The American Political Tradition
Encyclopedia
The American Political Tradition is a 1948 book by Richard Hofstadter
, an account on the ideology of previous U.S. presidents and other political figures. The full title is The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It.
Hofstadter's introduction proposes that the major political traditions in the United States, despite contentious battles, have all
While many accounts have made political conflict central,the author proposes that a common ideology of "self-help, free enterprise, competition, and beneficent cupidity" has guided the Republic since its inception. Through analyses of the ruling class in the U.S., Hofstadter argues that this consensus is the hallmark of political life in the U.S.
Part of Hofstadter's project is to undermine the democratic credentials of politicians mythologized by historians, calling for reflection rather than nostalgia. Thomas Jefferson
is presented in all his ambiguities, the agrarian radical whose "laissez-faire
became the political economy of the most conservative thinkers in the country".
Likewise, Andrew Jackson
's democracy was also "a phase in the expansion of liberated capitalism", and Progressive trustbuster Theodore Roosevelt
, though he "despised the rich", was at heart a conservative frightened by "any sign of organized power among the people". Even Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal
— an amalgam of "improvised" programs — was "far from being intrinsically progressive, [easily] capable of being adapted to very conservative purposes". But nonetheless, had "revived American liberalism".
Richard Hofstadter
Richard Hofstadter was an American public intellectual of the 1950s, a historian and DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University...
, an account on the ideology of previous U.S. presidents and other political figures. The full title is The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It.
Hofstadter's introduction proposes that the major political traditions in the United States, despite contentious battles, have all
- ...shared a belief in the rights of property, the philosophy of economic individualism, the value of competition... [T]hey have accepted the economic virtues of a capitalist culture as necessary qualities of man.
While many accounts have made political conflict central,the author proposes that a common ideology of "self-help, free enterprise, competition, and beneficent cupidity" has guided the Republic since its inception. Through analyses of the ruling class in the U.S., Hofstadter argues that this consensus is the hallmark of political life in the U.S.
Part of Hofstadter's project is to undermine the democratic credentials of politicians mythologized by historians, calling for reflection rather than nostalgia. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
is presented in all his ambiguities, the agrarian radical whose "laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
became the political economy of the most conservative thinkers in the country".
Likewise, Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
's democracy was also "a phase in the expansion of liberated capitalism", and Progressive trustbuster Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, though he "despised the rich", was at heart a conservative frightened by "any sign of organized power among the people". Even Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
— an amalgam of "improvised" programs — was "far from being intrinsically progressive, [easily] capable of being adapted to very conservative purposes". But nonetheless, had "revived American liberalism".