To Face Down Dixie

In an era during which the United States Supreme Court handed down some of its most important decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Baker v. Carr (1962), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966), three senators from South Carolina—Olin Johnston, Strom Thurmond, and Ernest “Fritz” Hollings—waged war on the court’s progressive agenda by targeting the federal judicial nominations process. To Face Down Dixie explores these senators’ role in some of the most contentious confirmation battles i