{"product_id":"great-plains-politics-9780803290716","title":"Great Plains Politics","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Great Plains has long been home to unconventional and leading-edge politics, from the fiery Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan to the country's first female U.S. representative and first female governor to the nation's only single-house state legislature. \u003ci\u003eGreat Plains Politics\u003c\/i\u003e provides a lively tour of the Great Plains region through the civic and political contributions of its citizens, demonstrating the importance of community in the region. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreat Plains Politics\u003c\/i\u003e profiles six men and women who had a profound impact on the civic and community life of the Great Plains: Wilma Mankiller, the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and a political activist at both the local and the national levels; Virginia Smith, an educator from Nebraska who served as a U.S. representative in Congress; Junius Groves, an African American farmer and community builder from Kansas; George McGovern, a South Dakota senator whose 1972 presidential campaign galvanized widespread grassroots support; Robert Dole, a Kansas congressman and longtime senator as well as the Republican candidate for U.S. president in 1988; and Harriet Elizabeth Byrd, the first African American elected as a state representative in Wyoming. \u003cbr\u003e The lives of these individuals illustrate the robust and enduring civic and community involvement of inhabitants of the Great Plains and presage a hopeful continuation of its storied political tradition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeter J. Longo\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He is coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Nebraska State Constitution: A Reference Guide\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSecond Edition\u003c\/i\u003e (Nebraska, 2009). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bison Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50413091684626,"sku":"9780803290716","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1aa42b30-37e1-4c6c-a524-830b2daea8b1.jpg?v=1729345887","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/great-plains-politics-9780803290716","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}