Witcher, Marcus

Marcus M. Witcher is an assistant professor of history. He received his BA from the University of Central Arkansas in 2011, an MA from the University of Alabama in 2013, and completed his Ph.D. in history from UA in 2017. His first book, “Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for True Conservatism, 1980-2016,” was published by the University Press of Kansas in 2019. Dr. Witcher is also the co-editor of four edited collections and has been published in a diverse range of publications including Reason Magazine, National Review, Modern Age, and the Washington Post. His most recent book, “Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America,” was co-authored with Rachel Ferguson and was published by Emancipation Books in May of 2022.

Books

• Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for True Conservatism, 1980-2016
• Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Articles:

• “New Deal Witch-hunt: The Buchanan Committee Investigation of the Committee for Constitutional Government,” The Independent Review, Vol. 21 No. 1, Summer 2016, 47-71 (Co-authored with David Beito).
• “Political Entrepreneurship: Jefferson, Bayard, and the Election of 1800,” Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Vol. 4 Issue 3, 2015, 298-312 (Co-authored with Noel Campbell).
• “Two Visions, One Future: How Neoconservative Preemptive War Isolated Libertarians,” The Journal of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom, 3 (Summer 2014), 57-67.
• “From Prosperity to Poverty: The Story of American Economic Decline During the 1920s,” The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 14 (October 2013), 79-87 (Co-authored with Joe Horton).
• “Taking a Little off the Top: How Henry VIII and Edward VI Destroyed the Value of England’s Currency,” The Journal of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom, 2 (Summer 2013), 69-81.

Book Reviews:

• Review of Joe Street’s Dirty Harry’s America: Clint Eastwood, Harry Callahan, and the Conservative Backlash, in H-Net (July 2016).
• Review of Matthew T. Corrigan’s Conservative Hurricane: How Jeb Bush Remade Florida, in The Southern Historian XXXVII (Spring 2016), 126-128.
• Review of Roham Alvandi’s Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War, in H-Net (May 2015).
• Review of Bryan Thrift’s Conservative Bias: How Jesse Helms Pioneered the Rise of Right-Wing Media and Realigned the Republican Party, in The Southern Historian XXXVI (Spring 2015), 99-101.
• Review of Keith Thomson’s Jefferson’s Shadow: The Story of His Science, in The Southern Historian XXXV (Spring 2014), 102-103.
• Review of Glenn Feldman’s Painting Dixie Red: When, Where, Why, and How the South Became Republican, in The Southern Historian XXXIV (Spring 2013), 108-109.

Paper Presentations

• “Race and Rights in Mississippi: Reevaluating Reagan’s ‘Southern Strategy’ in 1980,” Academic Colloquium, Chapman University (July 2015), Los Angeles, CA.
• “Political Entrepreneurship: The United States’ Peaceful Power Transition,” Public Choice Conference (March 2014), Charleston, SC.
• “A Victory of Ideas: The Intellectual Roots of Reagan’s Economic Policies,” Academic Colloquium,  George Mason University (March 2013), Fairfax, VA.
• “Two Visions, One Future: How Conservative Preemptive War Isolated Libertarians,” Power and Struggle, University of Alabama Graduate Conference (March 2013), Tuscaloosa, AL.
• “Taking a Little off the Top: How Henry VIII and Edward VI Destroyed the Value of England’s Currency,” Academy of Economics and Finance Annual Conference (February, 2013) Mobile, AL.
• “From Prosperity to Poverty: The Story of American Economic Decline as Told Through the McFadden Banking Bill of 1927,” Midwest Business Administration Association International   Conference (March 2012), Chicago, IL.
• “Myopic Mismanagement of the Economy: The Government’s Role in Bringing about the Great Depression,” Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, Arkansas Tech University (March, 2011),   Russellville, AR.
•  “Turgot: The Means to Prevent Revolution,” Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, University of   Arkansas at Little Rock (March 2010), Little Rock, AR.
• “Exploring Whitman’s ‘Live Oak with Moss’ and its Implications,” Sigma Tau Delta International   Conference (March 2010), St. Louis, MO.

Fellowships

• Department Dissertation Fellowship – University of Alabama, Spring 2017
• Charlotte Danly Fellow – Institute for Humane Studies, 2016-2017
• Graduate Council Research Fellowship – University of Alabama, 2016-2017
• Department Dissertation Fellowship – University of Alabama, 2015-2016
• William McMeekin Fellow – Institute for Humane Studies, 2015-2016
• Bernard Marcus Fellow – Institute for Humane Studies, 2014-2015
• Thomas C. and Irene W. Graham Fellow – Institute for Humane Studies, 2013-2014