problems, and of loyalty to a political ethos that went far beyond love of country.
To learn more about Fighting Son, visit the Wisconsin Historical Museum's online store. Author Kasparek will appear at Barnes and Noble West in Madison at 7 p.m. on September 20th for a reading and book signing. Look for Kasparek at the Wisconsin Book Festival in October as well.
:: Posted September 8, 2006
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