NEWS

By JENA WITTKAMP
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL - Political analyst, author and commentator Kevin Phillips will discuss "The New Politics of Wealth and Democracy" in a free public lecture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill March 18.

Phillips wrote "The Emerging Republican Majority" (Arlington House, 1969), which foresaw many changes in America’s political climate. In 1993, the New York Times Book Review said of Phillips: "Through more than 25 years of analysis and prediction, nobody has been as transcendentally right about the outlines of American political change."

His most recent book, "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit Under the House of Bush" (Viking Penguin, 2004), is on The New York Times best-seller list.

"He’s one of our most interesting political commentators and brings to his outlook a wealth of experience in the political arena," said Dr. John McGowan, an English professor and chair of the Weil lecture committee. "His lecture is geared to this year’s presidential campaign but with the hope of opening up a wider perspective on today’s issues in relation to the history of American politics."

The lecture, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hanes Art Center Auditorium, will be this year’s Weil Lecture on American Citizenship at UNC. The lecture, begun in 1915, is permanently endowed by the Weil family of Goldsboro. This year’s lecture was organized by UNC’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities.

Phillips will answer questions and sign copies of his books after the lecture. The books will be available for purchase in the foyer of the auditorium before and after the lecture.

Educated at Colgate University, the University of Edinburgh and Harvard Law School, Phillips was the chief political and elections analyst for the Republican presidential campaign in 1968 and served as special assistant to the U.S. attorney general for 13 months beginning in 1969. He resigned after the publication of his landmark book, "The Emerging Republican Majority," to become a newspaper columnist and later a broadcast commentator.

Phillips was editor and publisher of the American Political Report from 1971-1998. From 1984 to 1996, he was an elections commentator for CBS Television News. Phillips is a periodic contributor to National Public Radio (since 1983) and the Los Angeles Times (since 1984) and an occasional contributor to Time and Harper’s Magazine.

Among his books are "The Politics of Rich and Poor" (Random House, 1990), "Wealth and Democracy" (Broadway, 2002) and "William McKinley" (Times Books, 2003). His eighth book, "The Cousins’ Wars: Religion, Politics and the Triumph of Anglo-America" (Basic Books, 1999) was a finalist for that year’s Pulitzer Prize for history.

Past Weil lecturers include former Presidents William Howard Taft and Jimmy Carter, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, former U.S. Solicitor Gen. Walter Dellinger, former N.C. Gov. James Martin, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Juanita Kreps and National Book award-winning author Johnathan Kozol.

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(Wittkamp, of Raleigh, is a December 2003 UNC graduate, with degrees in women’s studies and journalism and mass communication.)

Contact: Dr. John McGowan, 919-962-4022, jpm@email.unc.edu

News Services Contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589 or laura_toler@unc.edu