1034 ★ CHAPTER 26 The Triumph of Conservatism
plan mainly as a way of fighting inflation by weakening the power of the build-
ing trades unions. Their control over the labor market, he believed, pushed
wages to unreasonably high levels, raising the cost of construction. And, he cal-
culated, if the plan caused dissension between blacks and labor unions— two
pillars of the Democratic coalition— Republicans could only benefit.
Trade unions of skilled workers like plumbers and electricians, which had
virtually no black members, strongly opposed the Philadelphia Plan. After a
widely publicized incident in May 1970, when a group of construction work-
ers assaulted antiwar demonstrators in New York City, Nixon suddenly decided
that he might be able to woo blue- collar workers in preparation for his 1972
reelection campaign. He soon abandoned the Philadelphia Plan in favor of an
ineffective one that stressed voluntary local efforts toward minority hiring
instead of federal requirements.
The Burger Court
When Earl Warren retired as chief justice in 1969, Nixon appointed Warren
Burger, a federal court- of- appeals judge, to succeed him. An outspoken critic
of the “judicial activism” of the Warren Court— its willingness to expand old
2010 19901950 190018501790WASHINGTONOREGON
IDAHOMONTANAWYOMING
NEVADA
CALIFORNIAUTAHARIZONA NEW MEXICOCOLORADOOKLAHOMATEXAS LOUISIANAARKANSASNEBRASKAKANSASDASOUTHKOTADANORKOTHTA
MINNESOTA
WISCONSINIOWAMISSOURIILLINOISINDIANAMICHIGANMISSISSIPPIALABAMAGEORGIAFLORIDACARSOUTHOLINACARNOROLINATH
TENNESSEEKENTUCKY VIRGINIA WESTVIRGINIAOHIOPENNSYLVANIAYORKNEWVERMONTHAMPSHIRENEWMASSACHUSETTSMAINERHODEISLAND
CONNECTICUT
NEW JERSEY
DELAWARE
MARYLANDCANADAHAWAII
ALASKA
200+%100–199%50–99% Center of P 17 90–2010opulation,
25–49%11–24%
1–10%Population Gro(1940–1990)wthCENTER OF POPULATION, 1790–2010