The Dynamic Dominion tells the dramatic story of Virginia's political transformation from the Second World War to the Reagan Revolution. The cradle of American democracy -- and thus of the democratic movement that is sweeping the globe today -- the venerable Old Dominion has emerged again in the second half of the 20th century as a dynamic political pace setter for the nation. In 1945, Virginia was a one-party, one-faction state under the aristocratic rule of conservative Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd and his famed 'Byrd organization.' From his perch as the uncontested leader of the state...

The Dynamic Dominion tells the dramatic story of Virginia's political transformation from the Second World War to the Reagan Revolution. The cradle of American democracy -- and thus of the democratic movement that is sweeping the globe today -- the venerable Old Dominion has emerged again in the second half of the 20th century as a dynamic political pace setter for the nation. In 1945, Virginia was a one-party, one-faction state under the aristocratic rule of conservative Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd and his famed "Byrd organization." From his perch as the uncontested leader of the state...

Virginia in the Vanguard continues the story, begun in the Dynamic Dominion, of Virginia's reemergence as a competitive, trend-setting state. In the 1980s, with Reagan's revolution underway in Washington, Democrats led by Chuck Robb and Doug Wilder, the nation's only African American elected governor, reclaimed the governor's mansion and focused attention on a centrist formula as a prescription for Democratic renewal nationally. In the 1990s, hard-charging Republican George Allen reversed the party's fortunes and propelled the GOP toward control of the state's legislature and both U.S. Senate...