The Rise of the Right

Join us for a conversation with former New York Times Washington Correspondent Adam Clymer, who will discuss his new book, Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right. Clymer argues that domination of the debate over the Panama Canal Treaties gave conservatives emotional appeal and helped build the foundation of the American conservative movement.

After the death of William Buckley, many pondered the origins of the modern conservative movement. But, most of this commentary emphasized the Reagan Administration's Cold War legacy, tax cuts, and market deregulation. In Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch, Clymer tells the story of the Panama Canal throughout the Ford, Carter, and Reagan years, and explains how political divisions that surrounded it divided American politics for decades to come.

Clymer is the winner of numerous awards, including the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress and the Carey McWilliams Award from the American Political Science Association.

Copies of Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch will be sold at the event.

Participants

• Adam Clymer
  Former Washington Correspondent, The New York Times
  Author, Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch

• Steve Clemons
  Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation
  Publisher, www.TheWashingtonNote.com