May 15, 2008 The Panama Canal Debates of the 1970s To Be Discussed at the Library on May 22

Political events in the United States often have unintended consequences for American politics and for the country as a whole. The long-term consequences of the Panama Canal debates of the 1970s will be examined by Adam Clymer, former chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, who discusses and signs his book, “Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right” at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C. Part of the Books & Beyond author series sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the program is free and open to the public. Considered one of America’s engineering marvels, the Panama Canal sparked intense debates in the 1970s over the decision to turn it over to Panama. Clymer shows how the decision to give up this monument of the “American Century” stirred emotions already rubbed raw by the loss of the Vietnam War and shaped American politics for years. Jimmy Carter made the Panama Canal his first foreign-policy priority and won the battle to ratify the treaties. However, the author reveals, the issue gave Ronald Reagan a slogan that kept his 1976 candidacy alive and positioned him to win in 1980, helped elect conservative senators and create a Republican majority, and fueled the overall growth of conservatism. Clymer’s narrative illuminates many aspects of American politics during the Ford and Carter years, offers insight into the “Reagan Revolution” and highlights an overlooked turning point in American political history. Clymer is author of “Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography” and co-author of “The Swing Voter in American Politics” and “Ronald Reagan: The Man, The President.” His writings have also appeared in the Nation, The New Republic and other journals. The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. The Center for the Book was created in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading. For information about its program, publications and reading promotion partnership networks, visit www.loc.gov/cfbook/.