THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION
And The Men Who Made It
by Richard Hofstadter
A learned reinterpretation of our political traditions, through studies of prominent Americans from Jefferson to Roosevelt- and their ideologies. Prefaced by a chapter on the Constitution and the conflicting beliefs of the Convention, the series of essays deal with figures of singular human interest who were excellent representatives of main currents in American political sentiment- Jefferson, Jackson, Calhoun, Lincoln, Wendell Phillips. The second half, preceded by a general view of the post-ballum era of industrial and capitalistic expansion, deals with the contributions to our political traditions made by William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson, Hoover, and F.D.R. A judicious, objective appraisal of our ideological history, often ironical, often incisive.