Children of the silent majority : young voters and the rise of the Republican Party, 1968-1980
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Our image of youth in the late 1960s is one of radical left-wing opponents of the Vietnam War who were implacably opposed to the Nixon administration. And yet Richard Nixon and the Republican Party spent a good bit of time and money cultivating the youth vote, forming a cadre of young conservatives who would support his election and, in many cases, eventually be the foot-soldiers in the Reagan revolution. In this book Seth Blumenthal tells the story of Nixon's efforts to foster the development of young conservatives. With the passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, the voting age in this country dropped to 18, creating a large number of new, young voters. Contrary to what some have argued, Blumenthal shows that Nixon actively sought support among young voters and describes an elaborate grass roots campaign that succeeded in attracting many youth to the Republican Party. He tells us who these people were, what they believed in, and to what extent they stuck with the Republican Party after Watergate. Finally, he shows how the methods Nixon used were later employed by the Republican Party in support of Ronald Reagan"--,Provided by publisher.