Yellow Dogs

Allan Shivers served as the governor of Texas from 1949 until 1957. Not only did his tenure represent a transformational time in Texan politics and culture; Shivers practically catalyzed the changes himself, according to Dobbs in Yellow Dogs and Republicans. Texas had been a staunchly Southern Democratic State. Like other Southern States, Texas held long-entrenched ideals of White Supremacy, racism, and patriarchy. Conservative Southern politics changed at first due to the Great Depression and the government's response to it. In particular, President Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped Texans to mitigate the mire of the Great Depression via essential programs and social services. Southerners started to appreciate federal funding for their woes. However, the differences between old and new ways of life in Texas started to reveal a rift developing in the society that could only be solved by diversifying the political landscape. Dobbs claims that Allan Shivers capitalized...
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