In our final episode on the first GOP governor of Florida since Reconstruction, Claude Kirk. Kirk’s flamboyant style got him attention as a national political star in the late 1960’s. But three particular actions he takes will trap him and make his future difficult. Music by Lee Rosevere and Revolution Void from Free Music Archive….
Month: May 2023
Florida Man: The Go-Go Governorship of Claude Kirk – Part II: “Boo Me!”
In his first and second years as an improbable GOP Governor in the South in the 1960’s Kirk, tries out a new type of politics, at least new to the Sunshine State: confrontation. Equally with protestors, strikers, and polluters, he confronts them straight on. He also makes a miscalculation that will hurt his rep at…
Florida Man: The Go-Go Governorship of Claude Kirk
In the late 1960’s the first GOP governor of Florida since Reconstruction found himself elected with no support in the legislature. He had only a microphone and so he used direct confrontation, insults, press-bashing and other tactics to get elected and get his way. Rather than let things be he took on left-wing hippies and…
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics 