Carry the South, control the White House. What the Democratic Party could once take for granted - a region so vast and unified that its vote in presidential elections is nothing short of decisive - Republicans now claim as their own. Examining this massive shift of electoral power, The Vital South explores the history, meaning, and ramifications of a Republican South in the realm of presidential politics. The Vital South looks back to the early republic and forward to the transformations of the 1990s. Combining political narrative, in-depth analysis, and telling anecdotes, the book aims to offer insight into both the dynamics of presidential campaigns within the South and the impact of the region on national elections. Earl and Merle Black, well-known authorities on southern politics, concentrate on elections since the Great Society epoch; they analyze the Nixon and Reagan years and the crucial 1988 election of George Bush, and measure them against the triumph of Jimmy Carter, the sole Democrat to break the long spell of Republicanism in southern domains. Closely observing presidential candidates as they court the South, the authors seek to illuminate party practices and clarify the meaning behind the rhetoric of campaign politics. Dixiecrats, Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, demographic shifts, urbanization, civil rights, desegregation, racial polarization, the re-emergence of conservative social and cultural values - all are part of this kaleidoscopic story.