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American history has been influenced by many personalities, and movements. How many of these are you familiar with: Federalists, Whigs (Edmund Burke), Jeffersonians, Southern Conservatives (John Taylor, John Randolph, John Calhoun, James Henry Thornwell), Northern Conservatives (Henry Clay, Daniel Webster) the post-Civil War Lost Cause conservatism, Capitalist Conservatives (William Graham Sumner), the mugwumps (James Russell Lowell, Charles Eliot Norton), early 20th century Traditionalists (Brooks Adams, Henry Adams, Ralph Adams Cram), the New Humanism (Irving Babbitt, Paul Elmer More), the Southern Agrarians (Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Albert Jay Nock), modern Intellectual Conservatives (Richard Weaver, Russell Kirk, Walter Lippmann, William F. Buckley, Brent Bozell, Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Michael Novak, George Will), Libertarians, Neoconservatives (Jeane Kirkpatrick, Bill Kristol), Paleoconservatives (M. E. Bradford, Thomas Fleming), the Religious Right (Phyllis Schlafly, , Francis Schaeffer, Jerry Falwell), the Economic Right (Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, Alan Greenspan).
And how about these influential books/authors: The Law of Civilization and Decay by Brooks Adams, The Education of Henry Adam by Henry Adams, The Road to Serfdom by Hayek, Ideas Have Consequence by Richard Weaver, The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk, The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater (actually written by Brent Bozell,
Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom, Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder, Beyond the Melting Pot by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Up from Liberalism by William F. Buckley, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. And of course there were many other books—going back the Federalist Papers, Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Now, how many of these journals have you seen or read: Triumph, National Review, The Public Interest, Commentary, Southern Partisan, Chronicles of Culture, Reason, The New Criterion, Weekly Standard, First Things, The American Conservative, American Spectator, The National Interest, Dartmouth Review.
Do any of these institutions ring a bell: Cato Institute, Young Americans for Freedom, Hoover Institute, the Moral Majority, the Rockford Institute, the Center on Religion and Society, the Olin Foundation.
All of the above people, institutions, journals and movements are covered in Patrick Allitt's book The Conservatives: Ideas and Personalities Throughout American History (Yale University Press 2009). Allitt is professor of history at Emory University.
I recently read Allitt's book and came away understanding more about the intricacies of conservatism in our country. Part of the strength of this book is the way it shows the diversity of 'conservatism' in American history. Various conservative groups had intramural fights; conservative thinkers disagreed with each other; conservative movements split over emphases.
Interesting themes among some of these movements have been: a negative attitude toward egalitarianism and democracy; the love of elitism and hierarchies; the support of authoritarian leadership; the distaste for immigrants.
I believe conservatism in its less extreme forms has been helpful in reminding us all of the 'law of unintended consequences' which builds on a notion of 'original sin'; that is, keeping in mind the evil propensities in human nature. Conservative thinkers have also taught us the usefulness of old traditions and customs—and the need for stability.
Both conservatives and liberals like to use texts for their own purposes. The President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, asserted that God was on their side, helping the southern army defeat the invaders. He quoted Jeremiah's words:
Then the Lord said unto me, out of the North an evil shall break forth upon the inhabitants of the land, and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee. (Jer. 1.14)
After the Civil War was over there appeared the 'Lost Cause Conservatism.' The ideology of White Supremacy arose, the KKK was formed, and southern writers declared that just like Jesus, the South had been crucified. Southern culture, in their minds, had been temporarily defeated, but would rise again. (Don't we all claim to have God on our side?)
Allitt begins one chapter with this thought-provoking statement: "Think of the Civil War as a conflict between two types of conservatism." Lincoln's conservatism was in the tradition of the Whigs—a conservatism that wanted to 'conserve the Union.' At the same time the Southern Conservative slaveholders were trying to conserve their way of life with its aristocracy and unpaid labor.
America needs conservatives and liberals. As these two points of view clash with each other in civil intercourse a balance is struck. The dialectic of differing views keeps democracy healthy. As long as extremists are held at bay, good conservative thinkers give our culture stability and point us to foundational matters.
Myself, I'm part conservative and part liberal. Sometimes the liberal part of me needs to pay attention to the conservative part of me, and vice versa. Conservative writers like George Will, David Brooks, and William F. Buckley help me think through issues. Their civil tone and well-reasoned arguments feed my brain. Much of the time I disagree with their conclusions because our assumptions are different. But not always.
As a coincidence, just as I was thinking about writing this blog post, I read an article by the same author in The Christian Science Monitor (November 15, 2009) about Sarah Plain's popularity as she begins a book tour for Going Rogue. In his article, Allitt refers to some of the history of conservatism in America and places Palin in the populist sector of conservatism. His conclusion is that the Republican Party, in order to regain its power, needs to stick with the intellectual sector of the party. He speaks of the "intellectual dignity that it sacrificed in the McCain-Palin campaign."
Too bad politics now depends on the TV image rather than on brains. However, we were lucky to get both in Obama.
