PROGRAM

One of America’s most eminent historians, Sean Wilentz, will discuss his new book, The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics, in conversation with Harold Holzer.

Wilentz, the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History, Princeton, argues that there are two keys to unlocking the secrets of American politics and American political history. First, America is built on an egalitarian tradition; at the nation’s founding, Americans believed that extremes of wealth and want would destroy their revolutionary experiment in republican government. Ever since, that idea has shaped national political conflict and scored major egalitarian victories- from the Civil War and Progressive eras to the New Deal and the Great Society- along the way. Second, he argues, partisanship is a permanent fixture in America, and America is the better for it. Every major egalitarian victory in United States history has resulted neither from abandonment of partisan politics nor from social movement protests but from a convergence of protest and politics, and then sharp struggles led by principled and effective party politicians. There is little to be gained from the dream of a post-partisan world.

The conversation will be particularly timely on June 9, 2016, two days after the last major primaries in this year’s presidential election. We hope you will join us at Roosevelt House for this important conversation.