Overview

The fierce polarization of contemporary politics has encouraged Americans to read back into their nation's past a perpetual ideological struggle between liberals and conservatives. However, in this timely book, David S. Brown advances an original interpretation that stresses the critical role of moderate statesmen, ideas, and alliances in making our political system work. Beginning with John Adams and including such key figures as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and Bill Clinton, Brown charts the vital if uneven progress of centrism through the centuries. Moderate opposition to both New England and southern secessionists during the early republic and later resistance to industrial oligarchy and the modern Sunbelt right are part of this persuasion's far-reaching legacy. Time and again moderates, operating under a broad canopy of coalitions, have come together to reshape the nation's electoral landscape. Today's bitter partisanship encourages us to deny that such a moderate tradition is part of our historical development--one dating back to the Constitutional Convention. Brown offers a less polemical and far more compelling assessment of our politics.

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9781469668659

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Reviews

Moderates is refreshing in that it reminds us that the center is not simply home to opportunists without principles or careerists who blow in the direction of the wind.--The Journal of Southern History Brown pulls together a strong base for America's entire political history, from the nation's founding fathers to modern politics.--American Historical Review Closely narrated case studies. . . . [Moderates] has opened a promising line of inquiry.--The Chronicle of Higher Education It's hard to imagine a better time for a few kind words on behalf of the moderate worldview--and we are fortunate to have them from [this] immoderately insightful new book--Daniel Akst, The Wall Street Journal This provocative and obviously timely analysis is an important reminder of the role that reason and compromise have played in bridging the gap between political extremes.--Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

David S. Brown is the Raffensperger Professor of History at Elizabethtown College. His published works include Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography.

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