Turning Points, 2008 Edition: H.

We are surrounded by images of white men in suits. There might be 20 of them photographed sitting around a conference table (the board of directors in 1955) or just three (the founder of this auto dealership, his son-in-law who now runs it and his son who is supervisor of the parts department) or 500 (the class of 1940 at its 25th reunion). Oil paintings of forgotten committee chairmen line the corridors of power in Washington. Cigar boxes still feature illustrations of the Dutch Masters. These images look quaint, even the ones from the 1950s and 1960s. The haircuts are bad, the smiles are too solemn, the lapels and the ties are too wide, or too narrow. But mainly, the men are all men, and all white. It strikes you immediately. These images don't ''look like America,'' as Bill Clinton used to say. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]