Politics and society in twentieth-century America

From the Publisher: Whether kids love or hate the food served there, the American school lunchroom is the stage for one of the most popular yet flawed social welfare programs in our nation's history. School Lunch Politics covers this complex and fascinating part of American culture, from its origins in early twentieth-century nutrition science, through the establishment of the National School Lunch Program in 1946, to the transformation of school meals into a poverty program during the 1970s and 1980s.

Examines the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81--during which over fifty Americans were held captive by Iranian militants for 444 days--and the events that led to it, comparing America's actions in the Middle East in the 1970s and early 1980s with its actions there in the early twenty-first century.

Discusses philanthropy in America with examples such as John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Bill Gates, and the Red Cross.

Examines how free-market capitalism has influenced wealth creation and political and cultural democracy in the United States in the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century.

Examines how trade unionism has influenced America's political and moral beliefs, among both devoted partisans and intransigent foes.