Professor Matt Dallek

Professor Matt Dallek is a political historian whose intellectual interests include the intersection of social crises and political transformation, the evolution of the modern conservative movement, and liberalism and its critics. Dallek has authored or co-authored four books including, most recently, Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right (Basic Books, 2023); Defenseless Under the Night: The Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security (Oxford University Press, 2016), which won the Henry Adams prize from the Society for History in the Federal Government; The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan’s First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics (Oxford University Press, 2004), which appeared on the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune’s annual best-of lists; and Inside Campaigns: Elections through the Eyes of Political Professionals (co-authored; CQ/Sage, 2016), which the American Library Association’s Choice magazine selected as one of its 2016 “outstanding academic titles.”

Books in order of publication:

The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan’s First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics (Oxford University Press, 2004)

Inside Campaigns: Elections through the Eyes of Political Professionals (co-authored; CQ/Sage, 2016)

Defenseless Under the Night: The Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security (Oxford University Press, 2016)

Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right – 2023