ABSTRACT
With Irish Americans fully assimilated into US society by the late 1960s, the Sixth Party System might have been expected to be an era devoid of specific Irish and Irish-American affairs. The American response to the Troubles constitutes a small but significant chapter in the politics of the Sixth Party System. The Troubles reconnected many Irish Americans to their Irish identity. The Bush administration's positive work in Northern Ireland did not, however, translate into pro-Bush sentiments in either Ireland or Northern Ireland. Obama won further favor among Irish Americans with his stand on immigration reform—an issue that still unifies most Irish-American Democrats. Obama prevailed in the nomination contest, and in November became the first Black president of the United States. He described America's history through the prism of Irish-American contributions: the Irish Brigade that fought bravely in the Civil War, the soldiers of World Wars I and II, and the first Irish-Catholic US President John F. Kennedy.
