Table Of ContentStatesmanship and Progressive Reform
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
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doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
Statesmanship and
Progressive Reform: An
Assessment of Herbert
Croly’s Abraham Lincoln
J. David Alvis
and
Jason R. Jividen
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
statesmanship and progressive reform
Copyright © J. David Alvis and Jason R. Jividen, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 ISBN 978-1-137-36659-7
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the
world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers
Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–1–137–36228–5 PDF
ISBN: 978–1–349–47421–9
DOI: 10.1057/9781137362285
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from
the Library of Congress.
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
First edition: 2013
www.palgrave.com/pivot
To Our Parents
Omnium rerum principia parva sunt
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Introduction 1
2 Reconciling “Nationalism” and “Democracy” 9
3 The Demise of the Ante-Bellum Parties 15
4 The Need for Statesmanship 25
5 Croly’s Lincoln and Pragmatic Statesmanship 36
6 Assessing Croly’s Appeal to Lincoln 49
7 Conclusion 79
Bibliography 83
Index 88
vi doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
Acknowledgments
Both of us had spent our graduate and post-graduate years
studying the Progressive Era and the Progressives’ adoption
of Lincoln as a model of political leadership. During those
years we were both struck by the fact that the Progressives
called for a departure from the political axioms of the
American Founding and yet celebrated a President whose
entire career was spent defending those very principles.
The idea for this book thus began with an article for an aca-
demic conference many years ago in which we examined
this issue. As we combined our efforts, our study grew into
the final form that follows in this book.
We have benefited from the insight and patience of
family and colleagues along the way. Collectively, we
thank Scarlet Neath and Palgrave Macmillan not only
for seeing the potential value of this project but also for
developing a venue in Palgrave Pivot that permits schol-
ars to explore at book length a focused topic. We are also
grateful to Vidhya Jayaprakash and the copy-editors at
Palgrave Macmillan. Finally, we also thank the Center for
Political and Economic Thought at Saint Vincent College
for providing financial assistance towards the publication
of this book.
We also have our debts as individuals.
David is grateful for all of the assistance he has received
from professors and colleagues including James Ceasar,
David and Mary Nichols, R.J. Pestritto, and John Alvis.
His children, Patrick, Brigid, Brendan, Maeve, and Finbar,
have generously endured the many hours of their father’s
absence to undertake this work. Above all, he is most
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285 vii
viii Acknowledgments
indebted to his wife, Megan, for all of the support that has made this
work possible.
Jason is grateful for the guidance, inspiration, and support of his teach-
ers and colleagues, among them Larry Arnhart, Gary Glenn, Christine
Dunn Henderson, Bradley C.S. Watson, Jerome Foss, and Mary Beth
McConahey. He is most thankful for the continued love and patience of
his wife, Marcie, and children, Wesley and Rebecca.
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
1
Introduction
Abstract: Here we outline the Progressive attempt to invoke
the legacy of Lincoln as a model for a new kind of political
leadership in America and the problems that this effort
incurs. First, Croly’s account of Progressive leadership rejects
what is most central to Lincoln’s statesmanship—traditional
constitutionalism and rule of law. Differences over
fundamental principle between Croly and Lincoln give
rise to doubts about whether Lincoln would have endorsed
the Progressive conception of reform at all. Besides their
disagreement on the nature of leadership, Croly appears to
have overlooked some of the most essential features of Lincoln’s
political thought. Whereas Lincoln insists on the fundamental
truth of the Declaration of Independence’s claims for natural
rights and human equality in the debate over slavery, Croly
calls for a wholesale revision of these principles in order to
meet the demands of a modern industrial age.
Alvis, J. David and Jividen, Jason R. Statesmanship
and Progressive Reform: An Assessment of Herbert Croly’s
Abraham Lincoln. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285.
doi: 10.1057/9781137362285
