In the 1950s, Milwaukee's strong union movement and socialist mayor seemed to embody a dominant liberal consensus that sought to continue and expand the New Deal. Tula Connell explores how business interests and political conservatives arose to undo that consensus, and how the resulting clash both shaped a city and helped redefine postwar American politics. Connell focuses on Frank Zeidler, the city's socialist mayor. Zeidler's broad concept of the public interest at times defied even liberal expectations. At the same time, a resurgence of conservatism with roots presaging twentieth-century politics challenged his initiatives in public housing, integration, and other areas. As Connell shows, conservatives created an anti-progressive game plan that included a well-funded media and PR push; an anti-union assault essential to the larger project of delegitimizing any government action; opposition to civil rights; and support from a suburban silent majority. In the end, the campaign undermined notions of the common good essential to the New Deal order. It also sowed the seeds for grassroots conservatism's more extreme and far-reaching future success.| Cover Title Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. A Liberal in City Government 2. The Media Makes the Message 3. Public or Private? The Battle over Channel 10 4. Let the People Vote 5. Race, Class, Free Enterprise, and Suburbia 6. Collective Action and the Threat to Free Enterprise 7. Public Interest vs. Public Employees Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index | "Conservative Counterrevolution will make a significant impact upon the historical profession and the public at large. This is a great book."—Andrew E. Kersten, author of Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast

"The story Connell tells is eerily relevant... Tula Connell has written an important work. This is an outstanding piece of historical research, and should serve as a model for those interested in municipal history in all its nuances."—The Independent Scholar

"A history that has been hiding in plain sight... Connell's book is a vital study of the roots of modern American conservatism."—In These Times

"Connell's account is readable and sound. Recommended." —Choice

"Conservative Counterrevolution is an essential volume of Milwaukee history."—Shepherd Express

"This book provides valuable background for labor educators and those in the labor studies field. . . . The themes and elements of this case study narrative contain clear and discussion-worthy connections to larger historical trends and forces in U.S. society that are immensely relevant today."—Labor Studies Journal

|Tula Connell is a labor writer and historian living in Washington, D.C.